Customer Reviews

Blow the House Down: A Novel

5 star:		(17)
4 star:		(11)
3 star:		(8)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(6)

 

 

I've read Baer's two non-fiction books so I was very curious to see if he could bring this off. Overall, it's good for a first novel and fun to read--worth buying as a light summer adventure/spy novel. Briefly, the plot involves Max, a CIA case officer (whose code name is Lone Wolf) who has indeed lived up to his code name in his career and it has finally cost him; he's been put in a nothing desk job to kill time until retirement.

He has an obscession over the kidnapping and murder of Bill Buckley, the actual CIA chief in Beirut and Max's mentor back when he was early in his career (a digression: Buckley and some others mentioned in the book are real people). When he learns of an old photo showing Osama with three others, one of whom he suspects killed Buckley and another whose face has been cut out of the picture, this sets the plot in motion.

Then come many events involving the CIA turning against him, trying to frame him, and a trail of shadowy characters in the Mid-East, Switzerland, and Washington DC. Others want the photo very badly; Max wants to know the identy of the faceless person, chasing the overwhelming need to find Buckley's murderer.

Readers of this genre will like the book. The author clearly knows his territory, topically and geographically, and there is much mention of tradecraft such as spotting and evading surveillance. Weaknesses for me were a large number of characters who were introduced briefly, but not well enough to remember them when they appeared later in the plot. There were also many instances where Max is shown to have developed traits, habits, and instincts over the years which kept him alive, only to have these things fail him in lapses that were hard to swallow in such an experienced operator. And there were some small logical gaps in the plot which didn't really hurt.

The author's note at the end is almost worth the price alone. Buy the book; you'll enjoy it and can pass it on to someone else. I hope Baer keeps this up; I'm sure he'll get better.

If you enjoyed Baer's narrative style from See No Evil and Sleeping with the Devil, I highly recommend this book. If you are looking for a great, impossible-to-put-down political thriller, I highly recommend this book. Baer picks up all the loose ends that the 9/11 Commission ignored or dismissed and paints an alternative history of WHY 9/11 happened, not WHAT happened (i.e. he doesn't say that the WTC fell due to a controlled demolition or that the Pentagon was hit by a missile). Whether you consider Baer's explanation to be plausible or not, the book highlights the lack of understanding we still have about that day and the actors involved and their motives. Furthermore, the use of real people, companies, and places (especially DC) lends an additional richness to the book.

A twisted plot that by and by makes the reader truly feel being watched himself, as new leads again and again leave him bracing for assessing the chance of Robert Baer's First-person character to survive. Rare are the novels of the spy thriller genre that do not convey a feeling of being already in the know about how it will all end. From the outset, Baer suggests a safe assumption to the reader, only to have him get totally lost along the way.

In the event, the hunt ends on a completely surprising note in two different ways: First, the novel's main character finds out indeed, and the truth therein comes as a huge surprise to him as well the reader. Secondly, Baer suggests Iran to have had a hand in the 9/11 attacks.

Baer's experience in the tradecraft comes as an asset. There is not that much violent action, to be sure. Instead, Baer lets us look at how it feels to walk NYC streets or travel aboard an airplane being hunted by men and women of his kind. Digesting the short episodes the novel is composed of is tantamount to a veritable roller-coaster voyage into the weird and paranoid thinking undercover agents have to be trained in. It is precisely the many small real-world details of being watched that take the reader's breath away.

If there are flaws, they are of the nature every "Me, the hero"-novel falls prey to - foremost an overstretched string of luck, of less than credible happenstances, in that the hero gets to learn about new leads by chances that seem to be way off the regular life.

For instance, Baer's hero poses as a German SPIEGEL journalist arriving out of the blue to interview a Palestinian terrorist confined in the max-security wing of Israel's max-security facility. The hero does so by having entered Israel on a stolen German passport. Now, do we believe this: Israel's authorities not being aware of whoever writes for the SPIEGEL, them not checking with that magazine (and their own services, for that matter) whether it in fact sent someone named Mr. Arends, them not checking into every database there is once someone wants to contact the most important terrorist on short notice? On top of which the purported journalist, after his prison visit, gets to talk to the most wanted Palestinian terrorist still roaming free by similar happenstance, too. Now, that is truly luck.

