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)

Excellent, Like Ludlum at His Best

Probably the best suspense novel I've read in the post-911 era. An edge-of-your-seat thriller that gets better as it develops.

We need more from Mr. Berenson (Ghost War), Audible!

Absolutely the Best Thrilling, Griping, Realistic

I have been an Audible Listener for over 10 years and rarely write reviews. This has to be one of the absolute best listens ever... Definitely within the top 5 out of over 320 books.

The narrator is EXCELLENT and really highlights all the nuiances of all the characters. The gripping story line flows smoothly and rapidly but with great attention to details without being too "flowery." The best part and the SCARIEST part of this book is that it could easily be real life story ... thank goodness that this is fiction... until United States goes on the next code yellow....

Great Author

This is my first book from Alex Berensen and as soon as it was over I came straight to see if he had more books listed, so I guess I enjoyed it immensely. I've worked in arabic countries, and really enjoyed the Islamic culture aspects. The narrator does a good job with the pronounciation as well. Overall a very good book. Kept me listening constantly until the end.

Too Bloody for me

I like a good thriller, and I can take a good measure of "blood and guts". But this one was over the top. There were too many scenes involving blood, brains, and bones being splattered all over the landscape. When this kind of violence becomes routine....I bail out. Sorry. Couldn't get through it.

I thought the narrator was perfect for this very rough ride.

I'm sure many will enjoy the experience. Just not my thing.

Tight

I enjoyed this well paced "page turner". It wasn't so black and white regarding who the characters were and what motivates them, which I appreciated. The narrator, Robertson Dean, was ideal.
I'll be listening/reading to more by Alex Berenson.

Believable

If you could sum up The Faithful Spy in three words, what would they be?

On your seat adventure

Who was your favorite character and why?

John Wells, a patriot who finds why after years of infiltration of Al Qaida

What about Robertson Dean’s performance did you like?

Very adept at changing voices and keeping tempo with the action

If you were to make a film of this book, what would be the tag line be?

Bureaucrats at their worst.

Did you ever just sit in the chair and listen ?

For the last two days, I haven't gotten anything of value done. In fact, I dared not start listening to another segment of the book, because I knew that nothing would get done.

If you start this book, you better block out some time.

I am a big Vince Flynn fan. This book is comparable to Viince Flynn's work.

The first of a superb spy-hero series

Alex Berenson has crafted a tight espionage thriller which starts popping from page one. I was drawn to the knowlege and detail imparted throughout. Whether it be the workings of the CIA duty desk or the intricacies of plague biochemistry, Benenson includes just the right amount of detail. His research and/or broad knowlege is impressive and it helps develop a very good story.

The Faithful Spy

Just wonderful..kept me interested thru the whole book! We took a trip that took 16 hours..and the time passed very quickly!!! You will love it.

Escapism

Difficult to believe this book is 10 years old. Real boys own stuff but no gratuitous violence. An enthralling read, a plausible plot and the sense of real prople in resl situations. An easy read. Enjoyed immensly.