Book Description
In his explosive New York Times bestseller, top CIA operative Robert Baer paints a chilling picture of how terrorism works on the inside and provides startling evidence of how Washington politics sabotaged the CIA’s efforts to root out the world’s deadliest terrorists, allowing for the rise of Osama bin Laden and Al Qaeda and the continued entrenchment of Saddam Hussein in Iraq.
A veteran case officer in the CIA’s Directorate of Operations in the Middle East, Baer witnessed the rise of terrorism first hand and the CIA’s inadequate response to it, leading to the attacks of September 11, 2001. This riveting book is both an indictment of an agency that lost its way and an unprecedented look at the roots of modern terrorism, and includes a new afterword in which Baer speaks out about the American war on terrorism and its profound implications throughout the Middle East.
“Robert Baer was considered perhaps the best on-the-ground field
officer in the Middle East.”
–Seymour M. Hersh, The New Yorker
From The Preface
This book is a memoir of one foot soldier’s career in the other cold war, the one against terrorist networks. It’s a story about places most Americans will never travel to, about people many Americans would prefer to think we don’t need to do business with.
This memoir, I hope, will show the reader how spying is supposed to work, where the CIA lost its way, and how we can bring it back again. But I hope this book will accomplish one more purpose as well: I hope it will show why I am angry about what happened to the CIA. And I want to show why every American and everyone who cares about the preservation of this country should be angry and alarmed, too.
The CIA was systematically destroyed by political correctness, by petty Beltway wars, by careerism, and much more. At a time when terrorist threats were compounding globally, the agency that should have been monitoring them was being scrubbed clean instead. Americans were making too much money to bother. Life was good. The White House and the National Security Council became cathedrals of commerce where the interests of big business outweighed the interests of protecting American citizens at home and abroad. Defanged and dispirited, the CIA went along for the ride. And then on September 11, 2001, the reckoning for such vast carelessness was presented for all the world to see.
Download Description
In See No Evil, one of the CIA's top field officers of the past quarter century recounts his career running agents in the back alleys of the Middle East. In the process, Robert Baer paints a chilling picture of how terrorism works on the inside and provides compelling evidence about how Washington politics sabotaged the CIA's efforts to root out the world's deadliest terrorists.
On the morning of September 11, 2001, the world witnessed the terrible result of that intelligence failure with the attack on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. In the wake of those attacks, Americans were left wondering how such an obviously long-term, globally coordinated plot could have escaped detection by the CIA and taken the nation by surprise. Robert Baer was not surprised. A twenty-one-year veteran of the CIA's Directorate of Operations who had left the agency in 1997, Baer observed firsthand how an increasingly bureaucratic CIA lost its way in the post-cold war world and refused to adequately acknowledge and neutralize the growing threat of Islamic fundamentalist terror in the Middle East and elsewhere.
A throwback to the days when CIA operatives got results by getting their hands dirty and running covert operations, Baer spent his career chasing down leads on suspected terrorists in the world's most volatile hot spots. As he and his agents risked their lives gathering intelligence, he watched as the CIA reduced drastically its operations overseas, failed to put in place people who knew local languages and customs, and rewarded workers who knew how to play the political games of the agency's suburban Washington headquarters but not how to recruit agents on the ground.
See No Evil is not only a candid memoir of the education and disillusionment of an intelligence operative but also an unprecedented look at the roots of modern terrorism. Baer reveals some of the disturbing details he uncovered in his work, including:
- In 1996, Osama bin Laden established a strategic alliance with Iran to coordinate terrorist attacks against the United States.
- In 1995, the National Security Council intentionally aborted a military coup d'etat against Saddam Hussein, forgoing the last opportunity to get rid of him.
- In 1991, the CIA intentionally shut down its operations in Afghanistan and Saudi Arabia, and ignored fundamentalists operating there.
When Baer left the agency in 1997 he received the Career Intelligence Medal, with a citation that says, "He repeatedly put himself in personal danger, working the hardest targets, in service to his country."
See No Evil is Baer's frank assessment of an agency that forgot that "service to country" must transcend politics and is a forceful plea for the CIA to return to its original mission -- the preservation of our national sovereignty and the American way of life.
"Robert Baer was considered perhaps the best on-the-ground field officer in the Middle East."
SEYMOUR M. HERSH, THE NEW YORKER
"Robert Baer [was] one of the most talented Middle East case officers of the past twenty years."
REUEL MARC GERECHT, THE ATLANTIC MONTHLY
Customer Reviews:
Real behind the scenes of how the spy agency worked.......2007-10-02
Only halfway through, but this book is great. It shows you in depth how the agency worked. Reveals how training was done, how missions worked. Includes real stories not just analysis.
Dispatches From the Pre-9/11 War on Terror Front.......2007-09-30
The stories and experiences of real life are often more gripping than fiction. Given that celebrated novels receive greater fame and publicity, it is rare to come across a book that captures the adventure of a captivating adventure novel and the benefit of a knowledgeable nonfiction author. A medley of suspense, wisdom from years experience, and formidable lessons from around the globe abound in former CIA officer Bob Baer's veracious story from the forefront of the US's struggle against international terrorism.
Baer recounts his professional life in one of the most riveting, true-life spy tales around. His first book is easy to follow and lively; even if you're not a James Bond suspense-novel junkie you'll likely appreciate "See No Evil." Baer's insight on the past and the state of current intelligence operations in a post 9/11 world with admonition for, what he sees as, the most potent gambit in the war against Middle Eastern terrorism, is vital for composing a winning strategy in the region.
The reputability of being the basis for George Clooney's character in the film "Syriana." shouldn't deter readers who actually watched the risible movie. George Clooney's Bob Barnes never amounted to the valorous character we become acquainted with in the book; his pitiful role is a real injustice to the real life Baer. There are no real parallels between the fictional movie`s plot and the book based on Baer's firsthand experiences.
With such a furtive job like a case officer, it is rare for an author to lift the shroud of secrecy for the public to behold some of these highly-speculated operations. An ordinary American youngster, full of guilelessness and vitality, finds himself leading an anything but ordinary life in an abstruse field that eventually takes him to the forefront of the nation`s interests in the Middle East. Ultimately departing an agency hampered by politicalization and putrefied by scandals, Bob holds back nothing in sharing passionate convictions, doubts, and solicitude in an earnest reflection of his entire espionage career. From the young operative's tribulation of his first assignment in India up to senior liaison orchestrating a coup against Saddam His story is gripping, his insight and perception on the challenges we face is indispensable.
Useful Stuff.......2007-08-28
After reading the book one can never be so ignorant!!!
It's pretty sad to watch these guys risk their lives for such dangerous missions and let go in the end...
"Why don't they listen to me?".......2007-07-27
Robert Baer
See No Evil
book review
The first half of this book is a great adventure story. The second reveals a personality.
We are treated to a sampling of the adventures of a vigorous, energetic, productive young case officer's (we learn that a CIA "agent" is the local who does the actual spying, "case officer" being the term for the professional recruiter and manager of agents) experiences during the birth and maturation of his productive years in southern Asia and the Middle East. For those of us interested in espionage procedurals, this part of the book is exhilarating. I couldn't put it down. It is written with vim and a touch of humor.
