A review by joemacare
Fault Line by Barry Eisler
2.0
I first heard of Barry Eisler through political bloggers like Glenn Greenwald - who, unless it’s an unlikely coincidence, is one of several people who get a somewhat cringe-inducing homage in the form of a lawfirm called Sullivan, Greenwald & Other Bloggers. There's also a minor character named Jane Hamsher, and several other blogs are explicitly named in one of many exposition dumping ground dialogue exchanges. Anyway, Greenwald and a few others have plugged Eisler's most recent novel, Inside Out, as a welcome alternative to all the tough-guy spy/action thrillers out there that have plots rooted in some kind neo-conservative, colonialist, war-mongering and/or xenophobic worldview/ideology. Since Inside Out is apparently the second novel in a series featuring the protagonist Ben Treven, I thought I'd start with its predecessor.
Yes, it's preferable to have an action-espionage thriller in which the conspiracy targeting American citizens turns out to be orchestrated by their own government. But I don't even think that at this point it's that much of a novelty. God knows comic books have been doing for decades now. And other than that, Fault Line does not have a huge amount going for it. Fixing the politics alone does not remove all of the other problems of this genre of novel. Oh, it's competent enough, and the tragic family conflict backstory is reasonable engaging. The sex scene which occurs about three-quarters of the way through, though, sinks the whole thing. It's just terrible. Clumsily telegraphed, embarrassingly executed, and it highlights how thinly drawn the lead female character is. "Brainy, feisty Iranian-American babe" is not much of a character, and while it might be passable in a summer blockbuster, I do demand a little more from my reading material.
Oh, and it's never explained why it’s called Fault Line, which is a small peeve but nevertheless a nagging one. I guess just because of where the majority of the book is set? But there are no earthquakes. I was hoping the computer program at the center of the plot would turn out to be able to trigger earthquakes. Shame.
Yes, it's preferable to have an action-espionage thriller in which the conspiracy targeting American citizens turns out to be orchestrated by their own government. But I don't even think that at this point it's that much of a novelty. God knows comic books have been doing for decades now. And other than that, Fault Line does not have a huge amount going for it. Fixing the politics alone does not remove all of the other problems of this genre of novel. Oh, it's competent enough, and the tragic family conflict backstory is reasonable engaging. The sex scene which occurs about three-quarters of the way through, though, sinks the whole thing. It's just terrible. Clumsily telegraphed, embarrassingly executed, and it highlights how thinly drawn the lead female character is. "Brainy, feisty Iranian-American babe" is not much of a character, and while it might be passable in a summer blockbuster, I do demand a little more from my reading material.
Oh, and it's never explained why it’s called Fault Line, which is a small peeve but nevertheless a nagging one. I guess just because of where the majority of the book is set? But there are no earthquakes. I was hoping the computer program at the center of the plot would turn out to be able to trigger earthquakes. Shame.