The Faithful Spy

By: Alex Berenson

Narrated by: Robertson Dean

Length: 12 hrs and 4 mins

Publisher's summary

“A well-crafted page-turner that addresses the most important issue of our time. It will keep you reading well into the night.” (Vince Flynn)

A New York Times reporter has drawn upon his experience covering the occupation in Iraq to write the most gripping and chillingly plausible thriller of the post-9/11 era. Alex Berenson’s debut novel of suspense, The Faithful Spy, is a sharp, explosive story that takes listeners inside the war on terror as fiction has never done before.

John Wells is the only American CIA agent ever to penetrate al Qaeda. Since before the attacks in 2001, Wells has been hiding in the mountains of Pakistan, biding his time, building his cover. Now, on the orders of Omar Khadri - the malicious mastermind plotting more al Qaeda strikes on America - Wells is coming home. Neither Khadri nor Jennifer Exley, Wells’s superior at Langley, knows quite what to expect. For Wells has changed during his years in the mountains. He has become a Muslim. He finds the United States decadent and shallow.

Yet he hates al Qaeda and the way it uses Islam to justify its murderous assaults on innocents. He is a man alone, and the CIA - still reeling from its failure to predict 9/11 or find weapons of mass destruction in Iraq - does not know whether to trust him. Among his handlers at Langley, only Exley believes in him, and even she sometimes wonders. And so the agency freezes Wells out, preferring to rely on high-tech means for gathering intelligence. But as that strategy fails and Khadri moves closer to unleashing the most devastating terrorist attack in history, Wells and Exley must somehow find a way to stop him, with or without the government’s consent.

From secret American military bases where suspects are held and “interrogated” to basement laboratories where al Qaeda’s scientists grow the deadliest of biological weapons, The Faithful Spy is a riveting and cautionary tale, as affecting in its personal stories as it is sophisticated in its political details. The first spy thriller to grapple squarely with the complexities and terrors of today’s world, this is a uniquely exciting and unnerving novel by an author who truly knows his territory.

©2006 Alex Berenson (P)2006 Books on Tape

Critic reviews

“A well-crafted page-turner that addresses the most important issue of our time. It will keep you reading well into the night.” (Vince Flynn)

“Berenson offers a very American story - a sort of terrorist High Noon...exciting.” (The New York Times)

“A hold-your-breath thriller...a grabber.” (St. Louis Post-Dispatch)

Read and forget

At $4.95 this book was fine, at full price I would've felt ripped off.

There are a lot of 5 star reviews for this book, which seem wholly unjustified to me. I'm left wondering if American readers are able to more closely relate to the plot than international readers.

As far as the plot went, it was relatively unrealistic / convenient at times, and I could have done without the border line romance aspect. The prose was OK but barely managed to convey anything beyond the surface of our American hero.

I think the narrator exacerbated the issues I have with this book by not being capable of anything but a deep monotone which rang really false at times.

If you're looking for an easy going listen & forget / aeroplane throw away novel then this is perfect, otherwise I would recommend moving on.

John LeCarre Fast Forward

Well, having finished this book on June 23rd as the FBI sting finds a bungling bunch of "terrorists" holed up with an inside informant as I finished this listen the night before, I woke up trying to clear my mind and figure out which was I remembering the book or Fox news, just kidding... but must say reality inside reality. Expertly done, never over reaching a thrilling personal journal. It could be true... just read See No Evil by Robert Baer... don't miss this book.

Wow, so real you feel like your there

This book takes you through all the elements of danger,boredom and the personalities it takes to be an agent. You'll be on the edge of your seat for most of it and Rock the rest of the time. During the necessary build up, scenes the author adds a good helping of humor. In ways you can imagine happening to you. Great read

Above the rest

I read lots of spy thrillers, but this one was really believable and hard to put down.

Listen to this series of John Wells first...

Listen to this series of John Wells before you listen to George Guidall narrate the Mitch Rapp series or you'll be disappointed!
I'm half way through this book and it sounds like a Batman wannabe reading to me. Very low monotone voice with little variation from the main character to the supporting ones. Best to listen to those book on 1.5 speed! Overall good story but predictable. Also, the dialog between Wells and his women sound like they are right out of a bad Harlequin paperback.

Okay story

The story had too many fillers that my attention waned to the point that it took me three and a half weeks to finish the book. Now, I know why I didn't listen to it when I originally bought it.

perfect spy book

very well read, the story was easy to follow and interesting from the start - great read

Always reading

This was so hard to get into,. When I went back, always hoping it would pick up, it ended up just trying to finish it. It had good reviews and I was looking for a new author. I have been on audible for trap years, and running out of authors in my preferred genres. Trying to expanded what I listen to. This book may be great for another listener. My suggestion is to read as many reviews as possible. The narrator was good and I would listen to him again.

Excellent

Really enjoyed this book. An original story and a serious, likable hero. Will definitely listen to book 2.

Excellent Book

After reading the book it was good to listen to the audio version. Devil is in the details.