Customer Reviews

Morning Spy, Evening Spy

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In Colin MacKinnon, we have a bright new star of the spy novel. Set in the period leading up to 9/11, Morning Spy, Evening Spy tells the story of a CIA operative investigating the death of a part-time CIA contractor in Afganistan. Is the contractor involved in drugs as well as intelligence? Is his death arranged by a former CIA agent, a native Afgan recruited during the Russian occupation of Afganistan? And what is the role of Al Queda, which the CIA is trying to penetrate?
MacKinnon skillfully weaves his account of the search for the killer with a description of the mounting evidence that "something large" is being planned by Al Queda. He has the gift of knowing the territory. His accounts of the machinations and infighting in the intelligence community ring true. His description of the meetings and mannerisms within the CIA brings to mind Len Deighton, at his best, describing the workings of British intelligence.
Coupled with the espionage plot is a love story between the protagonist and his Washington Post reporter girlfriend. Adicts of "action" novels may find the romantic interest interrupting the flow of the plot, but it's a reminder that spies also lead human lives.
We know, of course, what happens on 9/11, and this shadow overhangs the story. Morning Spy, Evening Spy will provide the reader insight into the fight against terrorism and a good espionage yarn as well. Mr. MacKinnon is a welcome entry into a field somewhat depleted with the demise of the Cold War and the unfortunate decline in powers of old favorites like LeCarre, Deighton and Forsyth. Charles McCarry (be sure and read "Old Boys") is MacKinnon's only true rival.

Colin MacKinnon's "Morning Spy, Evening Spy" is a chilling look at the clandestine world of American intelligence before 9/11, written by a Middle East expert who lived and worked in Iran for years. The first person narrator is CIA Officer Paul Patterson, who tells his story both in the present tense and in flashback. The book opens with the shooting of an American named Ed Powers in a frontier province in Pakistan. Was Ed killed by al-Qaeda because of his government connections or because of his shady business dealings involving drugs and armaments? Another possible scenario is that Powers may have been the victim of a random act of terror. No one knows for sure, but American officials are anxious to find out who murdered Powers and why. An Afghan named Kareem may have some answers but he has suddenly vanished.

Patterson is a former Marine and a twenty-five year veteran of the CIA, who has lived in a number of overseas capitals during his long career. Patterson's obsession with his work has come at a price; Nan, his wife of twenty-four years, has filed for divorce. Paul is in a new relationship with Karen, a Washington-based journalist, who seems to be a bit more tolerant of his work-related responsibilities.

Paul's current title is special assistant for counterterrorism, and his colleague, Bill Cleppinger, heads the Antiterrorism Action Committee. Because the CIA has been under fire of late, Clep and Paul have been summoned by Jim McClennan, chief of staff of the Senate Committee on Intelligence, to answer some tough questions. Although the two pretend to be forthcoming, they carefully censor the truth and deliberately withhold key facts from the committee.

The plot of "Morning Spy, Evening Spy" is incredibly complex, and the book's large cast is, at times, a bit unwieldy. However, the strength of the story lies in the MacKinnon's insightful exploration of several key themes: Why did America's intelligence community fail to thwart the 9/11 hijackers? Does the CIA's penchant for secrecy go so far that its policies actually harm the people whom they are sworn to protect? How does a CIA officer, who is forced to lie frequently and keep secrets from his colleagues and family, survive emotionally?

There is a telling passage in which Paul chats with his friend, a Pakistani journalist named Amjad Afridi. Afridi tells Paul what is wrong with the CIA: "I sometimes think that you cannot see the living, breathing reality in front of your faces or the dangers that lurk just off to the side..." Afridi believes that the American intelligence community is in a state of denial. Furthermore, Afridi insists, the failure of America's leaders to come to terms with the truth about Islam, terrorism, and their own mistakes and shortcomings will hurt them badly someday. These words prove to be eerily prescient. Colin Mackinnon's "Morning Spy, Evening Spy" is a powerful and stunning indictment of a bureaucracy that has outlived its usefulness and has not kept pace with a geopolitical climate that is irrevocably different from the one that prevailed during the cold war years.

This is not an "action" book. Many fine books in this genre are not action books. The greatest plus for the book lies with the author's use of short inserts describing the activities of the 9/11 hijackers in the months before the attack. The overall plot of the book has little to do with the actual attack but is, instead a rather plodding look at day-to-day CIA activities involving islamic terrorism. This is a great way to highlight the flaws and missed opportunities within the government that contributed to the hijacker's success. Unfortunately, the author stumbles badly when he tries to weave into the flow the personal lives of his characters, primarily the main character. The conflicted love life of CIA officer Paul Patterson is boring and sterile, adding nothing to the narrative and seemingly present only because every book needs a romantic relationship of some sort. Describing Patterson's thoughts on his divorce might have been useful but his teen-like lust for a younger newspaper reporter could only interest a Hollywood producer looking for an R rating.

