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)

A Big Disappointment

It started off alright, but a real turn off in the first sexual episode (and I'm no prude) which I found totally unrealistic led me to turn this book back to Audible within the first 45 minutes of listening

Not so convincing

I found this book tiring and a little frustrating. The plot was weak. I liked the action and the suspense but the character development in some of its plots and unraveling of the plot, the mindset and action just did not fit a well-written novel. I enjoyed it for its fast pace. But the rest, I was just not moved

Very predictable

Saw the ending coming the entire story. Really not that good pacing or very interesting. Much better choices in the genre.

I thought this was a spy novel, not romance

I found this book to be pretty boring. Rather than focusing on spycraft or politics it mainly focuses on the main character's sappy romance. Ignatius is an ok writer, but I simply felt that this book was sold as a CIA spy novel and turned out to be something completely different. I turned it off 1/2 way through.

Dick Hill is usually one of my favorite narrators, but I didn't feel he read this book particularly well. For those of you that can't stand Dick Hill, you will definitely not enjoy his work on this book.

Body of Lies

The narrator is difficult to understand. He has a tendency to make the first letter of some words silent. Ferris becomes 'erris, etc. This also happens frequently to the second syllables to words that the narrator is trying to emphasize, but is actually obscuring them. I wish I had known how difficult it would be to listen to this book with this narrator before I bought the audio. Offering this for future listeners - maybe this is a book that needs to be read.

Baahhh...wasted time

Narration was about a 2/5. Not the best. Accents change and you can't tell which Arab character he's referring to at times. The story was about a 1.5/5. Politically motivated (which has nothing to do with the plot), unbelievable and predictable at times. There's one real sappy, whiny, dull CIA protagonist and he should have died at the end assuring us of no more from this man. I hope the terrorists are as dumb as the book portrays.

Artificial, unrealistic story

The plot of this novel has as a hero a totally self-centered, egotistical idiot. His acceptance at face value by every other character is completely unbelievable. It is really not worth the time it takes to listen to it.

Needs a complete rewrite

The main character of this novel is simply not believable. Nor is he consistent. He begins as a veteran CIA case officer and winds up a sniveler whose maudlin emotions and goals seem contrived and completely unrealistic. This whole book could be sharpened up with a closer eye to forming and retaining the hero's character amid the environment in which he lives and operates. The narration leaves much to be desired, as well.

Tired story

Sorry to write that I didn’t particularly enjoy this book. I thought the story was not engaging and the reader didn’t grab me. I prefer more action and the characters were stereotypes.

good story but poor narration

the story was ok but the narration terrible. i gave up after about 4 hours. in the hands of someone like scott brick this would have been great. avoid Dick Hill at all costs!!!!