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A review by asteroidbuckle
The Faithful Spy by Alex Berenson
3.0
Meet John Wells. American citizen. Devout Muslim. Member of al Qaeda.
He's also a CIA agent who's been the only one able to infilitrate the terrorist group. Under deep cover for years, he finally makes contact with American forces in the mountains of Pakistan. After leaving a note with them for his handler back home, Jennifer Exley, he decides to stay where he is with the promise to continue trying to kill Osama bin Laden. After that, he seems to disappear.
Several years pass without a word or sign from Wells. The powers that be in Washington think he's either dead or turned traitor. Meanwhile, John has been sent by bin Laden's second in command back to the US to await further orders. Something is coming. Something big. And John (or Jalal, his Arab name) is going to be a part of it. John, however, has other plans. Plans to stop it, whatever it takes.
Meet Omar Khadri. British citizen. Devout Muslim. Fanatical terrorist.
He's the mastermind behind the elaborate plot to destroy as many Americans as possible. His men detonate a couple ammonium nitrate bombs in downtown LA, killing over 300 people. But that's not The Plan. No, that's just a distraction, something to occupy the authorities and investigators while the real plan is put into action.
Khadri has it all figured out. It's a perfect plan. One that will do the most damage short of a nuclear bomb, which is Khadri's dream. Unfortunately for him, though, they just don't have one. Oh, well. Plan B will have to do. What is it? Use eight people (including John Wells) to spread pneumonic plague around New York City, then detonate a dirty bomb (one with radioactive materials) in the middle of Times Square.
It's taken years to plan; everything must be perfect for him to pull it off.
Of course, it isn't.
To say the ending is a surprise would be a lie. John Wells stops the bad guys, of course. The plague doesn't spread, though John and seven others do get infected with it. The dirty bomb doesn't detonate. America is saved. And? John gets the girl -- in this case, Jennifer Exley.
Yes, this book is formulaic. (The only spy novel I've read where the good guy dies in the end -- though he does still manage to stop the bad guys -- is The Afghan by Frederick Forsyth.) But despite knowing that the hero lives to see another day (the fact that there are at least two other books in the series is also a clue), it is still an enjoyable story. Berenson does a good job crafting an exciting story that may seem a bit far-fetched at times (e.g., I found it hard to believe that a white male would meet and be trusted by Osama bin Laden; whites are all infidels, after all), yet is compelling and often fun to read. He also personalizes the story by providing human details about some of the victims and terrorists: a bouncer at an LA club who decides to join the military after surviving a terrorist attack; a 13-year-old boy who is killed when a bomb explodes in the synagogue where he's having his bar mitzvah ceremony; a molecular biologist trying to aerosolize Y. pestis, the plague bacterium, for use as a biological weapon; even Khadri, the mastermind. His hatred of America is palpable and chilling.
Of course, Berenson's main characters, Wells and Exley, are adequately handled. The spy life has taken a lot from both of them. During his time away, Wells lost his wife and any chance he ever had with his son. His mother died (his realization of this after his return to the states is very poignant). He no longer understands his own country, though his loyalty to it hasn't wavered. He's even started to lose his faith, which had carried him through his years in al Qaeda. As for Exley, her marriage fell apart. She has a strained relationship with her kids. Some of the things she's seen has made her question her job and some of the methods used to get to the "truth". But she has an unflinching belief in John Wells, even after so much time. Sometimes it feels like she's the only one who believes in him. Which of course means they are destined to get together. (On a side note, one bit of comic relief in an otherwise serious book -- at least in my opinion -- is John's sexual frustration. He's been celibate for nearly a decade and it's really starting to annoy him. Unfortunately for John, he gets infected with pneumonic plague and shot in the back before he can get lucky.)
If I have any beef with Berenson's book, it's with some of the writing. Berenson is a reporter by trade, which doesn't always carry over well when writing a novel. Some of his descriptions are a bit lackluster, especially when it comes to non-technical things like human emotions. Also, some of his metaphors are a bit cheesy and stilted. But those are minor annoyances. Overall, it's a very good book that deals with a very contemporary topic and one that I am glad to have in my spy novel collection.