However, those flaws do not do the novel any real harm. To learn about what it might be like to live in the Agency's darker outer orbit, Baer did a great job to make us feel the invisible heat.

Robert Baer has the credentials to write a first-rate intelligence thriller. For 20 years he ran agents from the CIA's Directorate of Operations and developed information on numerous terrorist organizations. SEE NO EVIL is his memoir that inspired the George Clooney movie, Syriana. BLOW THE HOUSE DOWN is a riveting fictional version of 9/11 history in which he presents a plausible alternate possibility behind the real events.

Max Waller is a middle-aged CIA agent who is obsessed with solving the kidnapping and subsequent murder of his friend, Bill Buckley. Waller possesses a photograph taken in the mid-'80s. Alongside Osama Bin Laden are pictured three additional people: a young Arab, another Arab holding an AK-47 and a fourth man whose head is cut from the photo. Could this man be the elusive Shia Muslim terrorist known as Murtaza Ali Mousavi? Waller is convinced that the identity of this man, uncovered, will solve the riddle of Buckley's tragic end. The guy holding the AK-47 turns out be a Hamas operative known as Nabil Shahadah, architect of the first suicide bombings in Israel.

Baer writes short, choppy chapters full of dialogue in the lingo agents use between themselves. Terse comments between characters identify their relationships, but at times leave the reader struggling. Waller searches for the man in the photo and becomes the object of an investigation himself. He's in constant surveillance mode and takes drastic measures to elude individuals tailing him for reasons he doesn't understand. In the process, he calls on an old friend, Frank Beckman, who has become a millionaire since leaving government service. He had been a consultant for oil-rich moguls, settling into a wealthy lifestyle. Waller had assumed the role of uncle to Beckman's daughter, India, now grown.

India becomes a confidant as she inadvertently is drawn into Max's puzzle. Like a pet dog, she travels about the Middle East with little difficulty. Her knowledge of Beckman's business proves valuable in connecting the dots in his map to discovery. Waller's problems escalate when he runs out of former acquaintances to help before he can clear his name from a frame-up. Lebanon, Iraq, Iran, Syria, Pakistan and New York become staging areas for Baer's novel.

The backstory from Waller's past life places him in situations now relevant, and former case stories frame his reaction to events now unfolding. Put through the paces of chase and hiding, he solves the agonizing puzzle that ended in death and betrayal for others. A spy story that gallops to a solution, BLOW THE HOUSE DOWN presents interesting possibilities.

--- Reviewed by Judy Gigstad

Former CIA field operative Robert Baer, whose two non-fiction books (See No Evil, Sleeping With the Devil) were Best Sellers, has now turned out a polished work of fiction in Blow the House Down. He writes it in a hard boiled style reminiscent of Raymond Chandler and Mickey Spilane, but smarter. He tells his story in the first person of his protagonist Max Waller, a former CIA field operative who, like Baer, specializes in the Near East. Waller seems a bit cynical but at the same time idealistic (is that possible)? Waller's frequent use of similes and metaphors is poetic even though mildly sarcastic. Where I might write, "I gave him an abbreviated account of..." Waller says, "I gave him the Readers Digest version." The reader of this fast paced, intricate thriller is both entertained and informed. We learn a few things about clandestine international operations from a "ground soldier's" viewpoint. Nevertheless, if one wants non-fiction, he should stick to that; this is fiction and written in a style appropriate to fiction. At the very end, an Agatha Christy-esque double-twist ending emerges. For me, that twist is too clever by half. Other readers will like it. Above all, the book is entertainment and I enjoyed it

I own both his non-fiction books and looked forward to this the same way I did reading Richard Clarke's first attempt at fiction.

