Cloaks and Veils [Kindle Edition]

J.C. Carleson (Author)

Book Description

For disgraced CIA officer Dara McIntyre, a new assignment to monitor a troubled junior agent is yet another blow to her once high-flying career. Punished for her affair with a Jordanian spy, Dara is stuck in a dreary desk job at Langley headquarters when orders come down for her to assess whether recently widowed officer Caitlin Wolff is still fit to serve in the field.

Dara soon discovers that the grieving widow has dark secrets; Caitlin and her late husband, Jonathan, were running a lurid shadow operation. Convinced that the couple’s unsanctioned acts led to Jonathan’s murder, Dara investigates their final operation. Her mission to track the terrorists responsible for the murder and salvage her career takes Dara to the hedonistic playground of Dubai and the chaotic streets of Barcelona. But when the investigation takes a jarring turn, she can no longer be sure who—if anyone—she can trust.

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

CIA operative Dara McIntyre’s career has taken a nosedive. Because of a romantic relationship with her Jordanian counterpart, Tariq Bataineh, and suspicion of leaking secrets, Dara has been pulled from her post as second in command in Amman and sent back to Langley, where she’s a desk jockey doing audits. She’s also asked to mentor fellow employee Caitlin Wolff, recently widowed when her husband, Jonathan, a fair-haired boy at the agency, was kidnapped in Dubai by terrorists, who recorded his assassination. As intuitive interrogator Dara learns about a secret operation undertaken by the Wolffs, she travels to the Mideast and Europe and follows leads back to headquarters, forcing her to wonder just who she can trust. Carleson, a former undercover CIA officer who traveled to global hot spots, presents an intelligence agency whose director circumvents legal restraints, using a rogue operative who gets out of control. This is cloak-and-dagger spycraft with a side of romance, fine if disquieting escapist fare with a canny and capable protagonist who’s likely to be heard from again. — Michele Leber

About the Author

J. C. Carleson is a former undercover CIA officer. Her near-decade of covert service took her around the globe, from bomb shelters in war zones to swanky cocktail parties in European capitals. A graduate of Cornell University, she lives outside Washington, DC.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• File Size: 860 KB
• Print Length: 283 pages
• Page Numbers Source ISBN: 1469204878
• Publisher: Thomas & Mercer (July 17, 2012)
• Sold by: Amazon Digital Services, Inc.
• Language: English
• ASIN: B007264H0E
• Text-to-Speech: Enabled
• X-Ray: Enabled
• Lending: Enabled
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,553 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)
  • #23 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Literature & Fiction > Genre Fiction > Mystery & Thrillers > Mystery > Series
  • #40 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Literature & Fiction > Genre Fiction > Mystery & Thrillers > Thrillers > Spy Stories & Tales of Intrigue
  • #42 in Books > Mystery, Thriller & Suspense > Thrillers > Spy Stories & Tales of Intrigue

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

23 of 24 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars What will happen next? June 18, 2012

By Rebekah VINE™ VOICE

Format:Paperback|Amazon Vine™ Review (What's this?)

All the twists and turns in "Cloaks and Veils" made it a great read! Just when I'd start to think I knew what was going on and what might be behind it, something else would change. I did not find it predictable or formulaic. I read through this book quickly, because once I got going, I couldn't wait to find out what would happen next!

I enjoyed this dive into the world of the CIA, spies, and international intrigue. There is some fairly heavy subject matter which hits close to home in a world now on edge regarding terrorism. While it wasn't extensive I'm sure, I could certainly reason that many of the aspects portrayed of working as a female CIA agent could be true.

Dara is imperfect, as is Caitlin. Actually, all the characters have flaws, which left me wondering as I went along, whose flaws are going to be their undoing?

Some bad language here & there (I always mention this for those who want to know). Other than that, I'd recommend it as a good read. Mysteries like this are the reason I so greatly enjoy reading the genre!

20 of 23 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Somebody is Killing CIA Agents . . . May 16, 2012

By Grandma TOP 500 REVIEWERVINE™ VOICE

Format:Paperback|Amazon Vine™ Review (What's this?)

There is nothing that Grandma loves to read more than a mystery wrapped up in a spy novel with a bit of romance thrown in for good measure. JC Carleson's soon-to-be-released Cloaks and Veils has all of that and more, because in this spy novel "007" is, most surprisingly, a strong, smart but not overwhelmingly aggressive female, a very nice change from the run-of-the mill caricature of a "spy" that is all too often the norm.

Meet Dara McIntyre, one of the CIA's top field agents in the Middle East, climbing through an alley window while covered head to toe in a burqa, then follow her story as she finds herself back at Langley in disgrace before finagling her way back into the field - and a big mystery.

Timely and riveting, put this one at the very top of your Summer Reading List!

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars Well....it has a plot July 19, 2012

By Christina Paul VINE™ VOICE

Format:Paperback|Amazon Vine™ Review (What's this?)

Dara McIntyre is a successful CIA Agent, and although the author seems to understand CIA culture very well and she is a more than capable writer, I just could not get into the story. Most novels in the genre do have specific structure within them that keep the story moving along. There was really not a lot within it that could hold my interest, the plot seemed to be well developed, but the author needs to consider how she shows us what Dara is thinking and doing. Much of it became rather redundant, if not downright annoying. Without much sex or violence, there really is no push to classify this one as a thriller. Because I am used to authors such as J.D. Robb, Grisham and Robert Ludlum, there really was not much here to thrill me at all.

More About the Author

J.C. Carleson is a former undercover CIA officer. Her near-decade of covert service took her around the globe, from bomb shelters in war zones to swanky cocktail parties in European capitals. A graduate of Cornell University, she lives outside Washington, DC. Visit her website at www.jccarleson.com.