Code Ezra [Paperback]

Gay Courter (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 15, 2001

The date: April, 1979. The place: Toulon, France. The assignment: to destroy nuclear reactor parts bound for Iraq. The man in charge: Eli Katzar, master Israeli spy and leader of the Ezra project. His team: three talented agents, all women. The mission succeeds but at a terrible price, and Eli must discover which of the women whom he has nurtured and trusted for more than thirty years betrayed him: Aviva, the Sabra who married the man Eli chose as her co-conspirator; Lily, the Dutch Holocaust Survivor; or Charlotte, the wealthy American spy who has devoted her life to Israel-and Eli.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

The author of The Midwife and River of Dreams here attempts to enter the world of espionage writing, with decidedly mixed results. At the center of this somewhat unwieldy novel (supposedly based on real-life incidents) is Israeli spymaster Eli Katzar and the three women he recruits to form his "Ezra" team: Charlotte, an American princess from Scarsdale; Lily, survivor of the death camps; and Israeli-born Aviva. During a mission in France in the late 1970s, an Israeli scientist is murdered and Katzar realizes that one of the three has betrayed him. The novel alternates between Katzar's attempt to discover the turncoat with flashbacks of his own recruitment and training of the three women and the dangerous careers they survived as Israeli agents. Aside from its undue length, the book suffers chiefly from the fact that Courter telegraphs the answer to the key question far too early. 125,000 ad/promo; Literary Guild selection; author tour.
Copyright 1986 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal

The "Ezra" group of Mossad, the Is raeli intelligence arm, has been be trayed, and Eli must find the traitor. As he reviews the files on his operatives, their histories and motivations are re vealed. Could the defector be Lily, Ho locaust survivor grown into an aloof, sophisticated woman; Aviva, tough sa bra whose lifelong byword has been sacrifice; or pampered, soft, American Charlotte, who has always been sus pected by Mossad leaders? Courter claims to have based her story on events shared by some real Israeli spies. While those events are intrigu ing, there is almost too much detail here, and the characters' motives are not entirely believable. Nevertheless, the book held this reader's attention and can be recommended as a fictional view of Israeli intelligence from the in side from 1939 to 1979. Andrea Lee Shuey, Dallas P.L.
Copyright 1986 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 628 pages
• Publisher: iUniverse (January 15, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0595168612
• ISBN-13: 978-0595168613
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.1 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,005,015 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An absorbing spy thriller about the Mossad., November 2, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: CODE EZRA (Hardcover)

Code Ezra is set in 1979 with flashbacks to the 40's, 50's, and 60's. It chronicles the role of a fictional three woman Mossad team, recruited and trained by a master spy, in Israel's war for independence and in one final mission which involves Iraq's attempts to build nuclear weapons. There are fascinating insights into the secrets of the Mossad. It reads as if drawn from current headlines and is by no means dated even though it was published in 1986.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Code: Editor: Needed!, December 5, 2009

By 

Barton J. Chandler "Bartonmaru" (Dover, Delaware United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Code Ezra (Paperback)

This book starts as an espionage mystery story, that gets you asking who, what, why, and how? And then, and then it turns into a very, very, long, long, long flashback story of proto-Israeli-Mossad agents. We are treated to their years of training, missions, kvetching, kibbitzing, and having kunna hurras, all through the formatives years of Israeli's nation-hood. This is 2½ pound, 607 page of a monster of a book, 427 of them as flashback in order to "support" the mystery plot. Courter apparently has needs to read Alistair MacLean: come up with a darn good premise, tell the story with verve, with no trips to grandma's house. And if not him then Ian Fleming, or Helen McInnes will do. Courter does write with an authoritive and direct present voice, so you are always paying attention. She certainly mastered her materials. And the story vignettes are not too long as to become boring, although there is a 55-page mountain climbing detour, that a Fleming or MacLean could have done in 10. But then you realize this is the Israeli version of Charlie's Angels, and their boss even uses a cover name of Charles Ivy. Fortunately, the soap opera parts do not last to long. Although perhaps two chronological books might have been a better gimmick, with a cliffhanger ending book one. I give this two star story three, since Courter soldiered on with it after page 350.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Never fails to entertain and educate, February 9, 2009

By 

Anna - See all my reviews

This review is from: Code Ezra (Paperback)

This is a favorite I've read many times since its first paperback release. The characters are well drawn, the assignments intriguing, and the back drop of the history of Israel and the embryonic Mossad spurs me to research non-fiction historic information.

I learn something new every time I read it, and love its epic length. It's a good read and I'm always sad to reach the end.