The plot is good, but the story is going too slow... The book gets really interesting in the final 5 or so pages. Writer would probably had a much better story if he took the terrorists' point of view. The picture of some tired CIA old guys trying to prevent a terrorist action is a big failure. No real spy work here. Just some trash talk between Agency veterans- not even good for a B movie. I thought I hit a good deal when I bought the book for a cheap price. Not that cheap after all....

Colin MacKinnon, a veteran foreign correspondent, is closely acquainted with the 9/11 Commission Report and absolutely, positively nails through his fiction the truth about what the CIA did to bring about that catastrophe. It was that old devil, "need to know." In both the novel and real life the Agency was on the trail of a couple of known al-Qaeda terrorists by early 2000, thanks to a bag job during a now-famous al-Q meeting in Malaysia. By photocopying passports they knew that these two individuals had multiple-entry visas to the USA. Did CIA share that information with the FBI? Of course not! So when these two men, who eventually participated in the 9/11 hijackings, entered the United States they were not followed, their phones were not tapped, and nothing was known about them until after September 11th, 2001. Yet they had been in phone contact with several other hijackers, including Mohammed Atta; had CIA shared its information with the FBI it's likely that most of the hijackers could have been tracked and apprehended well before 9/11 and the operation aborted. But "need to know" was the guiding principle at Langley, and as a result nearly 3,000 Americans died.

This novel tracks the activities of some fictitious senior CIA officials in the Directorate of Operations (DO) during 2000-2001 timeframe as they investigate the murder in Pakistan of a CIA contract employee who may or may not have "gone rogue," and try to apprehend a suspected al-Qaeda terrorist who was once on the Agency's payroll. The Agency is under pressure from Congress, the National Security Council, and the press; information trickles in or is extracted from various sources with great difficulty. One veteran DO officer undoubtedly knows more than he is sharing with his colleagues. The narrative pace is slow, but deliberately so, as is usually the case in real life. Characters gradually fill out into three dimensions, and events come to the climax we know all too well.

I was "in the business" for about twenty years, on the analytical side of the Intelligence Community, and I spent a few years detailed to Langley. In terms of verisimilitude this is one of the better spy novels I have seen, and the stark truth about the CIA and 9/11 is laid out in heartfelt, unmistakable terms.

Morning Spy, Evening Spy is the first novel I've read by this author and it is a very good one. A blend of fact and fiction, the book is a low key but very engaging espionage tale with an intelligence community insider's perspective on the events leading up to the 9/11 attacks. Our protagonist, Paul Patterson, is a senior CIA agent and agency trouble-shooter. He is tasked with solving the murder of a shady CIA "contractor" in Pakistan. During his investigation, Patterson soon realizes the murder is just one piece of a very deadly puzzle which includes Bin Laden, Al Qaeda and an imminent terrorist attack. The reader follows Patterson as he travels the globe and unravels the mystery; all the while attempting to make sense of what his "own people" are telling him and what they've really been doing.

If you like your thrillers more cerebral, i.e. LeCarre or Lawton, than adrenaline driven Morning Spy, Evening Spy fits the bill. The book also presents a very plausible and troubling narrative - albeit "fictional" - about the workings and structural defects of our national intelligence community - This without getting up on a soapbox or finger-pointing.

A very good, engaging and thought provoking book - which subtly asks the question, "Have we fixed our intelligence system?"

Morning Spy, Evening Spy is great book which infuses the spy genre with well written prose. Most impressive is the authenticity of the CIA activities and dialogue in this world of international spy craft. The fictional story of a CIA agent pursuing al-Qaeda during the year preceding 9/11 is interlaced with the factual and inexorable timeline of the hijacker activities leading up to the attack. While the reader knows how it will end, the tension mounts and the narrative is compelling. Despite his very human foibles the hero, Paul Patterson, is appealing and possesses admirable qualities. A must read, particularly for those of us still trying to absorb the lessons of 9/11.

I'll make this short and sweet: as a fan of the spy genre since the early 60s,this is the best one I've read in 20 years

This yarn has plenty of verisimilitude, it moves briskly, the characters are adequately delineated and sufficiently varied and interesting, and the situations are unpredictable enough to keep the pages turning. The parallel unfolding of preparations for the Twin Towers assault makes an effective counterpoint. The CIA and the Twin Towers attackers seem to be operating in different universes.

The problem here is that this is a better story than the way this writer tells it. That he is compared to Le Carre remains one of the central mysteries to me. In no uncertain terms, you'll quite easily guess how this will all unfold, irrespective of the historical reality that underpins it. In that regard, I was most disappointed. The flyleaf tells of MacKinnon teaching at Georgetown. Yikes. What with Doug Feith and George Tenet doing celebrity stints there, there is no honour left in my alma mater. I can't imagine MacKinnon teaches writing....
As for the spook element, maybe he knows what he is talking about, but the characters in this book would be more at home in a CSI:Miami story line than at Langley. My own father's friends who were so employed never resembled any of the characters of this story. Of course, more than one has also told e that had they still been in service, that a Vice President would leak the name of an undercover operative to settle a political vendetta would occasion his last and fatal heart-attack. But perhaps I'll write that story...