The Faithful Spy

By: Alex Berenson

Narrated by: Robertson Dean

“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 readers 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

“An intriguing thriller studded with alarming possibilities.”—New York Daily News

“A thriller worthy of Le Carré.”—Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

Perspective

It’s interesting looking back at the story 20 some years after the start of the global war on terror here.

Clearly, the inspiration for stories like Homeland

Enjoyable, quick read

Was a good balance of thriller intrigue, and just enough action

What a Ride!

My job commute was never so enthralling as I listened to The Faithful Spy. John is a strong and believable character due to the excellent reading by Robertson Dean. Mr. Dean brought the story alive and Alex Berenson can surely put together an intriguing spin on the current machinations of the Taliban and their minions. Thank you for the ride of a lifetime on my car stereo, you made traffic just disappear from my mind. Awesome job to both writer and reader!!

Top notch spy story

it's difficult to write contemporary spy thrillers and have them be believable and entertaining at the same time but this author succeeds. the reader isn't the best in Audible but he's very good.

Once You've Listened to Vince Flynn, well.......

I really wish I had found Vince Flynn AFTER listening to a number of other authors, including this one. Of course the Bourne Identity rates right up there too. But everything else I've listened to pales in comparison. Based on the reviews, I am going to listen to one more book from Alex Berenson, and I have not tried Barry Eisner yet, but to those who really like Spy thrillers, who have not read Vince Flynn yet, try these first. You might find less disappointment when you finally get to Vince Flynn.

Great stuff

Yes, I agree with the overwhelmingly positive rating of this book. Realistic, excellent characters and not the usual amount of tired cliches. The narration is above average too.