The second half of the book is in some ways more interesting, as it reveals through a change of style a man who needs rest. Mr. Baer's supervisors should have recognized it and brought him "in from the cold" from time to time, so that he could adjust in a healthy way back to normal life with a normal perspective. I saw this happen more than once in my own law enforcement career. Such seems to me what Robert Baer reveals to us, consciously or not, in the second half of his book.
The transition is marked by a curious re-call, which Robert Baer ("Robert Pope"?) resists vehemently, during which he is investigated as a suspect in a murder for hire. The portrayal of the burned out case officer in the movie Syriana, based on See No Evil, seems to be Robert Baer himself. The fictional character, Wilson, knows too much, or thinks he does. The fictional character in the movie blows up some bad guys, acting on his own authority in secret. The real Robert Baer in See No Evil is accused of plotting to assassinate Saddam Hussein, a weird story in itself. By is own admission, there are things he does not write up in reports.
It is as though he has arrived in the insane hell of Colonel Kurtz in Apocalypse Now (a movie Mr. Baer refers to in his book). He wonders why "they" back at headquarters don't pay more respect to his on-the-spot reporting. As the fictional character, Captain Willard, says to himself in Apocalypse Now, "They didn't know I wasn't even in their f...ing army anymore."
But, you see, Robert Baer has been in the field so long and left alone to do pretty much as he sees fit, and it begins to tell. When he and his team are sent to northern Iraq, he interprets whole world scenarios through his team's emplacement. The whole course of world history depends on him and his team's mission. He blows their role out of proportion and takes on the role of the representative of the United States. He writes that the local Kurds think of him as the Untied States Ambassador.
He is turning into Colonel Kurtz. It is he whom they rely on, and he tells them lies about what Washington thinks and commitments he thinks they should make. Whether the Kurdish leaders really believe him or not is a matter of speculation. Robert Baer seems to think they do. Everything rests on Robert Baer, and Washington just won't do what he tells them needs to be done. It is time to be brought "in from the cold." He's gone over the edge, out of control, and control is what secret operations rely on most. He needs closer supervision. He needs to be watched. (Cf. the latter career of James J. Angleton.) His bosses order him back to the home office in Washington.
From there we get a phantasmagoria of life in the most unfathomable world imaginable, Washington, D.C. Robert Baer is out of his environment. He admittedly does not understand how it works. He is still "out in the field." He proceeds to engage this strange new world in the context of what he knows how to do. He runs into roadblocks wherever he turns. Why won't they listen to me?
In sum, read this book. Mr. Baer the author is a good writer and deserves a loyal audience for this and the other books he has written. For those interested in good-humored, adventurous spy stories, it is A-number-one. For those interested in the questionable practices and questionable values of unsupervised operators left to assume roles they should not, this is a perfect example of it.
Gary Berntsen, too, in his revelation, Jawbreaker, shows us another example of self-exaggerated importance among field people. Why does the CIA allow these people to publish and appear on television? In other recent histories written about these circumstances, nary a word is mentioned about the Gary Bernstsens' or Robert Baers's exploits. "Why won't they listen to me?" "I could've got Saddam Hussein." "I could've got Osama bin Laden." "If only I had two divisions of men with the will to cut off the arms of inoculated children ...." (Colonel Kurtz)
Maybe the operational side of the CIA should be abandoned. Maybe they are loose cannons. Maybe the CIA should be kept strictly to the business of gathering and analyzing information. Mr. Baer alludes to the establishment of FBI offices overseas. Maybe the CIA or at least its operational side should be folded into the FBI. There are just too many intelligence agencies. There is nothing central about the Central Intelligence Agency. There is not enough control. There are too many Robert Baers and Gary Berntsens out there doing too many things on their own.
I say all of this with all respect due to Robert Baer, Gary Berntsen, and those like them. As young men they enter into an adventurous world and ripen into the most sincere patriots one can find. They work hard and do good things. However, as mature men, they begin to think they know more than they do and that those with other responsibility know less. "Why don't they listen to us?" Why, indeed.
My favorite CIA book.......2007-07-23
I've read a few books on the subject and I have to say that this is my favorite CIA book. Baer's style of writing makes it easy even for a first time CIA history reader. The book is packed with exciting stories and was a very pleasant read. It is a nice add for anyone interested in intelligence and how that region of the world works, as well as how our internal bureaucracy interacts and makes things that much more difficult for these people doing exceptional work abroad.
And if you watched the movie "Syriana" with George Clooney, this is the book on which it was based. Of course the book is much better and full of detail. I could not put it down once I started reading it.
Book Description
In this moving and compelling memoir about parent and child, father and daughter, Pulitzer Prize-winning writer Lucinda Franks discovers that the remote, nearly impassive man she grew up with had in fact been a daring spy behind enemy lines in World War II. Sworn to secrecy, he began revealing details of his wartime activities only in the last years of his life as he became afflicted with Alzheimer's. His exploits revealed a man of remarkable bravado -- posing as a Nazi guard, slipping behind enemy lines to blow up ammunition dumps, and being flown to one of the first concentration camps liberated by the Allies to report on the atrocities found there.My Father's Secret War is an intimate account of Franks coming to know her own father after years of estrangement. Looking back at letters he had written her mother in the early days of WWII, Franks glimpses a loving man full of warmth. But after the grimmest assignments of the war his tone shifts, settling into an all-too-familiar distance. Franks learns about him -- beyond the alcoholism and adultery -- and comes to know the man he once was.Her story is haunting, and beautifully told, even as the tragedy becomes clear: Franks finally comes to know her father, but only as he is slipping further into his illness. Lucinda Franks understands her father as the disease claims him. My Father's Secret War is a triumph of love over secrets, and a tribute to the power of the connection of family.
Customer Reviews:
A Book You Just Can Put Down.......2007-10-04
After all the hype and with the authors oh-so-impressive cred, one expects a book that you just can't put down. She delivers a nice, warm story, but by all means, you CAN put it down.
Slow start.......2007-09-10
As I read the other reviews, I realized they are all true. In many ways this is a poignant and touching story. But Franks takes so long describing their disfunctional family and getting to the interesting part -- her father's war experiences and the process of finding the information -- that I almost put it down without finishing it. I'm glad I stayed with it, as Lucinda finally gets to the real story and redeems herself. (I didn't like her at all at the beginning of the story but I forgave her for her honesty at the end.)
Disappointment.......2007-06-16
You asked me for comments. Perhaps I was expecting more focus on the father. If one enjoys home videos of other families, this book might be of interest.
Buried secrets.......2007-06-13
I almost wish Lucinda Franks chose not to write this book.It was fairly obvious from the start that her father didn't want to remember his role in war..at one point she even asks him if he was a nazi sympathizer.definitely not.My goodness Ms. Frank,leave the poor old guy alone.The book tells a lot about her father and a lot about his daughter.When one of his old buddies phones her and said her dad needs living expenses, some extra cash, she responds that she and her husband have to maintain 3 houses, she can't send dad a few extra dollars..she visits , sees a pile of rancid leftovers in the refrigerator and proceeds to reheat the freshest one for her dad's meal..Golly Lucinda, buy and roast a chicken, peel a few potatoes, buy some canned vegetables.. how hard can that be? Poor dad wears K-mart clothes, so order something for him from Lands'End, you don't even have to go to a store. Again, this is a book that didn't need to be written.
