Picture waking up with a new language, or being taught how to fight like a pro boxer without ever entering a live sparring ring. It sounds like a scene from some science fiction film. But in B.W. Leavitt’s How to Train a Spy, these futuristic ideas are part of the brutal reality that turns an everyday guy into a top-level covert agent.
This isn’t your typical spy story with car chases and fancy gadgets. Instead, it digs into how cutting-edge technology could transform the way agents are trained. And as you turn the pages, you can’t help but wonder: are we already closer to this than we can think of? Virtual Reality Combat: Fighting Without the Bruises One of the most interesting, and even a little eerie, features of Leavitt’s book is the virtual reality (VR) training. The protagonist, Brian Lewis, is immersed in hyper-realistic situations wherein he takes cover from bullets, disarms bombs, and battles soldiers as though his life were on the line. These are not your ordinary video games. They are made to condition reflexes and exorcise fear until the reaction becomes second nature. The catch? He “dies” repeatedly in these simulations, again and again, having to relive each mission over and over until he succeeds. At first, it sounds brilliant. No one gets hurt, no actual lives are at risk, and mistakes become lessons. But then you stop and ask: if someone constantly experiences death in VR, how does that impact their mind? Can they still separate simulation from reality? Today’s militaries are already using VR to train pilots and soldiers, but Leavitt imagines it pushed much further. Fully immersive systems where the line between training and real life blurs. It’s ingenious but unsettling. Are we building better operatives, or are we rewiring people in ways that strip away their humanity? Sleep Learning and Brain Hacks: Reprogramming the Mind When you think the tech can’t get more extreme, enter sleep learning. Brian is fitted with a neural “hat” that uploads knowledge directly into his brain while he sleeps. Within weeks, he’s speaking fluent Russian and strategizing like a seasoned spy. Add to that experimental injections that supercharge memory and reflexes, and you’ve got a weaponized human mind. Efficient? Absolutely. But at a cost. The process does not create new abilities; it erodes what Brian used to be. The loving husband and father gradually wears away as a new person becomes the dominant personality. It’s hard not to draw parallels with our world. People are already popping nootropics and experimenting with biohacking to boost mental performance. What happens if governments get involved and start creating enhanced operatives? Where’s the line between man and machine? Underwater Survival and Stealth Operations: Pushing Limits below the Surface. Leavitt doesn’t stop with brain tech and VR. He immerses readers in the frigid depths of the sea, where Brian is trained to probe dark waters, break through enemy lines, and exist in secret submarine hideouts. The sea is a proving ground and a nightmare, testing physical and mental limits. But all this tech raises another issue: dependency. The more sophisticated Brian’s tools become, the more reliant he grows on them. If all his gadgets were stripped away, would he still be capable? Or has the training made him too dependent to function alone? The Future of Espionage: Fiction or a Glimpse Ahead? As I read, I swung between admiration for the innovation and unease about its implications. Yes, VR combat, sleep learning, and brain enhancements do have the ring of breakthroughs. But how soon before they’re abused? Is this just an exciting story, or a precursor to things to come? In our surveillance drone- and AI-filled world, and deep fakes, would it surprise us to learn that such software already exists in clandestinely? If that is true, are we designing wiser guardians or removing the very things that make them human?
Final Thoughts
How to Train a Spy is not just a thrill ride; it’s a primer for the future. It poses challenging questions about technology, morals, and what we’ll do for safety. Brian’s world is some distant future, or perhaps it’s something revealed in plain sight, before our very eyes.
So what’s your take? Is this much spy school training already out there? And if it is, is it keeping us safe, or is it creating a scarier world?