Detailing his experiences as a U.S. Army Counterintelligence Agent in Afghanistan and Iraq, Collector unfolds as an increasingly grim chronicle of systematic intelligence failure.

Seen from the dual perspectives of HUMINT analysis (Afghanistan) and HUMINT collection (Iraq), the various constraints faced by each discipline inexorably merged into grave uncertainties on the ground. Hobbled by poor planning, poor training, outdated methodologies, virtually nonexistent top-level leadership, and a pitiful lack of resources for HUMINT operations, the U.S. military's tactical-level intelligence apparatus simply could not meaningfully alter each war’s trajectory of decline and grinding insurgency.

Seen via human source meets in downtown Baghdad, detainee interrogations near the Syrian border, late-night house raids deep in the “Sunni Triangle,” and classified briefings within the U.S. military’s top command in Afghanistan, the overall dysfunction plaguing U.S. intelligence becomes painfully clear. Methodical and unsparing, Collector ultimately ends as a retrospective warning of the many tragic war years to come.