My Father's Secret War: A Memoir.......2007-05-30
I found this book to be very well-written, powerful and thought provoking. I can't even imagine what I would have done or felt in the authors situation. Reading this book made me re-evaluate some of my thoghts, feeling and actions as my mother was dying of cancer. The historical aspect of this book alone makes it worth reading, but if you are dealing or have dealt with someone afflicted with cancer or alzhiemers, this book can make you both laugh and cry.
Book Description
In the first of Ian Fleming's James Bond novels, 007 declares war on Le Chiffre, French communist and paymaster of the Soviet murder organization SMERSH.
The battle begins with a fifty-million-franc game of baccarat, gains momentum during Bond's fiery love affair with a sensuous lady spy, and reaches a chilling climax with fiendish torture at the hands of a master sadist. For incredible suspense, unexpected thrills, and extraordinary danger, nothing can beat James Bond in his inaugural adventure.
Customer Reviews:
Introducing Bond...James Bond.......2007-08-12
In the world of spy fiction, no name is greater than James Bond. This is primarily due to the long-running series of movies, but before the films, there were Ian Fleming's books. The first novel to feature Bond was 1953's Casino Royale (which also happens to be the most recent movie).
In this debut novel, Bond is a new "Double-O" agent assigned to ruin a Russian agent named Le Chiffre. Le Chiffre has been living beyond his means while maintaining his cover; if his bosses find out, they will send SMERSH after him, a special unit dedicated to assassination of both foreign spies and Russian ones who've defected or fouled up. To recover his money, Le Chiffre has gone gambling, particularly playing baccarat. Bond, who is the British Secret Service's best gambler, is assigned to win Le Chiffre's money.
Although baccarat is not a well-known game compared to poker or blackjack, Fleming carefully describes the rules so the reader can follow the action. Le Chiffre's role is that of the banker; in exchange for risking a large amount of money, he gets the house's small advantage. Le Chiffre also doesn't play quite fair, and is perfectly willing to use violence to achieve his ends.
While some Bond movies are utterly dissimilar to the books that share their titles, the Daniel Craig version follows the novel rather well. There are definite differences (the movie, for example, uses poker instead of baccarat, and there isn't quite as much action), but the plot is mostly the same. (There have actually been two previous versions of this story (one movie and one TV show), but I am not familiar enough with either one to compare it to the book.)
At the center of it, of course is Bond, who, at least in this early novel, is more human than superhuman and with his distinct flaws, particularly his cavalier attitude towards women. This is not great literature, but that isn't Fleming's intent: instead, it is an entertaining suspense novel, particularly geared towards adult men. And in this, Fleming succeeds well. Compared to more recent suspense fiction, this is pretty lightweight (and barely 200 pages), but it is well-worth reading if you're a fan of the genre or the Bond movies.
Super Reader.......2007-08-04
James Bond is a secret agent who is happily able to blend in and get by in the high stakes gambling world. This is his job here, to take down a baccarat operation that is moving funds to SMERSH.
Along the way he has to deal with a beautiful double agent, and a spot of nasty torture.
After his experiences, he thinks about giving the game away, but eventually decides to come back, after his recovery.
A surprisingly poor start.......2007-08-02
'Casino Royale' was the first James Bond novel published- and I am a little surprised that Bondmania ever took off, since this is not a great book.
The plot is that a soviet agent 'Le Chiffre' has lost some union money, and is gambling to try and win it back before anyone finds out. It is too late though. British Intellegence has discovered this and in an attempt to cause a scandal has sent James Bond to defeat 'Le Chiffre' at Baccarat at the French resort of Casino Royale.
Unfortunately the Baccarat scenes are not at all exciting, and Bond himself is not a very inspiring hero. He is mean, arrogant and ultimately incompetent. He arrogantly goes out with Vesper to a club after beating 'Le Chiffre' instead of heading back to London. He then naively gets captured and tortured by 'Le Chiffre' and only escapes when 'Le Chiffre' is assasinated by an agent from SMERSH. And through it all he gets played by Vesper.
After Bond escapes 'Le Chiffre' the book meanders on for another few chapters, detailing Bond's relationship with Vesper- not very thrilling stuff. Fortunately better things were to come in later books.
Note as Good as the Bond Movies.......2007-07-30
This will be the only James Bond book that I read. I grew up on the movies. The book is a short, easy read. But it just does not measure up to the action packed movie.
Pleased to Meet You, Mr. Bond.......2007-07-05
It certainly says something that more than 50 years after his introduction, the name James Bond is probably the most famous name on earth. Far be it for me to argue with success like that. And it all began over a not so friendly game of baccarat against a slime bag known only as Le Chiffre in CASINO ROYALE.
The main plot line, as people are probably now aware due to the recent movie adaptation, is to bankrupt Le Chiffre, who foolishly wasted money entrusted to him by some rather dark characters. If Le Chiffre does not win the money back, well, no need for Bond to exercise his license to kill, as the cats Le Chiffre runs with will do that job quite nicely instead. Along with the simple plot line we get the first Bond cutie of Vesper Lynd, Bond's CIA counterpart Felix Leiter, torture scenes, love and betrayal.
We also get a James Bond quite different than many would expect based upon their familiarity with the movies. The Bond of CASINO ROYALE is emotionally vulnerable and not as sure of himself as we might think. Bond himself does not seem enthusiatic when relaying the details of his first two kills that earned him his double-O designation. Yet even this Bond can be ice cold, as the reader discovers at the end of the book. His reaction to Vesper Lynd's betrayal is that of a ruthless killer with a job that had to be done.
CASINO ROYALE may seem a little dated by now, but so what? The same can be said of Sherlock Holmes books or the writings of Dashiell Hammett. Yet those are excellent. Time does a good job of separating wheat from chaff and we can now enjoy those books that time has demonstrated are worth our attention. It may not be a classic of fine literature, but CASINO ROYALE, and James Bond, are classics of their genre, and for good reason indeed.
Product Description
Ana Montes appeared to be a model employee of the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA). Known to her coworkers as the Queen of Cuba, she was an overachiever who advanced quickly through the ranks of Latin American specialists to become the intelligence community's top analyst on Cuban affairs. But throughout her sixteen-year career at DIA, Montes sent Castro some of America's most closely guarded secrets and at the same time influenced what the United States thought it knew about Cuba. When she was finally arrested in September 2001, she became the most senior American intelligence official ever accused of operating as a Cuban spy from within the federal government. Unrepentant as she serves out her time in a federal prison in Texas, Montes remains the only member of the intelligence community ever convicted of espionage on behalf of the Cuban government.
