Body of Lies

A Novel

By: David Ignatius

Narrated by: Dick Hill

Length: 12 hrs and 17 mins

Publisher's summary

Roger Ferris is one of the CIA's soldiers in the war on terrorism. He has come out of Iraq with a shattered leg and an intense mission: to penetrate the network of a master terrorist known only as "Suleiman". Ferris' plan for getting inside Suleiman's tent is inspired by a masterpiece of British intelligence during World War II: he prepares a body of lies, literally the corpse of an imaginary CIA officer who appears to have accomplished the impossible by recruiting an agent within the enemy's ranks.

This scheme binds friend and foe in a web of extraordinary subtlety and complexity, and when it begins to unravel, Ferris finds himself flying blind into a hurricane. His only hope is the urbane head of Jordan's intelligence service - a man who might be an Arab version of John le Carre's celebrated spy, George Smiley. But can Ferris trust him?

©2007 David Ignatius (P)2007 Tantor Media Inc.

Critic reviews

"Vividly rendered locales, clever plotting, some compelling characters, and a discomforting verisimilitude." (Booklist)
"Displaying his trademark expertise and writing skill, Washington Post columnist Ignatius...has crafted one of the best post-9/11 spy thrillers yet." (Publishers Weekly)

Fun, but ultimately disappointing

Dick Hill's narration is wonderfully melodramatic and very enjoyable, as is most of the book. The climax leaves a lot to be desired though. The twist feels more Iron Man 3 than The Sixth Sense, and it really lets the air out of the balloon.

A solid story

I enjoyed listening to this book, but it was a little hard to follow sometimes. The ending was a bit unrealistic but good.

Interesting book

I worried about buying this book after reading comments on the reader. While he is not my favorite, he does a very adequate job and does not distract from the story. If you know the difference between an Egyptian and a Jordanian accent, then you may worry. Otherwise enjoy a good story.

Not Ignatius’s best

Ignatius seems to be making this novel what it isn’t. His writing hits a lot of buttons to comply to some preconceived plan that isn’t natural which results in over-writing, deviating from the straight line, I’ll disciplined in keeping the arrows pointed at the target. Was he writing a novel or a prose screenplay, because it seems like his desire was to make this novel appealing to Hollywood. The architecture of the plot is loose. Characters are not developed fully. Suspense building is distracting. It isn’t a bad story it is just Ignatius overloaded the plot. It doesn’t develop naturally because Ignatius keeps building rooms to his house that are disjointed and incongruent.

great novel

I've read it a second time and enjoyed very much.
A very intriguing plot and well-developed characters, a gripping spy novel.
Good narration, except the narrator tends to swollow the endings of many words which makes it difficult to understand them.

A Matter of Perspective

I have been reading many negative comments about Dick Hill as a narrator and one reviewer even said that if the book had been read by Scott Brick it would have been better. Personally I avoid books read by Scott Brick. To me he is to audible books what William Shatner is to acting. On the contrary, Dick Hill is one of my favorite readers. I became accustom to his voice with many of the Harry Bosch novels by Michael Conneley. In my opinion he was a definite plus for this book.

That said, I also rate the book four stars on it's own merits. It was interesting, believable and action packed. A good spy novel if you like that genre. I highly recommend it

Excellent

I really enjoyed this book, I walked my self to exhaustion around Chicago rather then return to my hotel just to finish it. None finer in this genre. More please.

Very Good

if you like CIA fiction, you will like this. Like Clancy

Predictable

It was a good story but nothing new. very well read by Dick Hill.

Intrigue at every turn

I have seen the movie so i had a had an advantage...Good story line once it got going, and i thought the arrogance of the CIA was well portrayed throughout the book, and indeed at times adding to the suspense. I like the author, and i found the narrator to be OK (as opposed to all the other critics that are giving him a pasting). Worth a listen to.