Bloodmoney: A Novel of Espionage [Hardcover]

David Ignatius (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 6, 2011

From the author of the best-selling Body of Lies and The Increment: in a tragedy of revenge, the CIA falls victim to its own daring operation in the Middle East.

Someone in Pakistan is killing the members of a new CIA intelligence unit that is trying to buy peace with America's enemies. It falls to Sophie Marx, a young CIA officer with a big chip on her shoulder, to figure out who's doing the killing and why. Her starting point is Alphabet Capital, the London hedge fund that has been providing cover for this secret operation, but the investigation soon widens to include the capitals of the Middle East and the cruel hills of South Waziristan.

Sophie thinks she has the backing of her hard-nosed boss, Jeffrey Gertz, and his genial mentor at headquarters, Cyril Hoffman. In addition, she gets help from the well-mannered lieutenant general heading Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence Directorate. But the closer Sophie gets to her quarry, the more she realizes that nothing in this gallery of mirrors is quite what it seems. This is a theater of violence and retribution, in which the last act is one that Sophie could not have imagined.

David Ignatius has written a disturbing and compelling novel where the price of unchecked government is paid in blood, and peace can be bought only through betrayal.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Foreign intrigue specialist Ignatius (The Increment) continues his fictional trek through terrorist hot spots with this timely thriller about the CIA's bungling attempts to influence Pakistan's shaky, insecure leadership. Sophie Marx, an agent hungry to return to the field after a high-level but boring desk job, works for a new intelligence unit disguised as a Los Angeles record company, Hit Parade, whose undercover focus is to control Pakistani organized terrorist cells through bribery. It's not working. Not only are the terrorist attacks continuing but CIA agents delivering the bribes are being murdered. To make matters worse, Hit Parade's secret funding source—a highly illegal strategy to skim money from the world's financial markets—is rapidly becoming public knowledge. Ignatius, a Washington Post columnist, is especially good at capturing the work environment at the CIA, where petty bickering, one-upmanship, and moral lapses often get in the way of sound policy. (June)

Review

Starred Review. [C]ontinues his series of top-notch CIA thrillers with this fast-paced new entry…. Ignatius writes with authority and skill about a shadow world in which nothing is as it seems and money is power. This may be fiction, but in the end the reader will be struck by how feasible the story really is.... A terrific, believable novel about the intersection of politics, ethics and finance. (Kirkus Reviews)

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 372 pages
• Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company; First Edition edition (June 6, 2011)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0393078116
• ISBN-13: 978-0393078114
• Product Dimensions: 6.4 x 1.5 x 9.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (67 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #296,611 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

David Ignatius, a prize-winning columnist for the Washington Post, has been covering the Middle East and the CIA for more than twenty-five years. His novels include Agents of Innocence, Body of Lies, and The Increment. He lives in Washington, DC.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

112 of 118 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Lying is the Job June 2, 2011

By wogan TOP 50 REVIEWER

Format:Hardcover

David Ignatius has written another political thriller/mystery. It is filled with the cynicism of someone familiar with the current situation of international politics and the espionage community...all intelligence communities lie, it is their job. We can also see the touch of history in here, the same conflicts happening today as yesterday, the same thing that happened to the British is occurring today in their once occupied countries. Ignatius is also an astute observer of human and national nature.

Two matters stand out in this novel, looking through the eyes of the enemy and why he is motivated to act as he does. A brilliant mathematician/computer scientist/professor, "pondered how he might make these assassins feel the same fear that the people of his valley had felt for all these years," after seeing his whole family destroyed by an American drone. There is a bit of sympathy for this person, but he is still presented as a criminal. The other matter is the constant need for subterfuge, the lies of espionage and intelligence communities even within their own ranks, the problems and the necessities to get their job done.