This inside account of the investigation that led to her arrest was written by Scott W. Carmichael, the DIA's senior counterintelligence investigator who persuaded the FBI to delve deeper into Montes activities. Although Montes did not fit the FBI's profile of a spy and easily managed to defeat the agency's polygraph exam, Carmichael became suspicious of her activities and, with the FBI, over a period of several years developed a solid case against her. Here he tells the story of that long and ultimately successful spy hunt. Carmichael reveals the details of their efforts to bring her to justice, offering readers a front-row seat for the first major U.S. espionage case of the twenty-first century. She was arrested less than twenty-four hours before learning details of the U.S. plan to invade Afghanistan post-September 11. Motivated by ideology and not money, Montes was one of the last "true believers" of the Communist era. Because her arrest came just ten days after 9/11, it went largely unnoticed by the American public. This book calls attention to the grave damage Montes inflicted on U.S. security--Carmichael even implicates her in the death of a Green Beret fighting Cuban-backed insurgent in El Salvador and the damage she would have continued to inflict had she not been caught.
Customer Reviews:
An eye opener!.......2007-09-26
Before reading True Believer, I never understood the impact of the spy on the country which employs him/her and its sons and daughters fighting on foreign soil to protect their country. It's hard to believe that someone so intelligent and so well educated as Anna Montes could be so loathsome as to pass military secrets to Fidel Castro's followers, not to mention all of the countries with which these followers share their secrets-- Iran, Venezuala, etc. The writer's style is unique, more like a day-to-day diary of how Ms. Montes activities barely scratched Michael Carmichael's comfort zone for years. I want my friends to read it so we can discuss it together. Everyone owes it to their own knowledge base to read this true story.
Good Title Deceptived Book .......2007-09-20
If this is the way US agencies operates no wonder we are in so bad chape to act before things happens... The author only fills out pages without saying anything of value including Ana's investigation, trial or life... It does not offer anything relevant about who or why... The book acomplish a message: creating doubts about how many Ana's might exist in government agencies...
The search for Cuba's master spy........2007-09-14
Ana Montes was Cuba's most highly placed spy inside the American intelligence community. For 16 years she burrowed her way into the DIA rising to become that Agencies leading expert on all matters related to Cuba. This is the story of how she was eventually caught by the author Scott Carmichael and a team of FBI agents. He describes how her treason contributed to the death of at least one American Special Forces advisor, Greg Fronnius, in El Salvador in 1986. Finally, he describes that he wrote this book in part to alert the American public and the rest of the intelligence community to his strongly held suspicion that there are other Cuban moles like Montes who have yet to be discovered.
How could a leftist be hired in the first place?.......2007-09-03
Ana Montes pretended to be the perfect intelligence employee. She eventually became perhaps the number one analyst in our entire country to study and recommend polices dealing with the Cuban Communist government. Scott W. Carmichael was a lead investigator who eventually gathered enough evidence to send her to prison. You will have a hard time putting this book down until it is finished. The author has indeed written an engaging book---and I am highly recommending it. Still, he ignores a crucial question: why was she ever hired in the first place? Montes was known to be someone possessing very left-wing views long before her employment begin. How in heavens name did she ever pass a simple background check? I read the book a few days ago and only now are the questions coming to the surface. I am flabbergasted that Montes was not under suspicion long before her arrest. Didn't it strike anyone odd that she was unmarried and childless? Also, why the reluctance to spend her free time with her working associates? Were there never any give-and-take conversations concerning politics? I am just not getting it. There is a possibility that I'm deluding myself, but it is my guess that I would have sensed something wrong within the first few months working alongside Ana Montes.
You should also read Rowan Scarborough's Sabotage: America's Enemies Within the CIA. Our intelligence agencies are filled with employees who would have been considered traitors in an earlier area. Another book that must be read is Aid And Comfort: Jane Fonda in North Vietnam by Henry Mark Holzer and Erika Holzer. A lot of confusion has resulted because Jane Fonda was never tried for treason. If she is not a traitor---who is? What constitutes legitimate dissent from that of outright treason? Are we no longer able to make a clear distinction in a postmodernist cultural milieu? Scott W. Carmichael may want to tackle this dilemma in his next book.
Unexpected great book on Cuban affairs.......2007-07-17
Amazon recommended this book after looking for Che books. I bought it and I was locked into it even at the Prologue stage. It is a quick read, and very interesting. I highly recommend it.
Average customer rating:
- Great series
- As always...
- Ark Angel Best in Series
- Ark Angel
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Ark Angel (Alex Rider)
Anthony Horowitz
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ASIN: 0142407380
Release Date: 2007-04-05 |
Book Description
The sniper's bullet nearly killed him. But Alex Rider managed to survive . . . just in time for more trouble to come his way. When kidnappers attempt to snatch a fellow patient from the exclusive hospital where Alex is recovering, he knows he has to stop him. But the boy he saves is no ordinary patient: He is the son of Nikolai Drevin, one of the richest men in the world. The eccentric billionaire has been targeted by Force Three, a group of eco-terrorists who claim his project Ark Angel—the first luxury hotel in outer space—is a danger to the environment. Soon Alex discovers that Force Three will stop at nothing to destroy Ark Angel, even if it means sending four hundred tons of molten glass and steel hurtling down to Earth and killing millions . . . unless Alex can stop them.
Customer Reviews:
Great series.......2007-10-07
Last year my son bought the first 5 books in this series from the school book order. This last month, I finally read the whole series. He bought this book this summer. I love the spy and all that stuff, I am a fan of the Bourne movies, I tried reading the books, but there were too many swear words. So now these books. I love them, they are action packed have you at the edge of your seat and I can say that it doesn't bother me that my ten year old son keeps reading them over and over. It is fun to read the same things that your kids love and love it so much your self. I am addicted to this series. This book was great on it's own, you don't need the whole series for back ground. But reading them all is so much fun.
As always..........2007-09-05
He's done it again!! Anthony Horowitz perfecty presents the next book in his series. I loved it.
** For people who have never read the books start in order with Stormbreaker. Make sure you read the book before you see the movie!!
Ark Angel Best in Series.......2007-08-11
Both my 15 and 11 year old sons read the Alex Rider book series and they loved Ark Angel the best out of all the books so far. They are already asking for me to pre-order the next book.
Ark Angel.......2007-08-02
Anything to get my young son to read is great. He loved the Alex Rider series of books.
English Paper.......2007-06-08
"He didn't even make it halfway down the corridor. The full force of a twenty-pound oxygen cylinder hit him right between the legs. His face went mauve and he dropped the knife... He crumpled, eyes bulging." Usually M16 and the CIA don't chose 14 year old to be a spy, but Alex is an exception. Alex almost is killed on every mission he goes on. Alex Rider has been in some bad situations, but nothing tops what is in this book. First, he was sent to the hospital because of a nearly fatal sniper bullet. Then he was "accidentally" kidnapped. He was almost killed in a burning building. Then he tries to get two weeks of R & R. but he has to try to spend it with one of the richest people in the world. Nikolie Drevin (the rich man) challenges Alex to a go-kart race. Sounds easy? Try racing against someone who will do whatever it takes to win (even killing), oh and did I mention their going over 80 MPH! The karts are open wheeled and have no roll cage. The last person to race Nikolie had a broken arm, broken ribs, and a fractured skull. Drevin finds out Alex works for M16 and the CIA. Drevin tried to kill him by locking him in a sunken ship when Alex went scuba diving. Alex gets back to the beach and hides. He tries to see if Drevin is going to run but is captured. He gets away then kite surfs about eight miles before the CIA rescues him. A rocket caring a bomb is taken to Ark Angel and Alex either has to defuse it of move it (the bomb that is). Alex succeeds and lands in the waters off Australia. I recommend this book to anyone who is interested in the Alex Rider series or likes realistic fiction books.
