Short Synopsis
Ben Montgomery brings Josefina Guerrero's heroic accomplishments to light in The Leper Spy: The Story of an Unlikely Hero of World War II.

Full Synopsis
The GIs called her Joey. Hundreds owed their lives to the tiny Filipina who stashed explosives in spare tires, tracked Japanese troop movements, and smuggled maps of fortifications across enemy lines. As the Battle of Manila raged, Josefina Guerrero walked through gunfire to bandage wounds and close the eyes of the dead. Her valor earned her the Medal of Freedom, but what made her a good spy was also destroying her: leprosy, which so horrified the Japanese they refused to search her. After the war, army chaplains found her in a nightmarish leper colony and fought for the U.S. government to do something it had never done: welcome a foreigner with leprosy. This brought her celebrity, which she used to publicly speak for other sufferers. However, the notoriety haunted her and she sought a way to disappear. Ben Montgomery now brings Guerrero's heroic accomplishments to light.

"Narrator Joe Barrett gives a strong performance in narrating this story of WWII audacity and heroism. . . . He easily moves through the text and gives a professional presentation throughout this fascinating story." ---AudioFile

"Written with grace and elegance, The Leper Spy tells a surprising—and affecting—espionage story." ---Howard Blum, author of The Last Goodnight

"I love this story. I love it when a gap in history is filled in with such a riveting tale, and Montgomery does it here with deep reporting, and fluid, beautiful writing." ---Alex Tizon, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist