Lion Eyes [Large Print] [Hardcover]

Claire Berlinski (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 2007

Claire Berlinski (the real Claire Berlinski, that is) wrote Loose Lips, the best (and certainly the funniest) contemporary novel about the CIA. Of course, that never meant she was the greatest spy of her generation.

When a fictional spy novelist named Claire Berlinski, who lives in Paris, begins exchanging e-mails with an Iranian archeologist who likes her work, she thinks nothing of it. Lots of people like spy novels. Lots of people meet online. Lots of people flirt online.

But when Claire visits Istanbul at the suggestion of this charming Persian, whom she calls the Lion, she finds herself, to her astonishment, in the thick of a real espionage novel. As life begins menacingly to imitate art, Claire discovers that the Lion is not who she thinks he is. And the Lion discovers that Claire is not who he thinks she is, either.

--This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Starred Review. Narrated with verve and élan, Berlinski's sly second thriller flirts more with romance than danger. During the hot summer of 2003, a Paris-based American novelist named Claire Berlinksi gets into an online affair with a Persian archeologist who may be a spy. According to the preface, something similar happened to the author. Arsalan (aka "the Lion"), who lives in Isfahan, Iran, admires the real author's debut about a female CIA trainee, Loose Lips (2003), and is sure Claire has actual CIA ties. At Arsalan's suggestion, Claire swaps apartments with a colleague of his in Istanbul, Turkey. There Claire meets a cheerful if less than competent CIA agent, Sally, who asks her help in getting to Arsalan. Claire and the zany supporting cast make this tale of thwarted intimacy—as overseen by the gimlet eye of the World Wide Web (and CIA)—an entertaining example of what Claire calls the tantalizing "intersection between what you write and the truth." Keen social commentary on Paris and Istanbul adds to the fun. Berlinski is also the author of Menace in Europe: Why the Continent's Crisis Is America's, Too. (Jan.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an alternate Hardcover edition.

From Booklist

Reality and fiction mesh gracefully in this inventive follow-up to Berlinski's first novel, Loose Lips (2003). A fictional Claire Berlinski is the heroine of this tale, living in Paris after the publication of Loose Lips. When she gets an e-mail from a man named Arsalan who wants to order her book, she impulsively sends him a copy. They begin to correspond, and Claire finds the more she learns about Arsalan, a Persian archaeologist dedicated to preserving ancient artifacts in the Middle East, the more she's drawn to him. On a whim, she swaps apartments for several months with one of Arsalan's colleagues and moves to the vibrant city of Istanbul. But when a new friend claims to be a CIA agent who has been following her correspondence with Arsalan and wants to get in touch with him, Claire realizes she might be in for some real-life intrigue. Colorful and filled with memorable characters, this adventure is well worth the journey. Kristine Huntley
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to an alternate Hardcover edition.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 381 pages
• Publisher: Thorndike Press (June 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0786295473
• ISBN-13: 978-0786295470
• Product Dimensions: 8.6 x 5.8 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)

More About the Author

Claire Berlinski is a freelance investigative journalist, travel writer, biographer, and novelist who lives in Istanbul. She is the author of Menace in Europe: Why the Continent's Crisis is America's, Too, and There is No Alternative: Why Margaret Thatcher Matters, which Newt Gingrich said "every American should read" and Theodore Darymple described as "about as powerful a defense of Thatcher's record as is likely ever to be written."

Her journalism has been published in the New York Times, the Washington Post, the Los Angeles Times, First Post, theOxford International Review, The American, Asia Times, the Globe and Mail, the New York Sun, the Weekly Standard, National Review, Policy Review, Penthouse, Radio Free Europe, World Affairs Journal, Azure, Traveler's Tales, Travel & Leisure, and Arabies Trends. She is also the author of two spy novels and a frequent guest on local and international radio talk shows.

Since receiving a degree in Modern History and a doctorate in international relations from Oxford University, she has lived and worked in Britain, Thailand, Laos, France, and Turkey.

She devotes her spare time to rescuing stray animals, studying the martial arts, and sharing hand-to-hand combat tips on the Internet.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The best book I've read in a long, long time., May 28, 2007

By 

Kay (Lubbock, TX) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Lion Eyes: A Novel (Hardcover)

Claire Berlinski's LION EYES is an online dating story, a spy story, a travelogue (it's set in Paris and Istanbul), and a story about how wacky people and life can be. It's brilliant, witty, clever, and comedic with a nice sense of symmetry. Claire wrote an earlier novel, LOOSE LIPS, about a woman with a degree in English who decides to join the CIA because she doesn't want to teach; LOOSE LIPS is somewhat of an exposé of the CIA training practices with a love story thrown in. In LION EYES, the follow-up novel, Claire (who does actually live in Paris and Istanbul) receives a query from an Iranian archeologist about how he can get a copy of LOOSE LIPS, since Amazon doesn't deliver to Iran. Unfortunately, later when Claire's sending an e-mail to a friend about Claire's being dumped by her boyfriend, she inadvertently sends it to the wrong address--to the Iranian archeologist. From there, they develop a epistolary relationship all the while Claire is working on her next novel, corresponding with a friend also working on a book, and corresponding with another friend, a therapist. The archeologist turns out to be someone being monitored by the CIA, not for being a terrorist, but for being someone with valuable information on where Iranian nuclear sites are located. This is a lighthearted, delightful, charming, extremely well written book with many zany surprises. I couldn't put it down!

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Will keep you interested - and ending is unexpected, December 25, 2008

By 

Paula Feldmeier (Seattle, WA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Lion Eyes: A Novel (Paperback)

I didn't read this author's first book, Loose Lips, but will need to do so as I thought this book was pretty good. The author does a great job of moving back and forth between conversations and relationships with different people in the book who eventually reveal a common thread. Taking place in Paris and then Istanbul, this spy-like novel doesn't disappoint.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars "Ain't no way to hide...", April 21, 2007

By 

Lara Tupper - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Lion Eyes: A Novel (Hardcover)

This is a witty and imaginative story told in sharp, self-assured prose. Lion Eyes is not just for Eagles fans-- it's for anyone who enjoys vivid descriptions of place (Istanbul, Paris) and pointed commentary about the lines between fact and fiction. I read this book greedily; I can't wait for more from Claire Berlinski.