I like this book because it isn't too far from what can happen today. Like when Alex is trapped in the sunken WW2 ship. And when he's trapped in the burning building.
I also like how he was able to get away (for a little bit) from the people that try to kidnap him. He got rid of "Silver Tooth" by using a defibrillator on his neck. He got rid of "Spectacles" with an air tank in between the legs. "Combat Jacket" was hit in the chest with a ten-pound medicine. And "Metal Watch" was "sucked" into a MRI machine.
When Alex went to space was cool and funny. Whenever he tried to push of a wall gently, he would launch himself. Then he saw Kasper (not the ghost!). He had a knife and tried to kill Alex. Alex wins (of course) and moves the bomb. Then he lands in the water on earth.
A. Snively
Book Description
Spy tells, for the first time, the full, authoritative story of how FBI agent Robert Hanssen, code name grayday, spied for Russia for twenty-two years in what has been called the “worst intelligence disaster in U.S. history”–and how he was finally caught in an incredible gambit by U.S. intelligence.
David Wise, the nation’s leading espionage writer, has called on his unique knowledge and unrivaled intelligence sources to write the definitive, inside story of how Robert Hanssen betrayed his country, and why.
Spy at last reveals the mind and motives of a man who was a walking paradox: FBI counterspy, KGB mole, devout Catholic, obsessed pornographer who secretly televised himself and his wife having sex so that his best friend could watch, defender of family values, fantasy James Bond who took a stripper to Hong Kong and carried a machine gun in his car trunk.
Brimming with startling new details sure to make headlines,
Spy discloses:
-the previously untold story of how the FBI got the actual file on Robert Hanssen out of KGB headquarters in Moscow for $7 million in an unprecedented operation that ended in Hanssen’s arrest.
-how for three years, the FBI pursued a CIA officer, code name gray deceiver, in the mistaken belief that he was the mole they were seeking inside U.S. intelligence. The innocent officer was accused as a spy and suspended by the CIA for nearly two years.
-why Hanssen spied, based on exclusive interviews with Dr. David L. Charney, the psychiatrist who met with Hanssen in his jail cell more than thirty times. Hanssen, in an extraordinary arrangement, authorized Charney to talk to the author.
-the full story of Robert Hanssen’s bizarre sex life, including the hidden video camera he set up in his bedroom and how he plotted to drug his wife, Bonnie, so that his best friend could father her child.
- how Hanssen and the CIA’s Aldrich Ames betrayed three Russians secretly spying for the FBI–including tophat, a Soviet general–who were then executed by Moscow.
-that after Hanssen was already working for the KGB, he directed a study of moles in the FBI when–as he alone knew–he was the mole.
Robert Hanssen betrayed the FBI. He betrayed his country. He betrayed his wife. He betrayed his children. He betrayed his best friend, offering him up to the KGB. He betrayed his God. Most of all, he betrayed himself. Only David Wise could tell the astonishing, full story, and he does so, in masterly style, in
Spy.
Customer Reviews:
Far and away the best book on the subject.......2007-09-30
Without a doubt, this book is better than any others on the case of Robert Hanssen. Wise has absolutely the best sources (just compare the acknowledgements) and it is very fairly and professionally written along all lines. Far and away better than "The Bureau and the Mole."
Couldn't put it down ..........2007-09-21
Simply put, one of the best books I've read in recent years. After renting the movie "Breach" which is loosly based on Hansen, I wanted to know more about why and how he became a spy. This book answered all that and much more. Very well written ... no loose ends. Just a great book. Such a shame that a man as intelligent as Robert Hansen used his gifts for evil and not for good. There is some evidenct that suggests that the Russians didn't even know his identity! Hard to believe they didn't have someone watching him as he picked up the money at the drop sites but ... that could be one reason he got away with it for solong. But the book also tells of the many times he should have been caught but talked his way out of it. Read this book ... it's excellent.
A companion to Breach.......2007-06-21
After seeing Breach, I wanted to learn more about the Hanssen case, and this is the first book I found in the library. Robert Hanssen is a fascinating subject, and this book provided information that was missing or glossed over in the film. For example, money seems a major factor in his spying. I did not get that impression from the movie. Also, the movie portrays him as combative and confrontational, whereas the book depicts him as socially awkward, aloof, and a nerd.
While I respect the author's research, I am unimpressed by his writing. He does not tell the Hanssen story in an engaging way. Far too much time is spent describing the bit players. Do I really need to know that this FBI agent was "tall and affable" and this woman was "bright and articulate"? In my opinion, the book should have provided more speculation on Hanssen's motives. I also found the author's attempts at creativity and levity to be distracting and cliche. For example, note this sentence: "This time, he decided, he would play in the majors" (46). I also dislike the author's occasional moments of self-applause. For example, in a footnote he mentions that Hanssen thought the author is "the best espionage writer around" (271). Congratulations David, this pervert likes your work.
"Spy" gives a complete overview of the Hanssen case. I recommend it for its insight despite its literary flaws; however I suspect that more compelling books exist.
Oh What Tangled Webs He Weaved.......2007-06-20
Robert Hanssen was in a league of his own. There wasn't another spy to compare him to, and not only for the amount of damage he did to compromise American intelligence to Russia. This was a man of several contradictions. It must have been hard for him to keep his respective roles straight. He was an agent for the FBI, a devoted family man, devout Catholic, obsessed with porn, spying for Russia, and became infatuated with a stripper to the extent that he took her on a trip to Hong Kong and bought her a Mercedes. He was the computer guru who appeared contemptious of other co-workers. It appears to me that he often employed the defense mechanism called reaction formation which means he took an attitude with others the opposite of which produced anxiety in himself. He not only betrayed his country by using his job for personal gain, but horribly betrayed his wife by sharing sexual photos of her to his friend. Hanssen justifies his spying by saying his first job at the FBI was in Scarsdale, New York, and the cost of living there with his minimal salary forced him into needing extra money. Hanssen spent over 20 years compromising America's secrets through approximately 18 drops of documents for the Russians. His Russian contact made sure to massage Hanssen's ego with flattery in communication with him. What the Russians paid for this information was a pittance compared to its value. A tunnel built under the Soviet embassy in Washington that cost hundreds of millions of dollars was for naught as he passed this on to the Russians. Three Soviets working for the FBI were named by Hanssen and were called back to Russia and executed. Apparently it didn't bother his conscience because he would always confess his spying along with his other sins to a Catholic priest. It doesn't appear right to me that he should be able to confess such law infractions and not be reported, but that's another story. This is the third book I've read on Robert Hanssen's life of espionage, and I feel this one is the best.