The mystery to be solved is: Where is the leak that is getting agents killed? How do they know where and when these undercover operatives are going to be? This is a political thriller, a mystery that perhaps delves deeper into the seas of the espionage world than they would enjoy.
Where Ignatius shines of course is in describing the actions and methods of the news media. Ignatius, has researched his subject thoroughly, even traveling into these dangerous regions. It is an interesting twist to get inside the head of someone who wishes to kill your countrymen; but even more than that is the fact that the reader can picture and feel and know and empathize with all of the main characters. It is a well written novel that will pull you into its' world.

62 of 64 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars More Than A "Novel About Espionage" June 8, 2011

By Ella Hill

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase

4.5 Stars: This book works because the spy thriller part -- Sophie Marx is tasked with finding out how someone uncovered the identities of the US' most secret agents -- is just fictional enough that it keeps Bloodmoney from reading like a polemic or another history of the War on Terrorism. Meanwhile, the backdrop for the story is painted with so much detail that the reader actually ends up learning quite a bit about Pakistan and the ongoing War on Terrorism. The book raises important questions about vengeance, cultural understanding, and ending wars, but the author features all viewpoints (terrorist and terrorist hunter alike) so the reader never feels lectured at or bullied.

Regardless of whether the secret, high-tech CIA spinoff part is based on reality, this book shines a light on current events in Southern Asia. Ignatius stood in the shoes of each of the characters instead of having it just be Sophie Marx's narrative. She drives the story in that it's her job to uncover the truth, but the world of Bloodmoney is so messy there really are no clear-cut heroes and heroines. As a result, the reader sees the post-9/11 world from a variety of perspectives: the predator drone survivor, the boy from Waziristan who grew up watching the Americans arm the Taliban, the Western-educated Pakistani general, the warrior whose culture is steeped in vengeance, the old guard CIA, the change agent of a new administration, the foot soldiers operating without a big picture view, the civilian called on to help his country, etc.

The book spans the globe, from the San Fernando Valley to London to Waziristan, and Ignatius describes each setting in vivid detail. The descriptions of places I've been were quite accurate and I was able to clearly see the places I haven't been. Ignatius also incorporates proverbs from various cultures. The sayings in Pashto, Punjabi, Urdu, etc add to the depth and cultural authenticity of the story and are a good way to remind the reader that Pakistan is more than the simplistic description you hear on the news.

I appreciate the author's nuanced approach. Religious extremists, evil empires, and Al Qaeda only have bit parts, which is refreshing. In fact, the man responsible for killing American agents is rarely called a terrorist. The reader gets well-developed characters instead of labels. Additionally, this book never felt too political even though it's steeped in current events.

Minor quibble: I thought this was oddly edited. Unnecessary definitions got in the way of the story ("a flash drive is a portable data-storage device that could be plugged into the USB port of any computer") but an entire paragraph in French was left untranslated. Weird.

Bottom line: What better way to stay on top of world affairs than through a well-written and engaging spy thriller?

13 of 15 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Dark and Intense Thriller June 6, 2011

By B Larking

Format:Hardcover

This is an intense espionage thriller by a veteran (writer, not military) who knows his stuff. It takes the common American interpretation of what's going on in Pakistan (a la the Osama bin Laden killing) and turns it completely on its head. Following Omar al-Wazir, whose whole family gets obliterated by a Predator drone attack. But it's not a simpleton's lashing out against the big bad mean Americans because the counterpart to the Pakistani rage of injustice is the rogue CIA unit that operates in revenge of the horrific attacks on America.

Ignatius paints a crazy, depressing picture of the situation over in the Middle East that will be fixed in no quick manner. The most superficial question here is whether it is moral to use remote-control drones to take out military targets. Is it a cleaner, less bloody solution? It certainly takes away some of the moral heft of the decision away from the actors, who are no longer participating in the war zone, but instead are up to 10,000 miles away.

Along the lines of sophisticated intelligence fiction like Tom Clancy's work and even a touch of the fascinating political intrigue of the excellent Gods of Ruin: A Political Thriller, BloodMoney will be a great addition to your reading list.