 |
|
Random House Australia, Bantam, June 2006
Reviewed by Kerrie Smith
John Wells is a mole, a CIA agent who has been under cover in Afghanistan
infiltrating al Qaeda for five years. He is sent back to America by al Qaeda,
not knowing what his mission there will be, but sure that he has one.
During his time in Afghanistan John converted to Islam and has taken the
name Jalal. He feels that he has earned the trust of the upper echelon of
al Qaeda. However, his conversion is not just lip-service. This story goes
right to the heart of what the CIA must fear most - a double agent whose
loyalties are no longer known or are perhaps compromised. John gave no
warnings of the 9/11 attack. The CIA feel that they can no longer trust
him but don't realise that John is the very key to a terrorist attack that
'intelligence' tells them is about to happen. When John returns to the
United States to pick up his life he finds that few threads remain: his
wife didn't wait for him, his son doesn't know he exists, and home is no
longer home. However he has managed to keep in touch with Jennifer Exley,
his former CIA handler and that contact is crucial to his survival.
THE FAITHFUL SPY feels like a mix of fact and fiction, the possible and
the probable, interlaced with reality and grains of truth. The fight
against terrorism and issues of homeland security were brought home to us
recently by media reports of international terrorist plans by suicide
bombers to blow up as many as ten American planes mid-flight between
Britain and the United States. The plight of United Airlines Flight 919
described early in THE FAITHFUL SPY has the ring of reality, something the
reader can accept as possible, perhaps even based on fact.
THE FAITHFUL SPY is a book that will strike a chord in the readers of the
thriller genre. Eminently readable, there are passages that generate
suspense, particularly as it builds to the climax revealed in the last
pages. Towards the end a breathtaking twist takes the reader by surprise
in its ingenuity, but you find yourself thinking, 'That could happen.' I
am not generally a reader of thrillers, but there was enough mystery in
this debut novel by Alex Berenson to keep me guessing almost to the end.
One of the things I did have a problem with was the constant use of
acronyms, NSA, JTTF, whose meaning I didn't always remember. But don't let
that put you off what is essentially a good story.
Alex Berenson writes from solid experience. After graduating from Yale
University he was employed as a journalist by the New York Times, and was
sent to Iraq to report on the occupation.
For more biographical details see his
Random House web page .
Aug 2006 review originally published on Murder and Mayhem
Revised
review March 2007
All cover art used at Reviewer's Choice Reviews is copyrighted by the
respective publisher. All reviews and articles found at Reviewer's Choice
Reviews are the sole property of the contributor and are copyrighted by
the same.
|