Slow start, but interesting.......2007-06-11
This book is most appropriate for anyone who believes in US government conspiracies. The inability of the FBI to catch a spy who seemed to put out crazy person vibes for years is a bit scary. Robert Hanssen was one strange cat. Maybe he was smart, but he didn't come across as too smart in this book. It is no shocker that a guy who claimed to take religion and family values seriously ends up as a huge hypocrite. The book gets more interesting towards the end. Sad story.
Book Description
The story of the most dangerous triple–agent in US history, by intrepid investigative reporter Peter Lance.
Peter Lance, author of the highly acclaimed 1000 Years for Revenge and Cover Up, returns to uncover the story of Ali Mohamed–a trusted security advisor of Osama bin Laden who hoodwinked the United States for more than a decade. As Lance reveals for this first time, this one man served in a series of high–security position within the United States security establishment–as a Special Forces advisor, FBI informant, and CIA operative–while simultaneously helping orchestrate the al Qaeda campaign of terror that led to 9/11.
In October 2000, after tricking three U.S. intelligence agencies for almost two decades, Ali Mohamed appeared in handcuffs and a blue prison jumpsuit in a Federal District courtroom on Manhattan's Lower East Side, where he pleaded guilty five times. His crimes included brokering terror summits, financing an attack on two Black Hawk helicopters, training jihadis in improvised bomb building and the creation of secret cells. And yet for decades Mohamed had lived the life of a Silicon Valley computer executive. How did this evildoer move in and out of and around the U.S.? How did he become a naturalized citizen, marry an American woman and infiltrate three of America's top intelligence agencies–the CIA, the Defense Intelligence Agency and the FBI? With utter complacence, ruthlessness, and ease, and with no small amount of oversight from the outflanked U.S. intelligence community.
From the Able Danger scandal of the Clinton Administration to today's CIA Leakgate, Mohamed appears at nearly every crucial turn of America's terror probes. An important final piece to the 9/11 investigation, Triple Cross penetrates Mohamed's secret past and the dark reaches of Al Qaeda to reveal the danger that still threatens America–and the staggering errors of America's homeland security.
Customer Reviews:
Triple Cross by Peter Lance.......2007-09-06
Triple Cross is scary when you realize the government
cover ups which could have stopped 9/11. The work done
by Peter Lance to uncover these facts is amazing.
Outstanding Work.......2007-07-05
Peter Lance has produced a magnificent book. His work needs to be followed up by multiple congessional committees and numerous on air investigative reports. Patrick Fitzgerald, Jack Cloonan, Dietrick Snell, and other highranking DOJ and FBI officials must testify under oath in primetime on national television. Peter Lance should be the lead investigator for the hearing. Americans have no idea the scope of the war against alqaeda. this is much older than 9/11. We have been at war with them since 1989.
I-49, Alec Station and Able Danger need to throughly examined for their inability to connect the dots before 9/11. I-49 was the FBI-DOJ BinLaden taskforce run by Patrick Fitzgerald. Alec Station was the CIA's BinLaden group. Able Danger was the Pentagons data-mining operation that linked Ali Mohammed (top alqeada spy linked with all major cells in the world and the US), Mohammed Atta (lead hijacker on 9/11), Ramzi Yousef (1st WTC bomber and, airliner bombing plots), Egyptian Islamic Jihad Cleric Sheik Abdul Rahman, and Osama BinLaden.
This book proves that the FBI cannot fight terrorism
we need to copy the british domestic intelligence service, MI5.
WE NEED TO HAVE ANSWERS. THIS BOOK IS A GREAT FIRST STEP... MUCH MORE WORK NEEDS TO BE DONE. HIGH RANKING OFFICIALS HAVE A LOT OF EXPLAINING TO DO...
TRIPLE CROSS AND AT THE CENTER OF THE STORM.......2007-06-03
THE ONLY WAY YOU ARE GOING TO GET THE FULL PICTURE OF INTERNATIONAL TERRORISH IS TO READ GEORGE TENET'S BOOK AT THE CENTER OF THE STORM AND TRIPLE CROSS. WE ARE TALKING ABOUT 1153 PAGES OF READING. AFTER YOU HAVE READ BOTH BOOKS BE SURE TO READ BOB WOODWARDS REVIEW OF AT THE CENTER OF THE STORM. IF YOU ARE NOT UP TO IT I GUESS YOU CAN JUST READ THE REVIEWS OF BOTH BOOKS WHICh IS THE LAZY MANS OUT. AFTER THIS READING ASSIGNMENT BE SURE TO READ VALERIE PLAME'S BOOK WHICH IS SUPPOSED TO BE PUBLICHED IN OCTORBER. TENET'S APPOINTMENT AS DIRECTOR OF CIA IN 1997, COVERT OPERATIONS IN AFGHANISTAN AND HIS FAILURE TO GO DIRECTLY TO THE PRESIDENT TO WARN OF THE IMPENDING 9/11 ATTACK THE COUNTER ATTACK AGAINST al-Q'aida. TRIPLE CROSS OUTLINES HOW BIN LADENS MASTER SPY PENETRATED THE CIA
THE GREEN BERETS AND THE FBI AND WHY PATRICK FITZGERALS ASSISTANT US ATTORNEY FAILED TO STOPHIM. THE NAME OF THIS MASTER SPY OR AT LEAST THE LATEST NAME IS ALI MOHAMED. HE REMAINS IN CUSTODIAL WITNESS PROTECTION AS FAR AS ABOUT A YEAR AGO.
communication breakdown.......2007-05-13
Convincing me that information gathered by our best intelligence agencies and personnel we Americans trust in the security of our great country could be such idiots is truly scary.What a fantastic insite into not only how these agencies work but who is able to "work" them.
The real story!.......2007-03-22
This is the best of many books written in the aftermath of 9/11 because it ties up many loose ends of earlier books as more information has become available. Whether right or left, everyone should value this book, and no one will ever again wonder whether anyone in the government knew or should have known about it before it happened. Although no one should consider this a "hit" piece on the government, Lance provides compelling proof that multiple government officials were either grossly negligent in failing to uncover 9/11 or willfully chose not to investigate matters that would have led them to discover the plot, for their own selfish reasons, for example, to cover up other bad behavior.
Book Description
Startling revelations from the OSS, the CIA, and the Nixon White house
Think you know everything there is to know about the OSS, the Cold War, the CIA, and Watergate? Think again. In American Spy, one of the key figures in postwar international and political espionage tells all. Former OSS and CIA operative and White House staffer E. Howard Hunt takes you into the covert designs of Presidents Eisenhower, Kennedy, Johnson, and Nixon:
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His involvement in the CIA coup in Guatemala in 1954, the Bay of Pigs invasion, and more
-
His work with CIA officials such as Allen Dulles and Richard Helms
His friendship with William F. Buckley Jr., whom Hunt brought into the CIA
-
The amazing steps the CIA took to manipulate the media in America and abroad
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The motives behind the break-in at Daniel Ellsberg's psychiatrist's office
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Why the White House "plumbers" were formed and what they accomplished
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The truth behind Operation Gemstone, a series of planned black ops activities against Nixon's political enemies
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A minute-by-minute account of the Watergate break-in
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Previously unreleased details of the post-Watergate cover-up
Complete with documentation from audiotape transcripts, handwritten notes, and official documents, American Spy is must reading for anyone who is fascinated by real-life spy tales, high-stakes politics, and, of course, Watergate.