And what's good about it is the same thing that was good about that one: you learn a lot of "insider" stuff about his business. He uses a lot of actual real-life characters and it's obvious a lot of the events in the book were lifted from reality.

What undercuts it is some dialogue a little too "stagey" and a totally unnecessary romantic interlude. Why oh why does there always have to be a sex scene?

Regardless, the most fascinating thing about the book is the alternative story behind 9/11 that he not-too-subtly suggests (in a good way, that's not a knock). In an interview he said this is a book that, if non-fiction, he could not get past the CIA censors. As it stands now, he said it's 60/40 actual/fiction.

So for that alone (9/11 researchers) and the afterword where he lays out a bunch of things the 9/11 Commission never told us, this is worthwhile as a read. And don't get me wrong: he's a natural writer with a natural style--it moves quickly. I finished this book 24 hours, because yes, there were a lot of page-turning passages that you didn't want to put down.

If you're a Baer fan or a 9/11 researcher it's a must-read. For all others, it's worthwhile for just the insider accounts of the intel biz and Islamic terrorism. I certainly don't regret buying this book and will probably refer back to it in the future.

During a television interview on the Daily Show Baer was asked if any of the book is true. He said due to the clearances he has to get with the CIA before publishing such material he has to add some fiction so that any suspecting details can be wholy written off as if they did not happen. He clearly states his opinion during the interview that we went to the wrong country to begin with but based on oil dependencies we had to go to Iraq to begin a plan of middle east control. Funny how every online store synopsis fails to give any of the information the author gave very openly during the interview. People are more fascinated with the Davinci Code than events that are taking place during this generation.

A superb read....and a VERY believable and viable account of what might really have happened....fiction??....you be the judge.

A very different and unique kind of espionage thriller. What is true and what is invention: Only Mr. Baer knows for sure. The first 35 pages were strange and sometimes hard to get through then the book took off and I simply could not put it down. Read the entire book in 2 nights. Mr. Baer's style is interesting in his use of wit and drama. The plot reads like a who's who of the world of Islamo-fascism international espionage during the pre-9/11 days. Mr. Baer deftly weaves common everyday news makers into a tight story of Middle Eastern Diplomacy and duplicity. He is so compelling at times that you begin to wonder what is real and what is fiction; and what is conspiracy and what is coincidence or simply storytelling. All this makes for an extremely interesting and fast paced suspense novel.
Character development was average and could have used a little more depth to the main characters. Although the publicly known figures were handled very well. No gratuitous violence or sex. A very good use of contemporary facts and speculation.
Highly recommended for an interesting story on additional insights into the world of Islamo terrorism.

I launched into "Blow the House Down" with eagerness, expecting a fast-paced thriller replete with juicy insider intel tradecraft as a kicker. Instead I found myself thrown into a muddled, badly plotted story overpopulated with characters and appearing as though it had been slapped together in a hurry.

Furthermore, I found the protagonist a repulsive and aimless character who sleeps with an old friend's young daughter, a girl he'd considered almost a niece. Otherwise, there is no real love interest in the story. A fired CIA civil servant, he inexplicably has limitless piles of cash to throw at luxury travel, hotels and large bribes -- sort of like James Bond on steroids. There is nothing in his sketchy background to make the reader like him.

I never could figure out the plot, nor were there any identifiable antagonists out to trip him up and add to story conflict. Many chapters are a single page or two. Finally, there was precious little insight into intelligence tradecraft, a big disappointment. A plot twist at the end of the book only adds to the overall confusion. The upshot for me was a long, hard slog; getting to the end was a labored chore.

Some of the first-person narrative is sharp and witty, as Baer's description of Harvard-trained twits who have mismanaged U.S. foreign policy for decades. But this does not save a fatally flawed product.

Baer has written three successful non-fiction books on the Middle East and terrorism. Too often, best-selling NF writers are persuaded to venture into fiction without the requisite grounding in plotting, voice, style, pacing and character development. "Blow the House Down" has the hallmarks of someone who has a driver's license, but who has been asked to fly a plane. The result is a dead-on crash, no survivors.