He's also a CIA agent who's been the only one able to infilitrate the terrorist group. Under deep cover for years, he finally makes contact with American forces in the mountains of Pakistan. After leaving a note with them for his handler back home, Jennifer Exley, he decides to stay where he is with the promise to continue trying to kill Osama bin Laden. After that, he seems to disappear.
Several years pass without a word or sign from Wells. The powers that be in Washington think he's either dead or turned traitor. Meanwhile, John has been sent by bin Laden's second in command back to the US to await further orders. Something is coming. Something big. And John (or Jalal, his Arab name) is going to be a part of it. John, however, has other plans. Plans to stop it, whatever it takes.
Meet Omar Khadri. British citizen. Devout Muslim. Fanatical terrorist.
He's the mastermind behind the elaborate plot to destroy as many Americans as possible. His men detonate a couple ammonium nitrate bombs in downtown LA, killing over 300 people. But that's not The Plan. No, that's just a distraction, something to occupy the authorities and investigators while the real plan is put into action.
Khadri has it all figured out. It's a perfect plan. One that will do the most damage short of a nuclear bomb, which is Khadri's dream. Unfortunately for him, though, they just don't have one. Oh, well. Plan B will have to do. What is it? Use eight people (including John Wells) to spread pneumonic plague around New York City, then detonate a dirty bomb (one with radioactive materials) in the middle of Times Square.
It's taken years to plan; everything must be perfect for him to pull it off.
Of course, it isn't.
To say the ending is a surprise would be a lie. John Wells stops the bad guys, of course. The plague doesn't spread, though John and seven others do get infected with it. The dirty bomb doesn't detonate. America is saved. And? John gets the girl -- in this case, Jennifer Exley.
Yes, this book is formulaic. (The only spy novel I've read where the good guy dies in the end -- though he does still manage to stop the bad guys -- is The Afghan by Frederick Forsyth.) But despite knowing that the hero lives to see another day (the fact that there are at least two other books in the series is also a clue), it is still an enjoyable story. Berenson does a good job crafting an exciting story that may seem a bit far-fetched at times (e.g., I found it hard to believe that a white male would meet and be trusted by Osama bin Laden; whites are all infidels, after all), yet is compelling and often fun to read. He also personalizes the story by providing human details about some of the victims and terrorists: a bouncer at an LA club who decides to join the military after surviving a terrorist attack; a 13-year-old boy who is killed when a bomb explodes in the synagogue where he's having his bar mitzvah ceremony; a molecular biologist trying to aerosolize Y. pestis, the plague bacterium, for use as a biological weapon; even Khadri, the mastermind. His hatred of America is palpable and chilling.
Of course, Berenson's main characters, Wells and Exley, are adequately handled. The spy life has taken a lot from both of them. During his time away, Wells lost his wife and any chance he ever had with his son. His mother died (his realization of this after his return to the states is very poignant). He no longer understands his own country, though his loyalty to it hasn't wavered. He's even started to lose his faith, which had carried him through his years in al Qaeda. As for Exley, her marriage fell apart. She has a strained relationship with her kids. Some of the things she's seen has made her question her job and some of the methods used to get to the "truth". But she has an unflinching belief in John Wells, even after so much time. Sometimes it feels like she's the only one who believes in him. Which of course means they are destined to get together. (On a side note, one bit of comic relief in an otherwise serious book -- at least in my opinion -- is John's sexual frustration. He's been celibate for nearly a decade and it's really starting to annoy him. Unfortunately for John, he gets infected with pneumonic plague and shot in the back before he can get lucky.)
If I have any beef with Berenson's book, it's with some of the writing. Berenson is a reporter by trade, which doesn't always carry over well when writing a novel. Some of his descriptions are a bit lackluster, especially when it comes to non-technical things like human emotions. Also, some of his metaphors are a bit cheesy and stilted. But those are minor annoyances. Overall, it's a very good book that deals with a very contemporary topic and one that I am glad to have in my spy novel collection.