Customer Reviews:
I recommend this book.......2007-08-21
E. Howard Hunt was a patriot. The stories of his spy training, service in WWII in a unit that was a forerunner of today's Green Berets, subsequent career in the CIA which included playing a pivital role in overthrowing a burganing communist tyrant alone makes him the stuff of legend and this boook worth buying. He admits to having made a terrible mistake by becoming involved in the Watergate affair. But in his defence he did so partly because financial burdens brought on by his daughters long illness drove him into becoming one of the 'plumbers.' Along with the fact that Presidential elections up until that piont had long been influenced by, intelligence operatives, and even the likes of J. Edgar Hoover. As for the unfounded ,and slanderous allegation that he managed the JFK assassination, doesn't one think that if it were true, would'nt he have used that information to barter a lessor sentence for himself than the 35 years Sirica subsequently gave him?
Well-written Thriller!!!!.......2007-07-09
This book reads just like a mystery novel. It's easy to read and full of suspense, so I couldn't wait to turn the page to find out what happens. The pages on Watergate were especially suspenseful. This book was good from beginning to end. It's interesting to get the inside information on CIA training and activities from someone who was really there. Also, it was good to read about Watergate from someone who was really there and knows what happened. He also fills this book with stories about his personal life, his parents, wife and children. At the end, he offers his views on how to fix the agency today. This is a very good and easy to read book! I enjoyed every page of it.
junk.......2007-06-14
This man, even as he looked at death, could not even come close to the truth. If you buy this book call me i got a bridge for you...
mmmm just to be straight i bought this book...so don't be a sucker like.....me
a disappointing effort.......2007-05-28
I really looked forward to reading this book having been in college when Watergate grasped the nation I wanted to see how well I remembered some events. But after reading half the book I knew that much of what I was absorbing was the result of a memory even more flawed than my own. The topper came when he has President Eisenhower in office in 1950 when even a junior high schooler could tell you Eisenhower was elected in 1952 - after the Korean War. After that how reliable could the rest of the book be. Was it just a case of poor editing, or did Hunt really believe what was written? It left me questioning how much of the book was meant as an attempt to absolve himself of his crimes or justify the mistakes he made of his own free will. Is he trying to rewrite history? I just don't know, and after finishing the entire book I still am not sure if this is non-fiction or fiction.
Important And candid book........2007-05-15
There was a real snotty review of this book by the NY Times( the bastion of limosine liberalism and Oswald did it alone BS) But, anyone interested in Watergate or the JFK Assassination should read it- the reviewer doesn't have a clue more than the man in the street what Howard hunt, knew and he had a long association with the Assassination losing a lawsuit where he was 11-22-63 as shown in Mark Lane's Plausible denial. I'm not saying Hunt didn't embellish, or possibly deflate his own role,maybe threw in a couple bogus names, but the names he picks-the key ones: William Harvey, David Morales, and David Phillps all have several suspicious things about them in this regard, were all heavy drinkers and hated The Kennedys with a purple passion. There is nothing far fetched about their alleged involvement.one of the big reasons the conspiracy worked is no one in the Wash press corps could fathom it...& whatever Hoover said, or spokesman for Govt. Agencies was accepted without question in that day, thus denying a mountain of germane contrary evidence. As far as watergate- very interesting and it was horrible his wife died in the plane crash, and Hunt got 35 years from Judge Sirica!What they did was illegal, but nothing compared to what the current Administration is doing and though Hunt is hardly a shining knight, you can really see things through his eyes and his observations on notable people are just priceless and often I believe highly accurate ..In a sea of evil pathological liars that were much higher up the food chain-Hoover,Nixon, Helms, Angeton,& LBJ Hunt wasn't the epitome of malevolance as he was portrayed in the Establishment..there were people far worse...
Average customer rating:
- A Terrific Page Turner!
- Weakest Boyd I've read
- he's my favorite contempo writer
- A real page turner
- a surprisingly good read
|
Restless: A Novel
William Boyd
Manufacturer: Bloomsbury USA
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ASIN: 1596912367
Release Date: 2006-10-03 |
Book Description
It is Paris, 1939. Twenty-eight year old Eva Delectorskaya is at the funeral of her beloved younger brother. Standing among her family and friends she notices a stranger. Lucas Romer is a patrician looking Englishman with a secretive air and a persuasive manner. He also has a mysterious connection to Kolia, Eva's murdered brother. Romer recruits Eva and soon she is traveling to Scotland to be trained as a spy and work for his underground network. After a successful covert operation in Belgium, she is sent to New York City, where she is involved in manipulating the press in order to shift American public sentiment toward getting involved in WWII.
Three decades on and Eva has buried her dangerous history. She is now Sally Gilmartin, a respectable English widow, living in a picturesque Cotswold village. No one, not even her daughter Ruth, knows her real identity. But once a spy, always a spy. Sally has far too many secrets, and she has no one to trust. Before it is too late, she must confront the demons of her past. This time though she can't do it alone, she needs Ruth's help. Restless is a thrilling espionage novel set during the Second World War and a haunting portrait of a female spy. Full of tension and drama, emotion and history, this is storytelling at its finest.
Customer Reviews:
A Terrific Page Turner!.......2007-10-04
I'm new to this author so I didn't know what to expect, especially when I read that the story was about espionage that took place during Nazi Germany. Robert Ludlum has always been my favorite author for stories during this period, but I must say William Boyd ranks right up there with Mr. Ludlum. The story was a thrilling read and the research was apparent in the details that the author ensured was portrayed in the story. Once I started reading the book it moved along at brisk pace and soon I found myself reading page after page. I could hardly put the book down. Just a terrific page turner and a super read.
Weakest Boyd I've read.......2007-09-21
This is a well enough written book, as one would expect from William Boyd. That said, its the weakest Boyd I've ever read. This time his portrayal of real life characters in interesting times and extraordinary circumstances falls flat. I found it very hard to care even a bit for the daughter's story. I found it only a little harder to care for the mother's pretty-girl-turned-murderous-spy plot. Even the wartime situations the mother is involved in and that lead up to the climax of the novel are very far from enthralling. Its almost as if this is a novel without protagonists, since the protagnists themselves and the plot around them is so uninteresting. Emphasizing all this are the surrounding characters (ie the Iranian english student, the estranged german father of Jochen, his brother and Ilse) who not only add nothing to the plot but provide no really interesting subplots of their own (actually, to the contrary).
Boyd can be wonderful. But for wonderful Boyd please go for "An Ice Cream War".
he's my favorite contempo writer.......2007-09-18
i have read all of william boyd's novels, his short stories, screenplays and most of his essays--he's far and away my favorite contemporary novelist.
