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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
116 of 132 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
I Wouldn't Say It's Well-Written,
By W. A. H. (Pennsylvania) - See all my reviews
This review is from: The Faithful Spy: A Novel (Hardcover)
Phenomenal, addictive, heart-pounding, exciting, interest-grabbing, but not well-writ--okay, it's incredibly well-written too.VERY well-written. I won't go into the plot, because all that is written up above. What I will say though, is that spy novels are not my usual reading. But this one I took a chance on. It was written the way books should be written. It grabs the reader by the throat on page one and steams along at a steady, confident, pace. Vince Flynn didn't lie when he said this book will have you reading into the night. I've lost a lot of sleep reading this book that refused to let me put it down. Sleep I'll never get back. And with this book, I didn't mind at all. If you like the fast-past, constant plot-twisting of 24, then I strongly suggest you pick up this book. Mr. Berenson's writing is incredible, and the insights of the main character John Wells of the country he left so long ago are all at once biting, and hard to argue with. The terrorist network is well thought out, the way they operate is utterly believable, and their cunning is horrifying. This book is the definition of money well-spent. As you're reading this, you'll feel like the third person in the room. You'll feel like you're living all of it. This book is amazing. For an author's first book this is nothing short of impressive. Hell, for an author's fifth book it would be nothing short of impressive. It's fast, furious, and what any good book should be--a thrill ride.
36 of 41 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
TOTALLY ENGROSSING NARRATION,
This review is from: The Faithful Spy: A Novel (Audio CD)
How's this for a scenario? A man, John Wells has given up all he loved - his wife, child, and his parents to become the only American CIA agent to infiltrate Osama bin Laden's terrorist network. He did this before 9/11 and has endured years of privation, living on a dreary, cold plateau in Pakistan. Constantly on guard, he has continually convinced other followers of bin Laden that he is, indeed, a traitor and has become a Muslim.This sacrifice has been made in an effort to destroy the terrorist network. To date that has not been accomplished. Now, he learns there are plans for more attacks on the United States, assaults even more terrifying than the carnage at the World Trade Center. So, Wells must return home. However, when he appears at Langley, CIA officials have doubts. Can he really be trusted or has he become a turncoat in the intervening years? One person believes in him and that is Jennifer Exley. It soon becomes clear that they alone must stop al Qaeda from carrying out 2 heinous plan. Terrifying? Yes. Far too close to what might be the truth for comfort as Berenson, a reporter for The New York Times well knows. John Heffernan, known as the official voice of the NHL and NFL network, gives a compact, deliberate, totally engrossing reading. His avoidance of any dramatics renders his narrative all the more powerful. - Gail Cooke
19 of 20 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
4.5 stars, actually....,
By
This review is from: The Faithful Spy: A Novel (Hardcover)
September 11, 2001 woke America up to facing perils we had previously consigned to other parts of the world and to fiction. Now, a novel like "The Faithful Spy" isn't merely a diversion, a beach thriller to quicken adrenaline for fun. Now, the situations that author Alex Berenson sets in motion and "detonates" one way or another don't float above us in dispassionate entertainment mode only. No, reading about the passengers on a transatlantic flight who suddenly sight military fighters pacing their airliner makes our stomachs clench with sympathetic anxiety and a "but for the grace of God, it might be my flight" thought. As least that was my reaction. And shadowing the title character to his cliffhanger meetings with al Queda members, high-level and low, filled me with cold dread because I don't imagine the real men who follow Bin Laden being much different. John Wells, "The Faithful Spy," and his one-time handler, Jennifer Exley, are people who must balance on a very narrow moral ledge (about matters such as when to "justify" torture and killing) in the name of national security and survival. Their dilemmas are ones that are not and should not be solely fictional. Berenson's reporting experience in Iraq and his understanding of the strategic struggle between the U.S. government and Islamic extremists lends this novel authenticity and valuable insight into our actual geopolitical situation."The Faithful Spy" isn't a perfect pulse-pounding novel; it contains certain intervals where the action lags or the plot doesn't coalesce as convincingly as a seasoned reader of this genre might prefer. However, the relatively minor flaws of pacing and storytelling don't diminish the clawing feeling that this book of "fiction" could portend tomorrow's real headlines. God (by any Name) forbid. This is a remarkable first novel, and I will not miss whatever Berenson decides to write next.
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