The NCIS star Mark Harmon and co-author Leon Carroll Jr., bring forth a true-life story of deception, discovery, and danger.Â
Today Harper Select announced they will publish Ghosts of Honolulu: A Japanese Spy, A Japanese American Spy Hunter, and the Untold Story of Pearl Harbor, the first narrative non-fiction title from Mark Harmon and Leon Carroll Jr., on November 14, 2023. This is the first book from Harmon and Carroll Jr., who worked together on the hit CBS drama series NCIS for many years. Harmon famously played the role of Leroy Jethro Gibbs for 18 seasons, and Carroll Jr. is a former NCIS Special Agent and the show’s technical advisor.
“Even through all of the fascinating storylines of NCIS over the last 20 years, Mark Harmon always knew that the most amazing stories in naval intelligence were the true accounts in decades past. He had long desired to tell those stories, and we are honored to help take this first book to the world. Together with his longtime collaborator, Leon Carroll Jr., they have brought the past alive in a true story that reads like a novel but shows the great debt we owe to so many who paved the way for our freedom,” said Matt Baugher, publisher of Harper Select.
Scrutinizing long-buried historical documents, co-authors Harmon and Carroll Jr. have brought forth a true-life NCIS operation that depicts the incredible high-stakes game of naval intelligence encompassing cultural complexities, life-threatening dangers, and unrelenting patriotism in this riveting historical narrative about the defining moment of a generation. The book tells the story of Douglas Wada, the only Japanese American agent in naval intelligence, and Takeo Yoshikawa, a Japanese spy sent to Pearl Harbor to gather information on the US fleet. In his native Honolulu, Wada’s poses undercover as a newspaper reporter, translates wiretaps on the Japanese Consulate, and interrogates America’s first captured POW of World War II. In contrast, Yoshikawa works with the consulate as a junior diplomat and collects vital information, sending it straight to Admiral Yamamoto. Their dueling stories anchor Ghosts of Honolulu‘s gripping depiction of the world-changing cat-and-mouse games played between Japanese and US military intelligence agents (and a mercenary Nazi) in Hawaii before the outbreak of the Second World War.
Also trapped in the upheaval are Honolulu’s innocent residents—including Wada’s father—and the thousands of ordinary people caught in crosshairs of a world at war.
“I feel compelled to take part in opening up the history and real story of what became NCIS. When I first started this show, there was not much information to be found by research,” stated Harmon. “NCIS agents are public servants at the highest level and many have come and gone through this life with no one knowing anything about who they are or what they do. And now that story gets told. All because of a TV show.”
“I hope this book will give readers a different look at NCIS as an agency and that we are much more than the homicide of the week. The name NCIS was chartered in 1992, 90 years after the establishment of ONI to emphasize the criminal mission of the agency. Counterintelligence investigations and operations are an integral part of that criminal mission and play a very important role in our nation’s security. This book is intended to be the first in a series that will give an inside look into the inner workings of accomplishing that mission,” added Carroll Jr.
Ghosts of Honolulu will be available in hardcover, eBook, and audiobook. You can pre-order today at https://www.harpercollinsfocus.com/harper-horizon/ghostsofhonolulu/
ABOUTÂ AUTHOR MARK HARMON:
Star of screen, television, and stage, Mark Harmon is now taking on the publishing world with Ghosts of Honolulu. Probably most recognized for his role as Leroy Jethro Gibbs on the hit drama NCIS, which he led for 18 seasons, Harmon is also an executive producer on the show. In his other TV work, Harmon received an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series for the critically acclaimed The West Wing. Previously he earned an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Special for Eleanor and Franklin: The White House Years. He received two consecutive Golden Globe nominations for his work on Reasonable Doubts, and received two additional Golden Globe nominations for Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture Made for TV; one for After the Promise, and another for his role as notorious serial killer Ted Bundy in The Deliberate Stranger. Along with his costars on Chicago Hope, he received two Best Ensemble SAG Award nominations. Further credits include HBO’s From Earth to the Moon, St. Elsewhere, Moonlighting, and Tennessee Williams’ Sweet Bird of Youth.
Harmon made his feature film debut in Alan Pakula’s Comes a Horseman. Additional credits include Lawrence Kasdan’s Wyatt Earp, Stealing Home with Jodie Foster, The Presidio, and Carl Reiner’s smash hit, Summer School. On stage, Harmon has appeared in Kevin Wade’s Key Exchange, Bill C. Davis’s Wrestlers, and Mark Medoff’s The Wager. In addition, he has done several successful productions of A. R. Gurney’s hit play Love Letters with his wife, actress Pam Dawber.
Born and raised in Southern California, Harmon excelled in sports. He quarterbacked UCLA to multiple winning football seasons and was presented the National Collegiate Football Foundation Award for All Around Excellence. The National Football Foundation recently bestowed Harmon with their highest honor, the Gold Medal, making him the first recipient in their organization to receive both the Scholar Athlete Award and the Gold Medal. He is a cum laude graduate with a degree in communications.
ABOUTÂ AUTHORÂ LEON CARROLLÂ Jr.:
Leon Carroll Jr. is the technical advisor on the hit drama NCIS. A native of Chicago, Illinois, he attended Lindblom Technical High School and went on to earn a BS degree in business economics from North Dakota State University. He was a member of two College Division national championship teams in the late 60s. Leon was a commissioned officer in the United States Marine Corps, serving on active duty for 6 years and 3 years in the Marine Corps Reserves, attaining the rank of Major. His duty assignments included serving in the Fleet Marine Forces and Sea Duty onboard the USS Ogden (LPD-5). Following his stint in the Marine Corps, Leon began a 20-year career as a Special Agent with the Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS). He served in 7 different locations, including tours as a Special Agent Afloat on the USS Ranger (CV-61) and as the Special Agent in Charge of NCIS offices in the Republic of Panama and the Pacific Northwest. Upon retirement from NCIS, Leon was selected to be the technical advisor for the top-rated drama of the same name, holding that position for 20 seasons. His experience in Foreign Counterintelligence gives him unique insight into the world in which Doug Wada operated.
ABOUT HARPER SELECT:
Harper Select is a boutique-style imprint, based in Nashville, TN, publishing an exclusive number of hand-selected memoirs and narrative nonfiction focused on stories of hope and determination.