"Restless" is brilliant; it's right up there with his best novels, "The New
Confessions," "Brazzaville Beach," and "Any Human Heart."
the only ones that don't come up to scratch are "The Blue Afternoon" and
"Armadillo."
if you like Ishiguro, Amis, McEwan, or the divine David Mitchell, you will LOVE Boyd's stuff.
just get it!
A real page turner.......2007-09-15
Ruth is a single mother who teaches English as a second language in Oxford, England. One day her mother hands her the first installment in her autobiography, and Ruth discovers that everything she thought she knew about her mother's background is a lie, and that her mother was actually a secret agent by the name of Eva, who worked for the British immediately prior to and during WW2.
From here, the book alternates between Ruth's life in the present day and her mother's story during the war. Like Ruth, I found myself caught up in the spy saga and hungry to see how it developed. William Boyd has done a great job of creating a plausible and intriguing storyline for Eva - more John le Carre than James Bond. While he captures the isolation of Eva's world and the mundane elements of her job, the story also builds with genuine tension and pace. Ruth's life, on the other hand, is more prosaic, but as she gets caught up in her mother's story, she loses her jaded view of the world and starts to see potential intrigue in the people and events around her.
This is an easy book to read and I enjoyed it very much. The details about Eva's training and life as a spy felt real and fascinating to me. The twists and turns in her story kept me hooked without feeling contrived or false. As I read the book I could feel it building towards some kind of climax but I had absolutely no idea where it would go. The mother's and daughter's stories eventually intersect in a way that I found very satisfying. I thought it was a great read from start to finish.
a surprisingly good read.......2007-09-13
I haven't read anything by William Boyd in quite a few years and can't recall which of his earlier books I did, in fact, read but I must say that I thoroughly enjoyed this book and was wondering if any of his earlier books go into similar territory.
I thought the technique of shifting back and forth between Eva's wartime adventures and the current period (though the whole book is evidently a flashback to the 70's)when she reveals her exciting past to her daughter was very well done and made this a compelling read. In some respects, this book reminded me of several of Alan Furst's or Ward Just's novels. Well researched and with a real element of suspense.
Book Description
If you had to kill three people to save your best friend's life, would you do it?
When John Rain decides to get out of the business, his hand is forced by rogue CIA operative Jim Hilger. Hilger kidnaps Dox, Rain's trusted partner and closest friend, and offers Rain a choice: carry out a final assignment, or bear the responsibility for Dox's murder.
For a professional like John Rain, the choice ought to be easy: Do the job-a series of three hits-then walk away. But how does Rain know Jim Hilger won't kill Dox anyway, once the assignment is complete? How does he know that each of the hits isn't simultaneously a setup for Rain himself? And what will he do when he finds out that among the targets of this lethal game of extortion is someone else Rain cares about deeply?
From the urban canyons of Silicon Valley and New York to the lush forests of Bali, the boulevards of Paris, and the old killing fields of Vietnam, Rain must grapple with his age, his enemies, and most of all, his conscience in a battle that not even Rain-"the stuff great characters are made of" (Entertainment Weekly)-can hope to survive intact.
Customer Reviews:
A vehicle for Eisler's personal politics.......2007-10-08
Barry Eisler is not shy about his left wing politics, nor his hate of the Bush administration. Frankly, I could care less what he thinks. His Rain books have been exceptionally original and well written. I have read each of them and I have thouroughly enjoyed them, until now.
While this story was probably the least gripping in the series, it may still have been an enjoyable read if not for Eisler's frequent spewing of vitriol aimed at the Bush administration. His liberal tirades are so frequent and full of vinegar that they progress from mildly annoying to childish to flat out distractions.
On the strength of his other works, I MAY consider reading another Eisler book in the future, but this one could well leave a bad enough aftertaste that I change my mind. There are plenty of great writers today that are content to keep their politics out of their stories, and after all, I don't need to pay $20 to hear Eisler spit this crap out...I can turn on the TV and listen to Keith Olbermann or some other idiot.
"Mr. Softy" John Rain has got to go!.......2007-10-05
I love John Rain the Bad guy..and have looked forward to Barry Eisler's new book being release; so, am disappointed with his efforts to show John Rain's emotional side..if he is going to make John Rain soft, then he might as well kill him off. Better yet, kill off his new girlfriend..the blond, what's her name..don't like her at all! Dox is great in this book and without him it would not have been worth reading. As always, the descriptions of all the exoctic places John visits are wonderful and the action scenes are great too..new gadgets, intrigue..still works..I just don't need to worry that Rain is going all soft and mushy on us.
Barry takes a breather...........2007-10-03
I love this series so much so that I had Requiem ordered in hardcover in the US and sent to me in Australia, where it is still not available. It gets 4 stars as compared to other authors but I'd probably give it only 3 if compared to other books in the series. Rain seems to be getting a bit soft with age. Please don't let this turn into a sappy story of an old battered warrior finding love and understanding in the twilight years... yawn! Don't get me wrong, this book is still good and I will continue reading future books in the series... but hope they acknowledge an assassin can never go back to being a normal civilian. If the twists and turns eventually bring Rain to save his son and start a fatherly relationship then I am burning my collection of this series!
Aptly Entitled Novel - The John Rain We Knew is Gone.......2007-10-02
Jerry Saperstein's review entitled "The Wussification of John Rain is Complete" is a classic and is not to be improved upon. I agree with all of his comments and mourn the passing of the John Rain that ruled the first four novels that Eisler wrote. The softer, gentler, although still deadly, John Rain is not a welcome addition to the line.
My Favorite Author.......2007-08-30
I liked all the John Rain novels and my only "regret" is that there are not a hundred John Rain titles. Of all my favorite authors, Eisler is the best, in my opinion. He makes the entire story interesting, taking us to foreign locales that most of us have never seen, plus the John Rain character as a guy who is so deep into his way of life that although he wants to get out, what can he do when one of his best friends is at the mercy of an arch-villain? So he keeps on going in his line of work. And hopefully Mr Eisler will come out with one per year.....or maybe five.
Books:
- Sign Babies ASL Flash Cards, Set Four: Family Life (Sign Babies)
- The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (Signet Classics)
- The Aeneid
- The Annotated Pride and Prejudice
- The Basic Writings of Sigmund Freud (Psychopathology of Everyday Life, the Interpretation of Dreams, and Three Contributions To the Theory of Sex)
- The Boy Who Was Raised As a Dog: And Other Stories from a Child Psychiatrist's Notebook: What Traumatized Children Can Teach Us About Loss, Love and Healing
- The Canterbury Tales: (original-spelling edition) (Penguin Classics)
- The Collected Dialogues of Plato: Including the Letters (Bollingen Series LXXI)
- The Complete Arkangel Shakespeare: 38 Fully-Dramatized Plays (Arkangel Shakespeare)
- The Complete Works of Aristotle: The Revised Oxford Translation (2 Volume Set; Bollingen Series, Vol. LXXI, No. 2)
Books Index
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