The Faithful Spy - Alex Berenson

And so another night at work passes with a book. On this occasion it was Alex Berenson's debut novel The Faithful Spy. Following the still (sadly) topical theme of the American efforts to eradicate Al Qaeda and associated terrorist organisations we meet John Wells, a man who has done something we would not believe possible, he has infiltrated Qaeda to a fairly high level even meeting Bin Laden on more than one occasion. But because of his obvious need to retain his cover his contact with his case handler Jennifer Exley is infrequent in fact rarely more than once ever couple of years. But after seeming to prove his loyalties in ...  Read the complete review

Alex Berenson is a journalist for the New York Times. The Faithful Spy is his debut novel. It won the 2007 Edgar Award for Best First Novel ( the USA’s leading prize for Crime Fiction) and was also shortlisted for the CWA Ian Fleming Steel Dagger. Berenson’s protagonist is CIA agent John Wells. Wells (known by his Muslim compatriots as Jalal) is the only agent to have ever infiltrated al Qaeda. For ten years he has been working undercover in Afghanistan in an operation known only to a couple of CIA “big guns”. Wells is fluent in Arabic and Pashtun, and has studied the Koran in depth. He also has the ability to beat up the bad guys without breaking out a ...  Read the complete review