The Shadow Patrol

By: Alex Berenson

Narrated by: George Guidall

Length: 11 hrs and 13 mins

Publisher's summary

In 2009, the CIA's Kabul Station fell for a source who promised to lead it to Bin Laden, but instead he blew himself up, taking the station's most senior officers with him. Now, more than two years later, the station is still floundering, agents are dying, and at Langley the CIA's chiefs wonder if the unthinkable has happened, if somehow the Taliban has infiltrated the station.

When they ask John Wells to investigate, he reluctantly agrees to return to the country where his career as an undercover operative began. But there, he finds a vipers' nest of hostility and mistrust-and clues that hint at a drug-trafficking operation involving the Agency, the military, and the Taliban. Americans are dying, and an American is responsible. And only John Wells stands in his way... for now.

©2012 Alex Berenson (P)2012 Penguin

Critic reviews

“Superbly paced action sequences and the kind of background that suggests a better-than-average understanding of what soldiers on the ground actually see in Afghanistan.” (Kirkus Reviews)

“The book never lets up as it exposes the terrors and boredom of war on the front lines.” (Providence Journal)

“This thriller pours on the blood and guts.” (Library Journal)

Dark ideas, different focus

To me, the plot idea of chasing down a mole is a bit overdone. Bringing up the issue of drug traffic in the region is a good idea and one that is rarely discussed in fiction, strange with the abundance of opiates in the region. There are some dark plot ideas here that we certainly not want to actually see happening within our military.

Left me hanging

Yet another book in the John Wells series. Very good, as are all Alex Berenson's books. George Guidall does a fantastic job narrating, as always.

My only complaint is that the ending came too fast. When you get to the epilogue, there is still a lot of story left, but it feels like the author just decided to end the story. There really could have been a couple of more chapters to wrap things up nicely, instead of just dropping the story line.

best in the series yet!

I loved this book because a it was narrated by Goodell again But mostly because hes getting really good at his storytelling and the characters are developed now John Wells, Anne the girlfriend, Duto am particularly Schaefer.

decent story, hard to discern diff voices

I usually enjoy Guidall narration, but it was hard to discern diff characters this time as he used such similar voice for several characters other than main character, Wells.

Starting to get a formulaic

George Guidall gives his usual excellent performance. I'm giving it 4 stars overall for a good story but this series is getting just a little too formulaic John Wells is a killer, he hunts other killers, gets help from retired CIA honcho who uncovers clues a little too easily; John Wells finds killers; and kills killers. (Is that a spoiler?) People get pissed off in the process. End of story. All very predictable.

Alex, time to find a new story line.

Love the John Wells character!!!

He ranks up there with characters such as Scott Harvath, Mitch Rapp, Kyle Swanson, Court Gentry and Kolt "Racer" Raynor.

John Wells

Alex Berenson never disappoints. Listening to the series again, in order.
Would like a movie, but probably wouldn’t meet expectations.

Good plot, but wraps up quickly

Is there anything you would change about this book?

I would expand the ending. I enjoyed the overall plot, but the epilogue starts abruptly. So abruptly, that I had expected another full chapter to wrap up a few things. It almost seems like the author had a deadline he had to meet and gave up on the last parts of the story. If it was meant to be intentional, then he could have done a better job wrapping it up.

If you’ve listened to books by Alex Berenson before, how does this one compare?

I've listened to the prior 5 John Wells stories. I've enjoyed the series. This one is refreshing as it has a new plot. The first book was fantastic. Many of the rest (but not all) have elements that make them feel mass produced and rushed. A bit more time could have taken this from a good series to an excellent one. Given that this is one of the top selling series out there right now on this topic, it looks like this is as good as it gets...and there are a lot of people like me who got hooked on book one, and have held on through the rest of the series because it is just good enough to keep reading.

What does George Guidall bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

I think he is a very good narrator. I'm definitely used to him as John Wells - to the point that it would be difficult to hear someone else reading this series. I would probably give preference to other books read by him.

If this book were a movie would you go see it?

Yes.

as always very good

love john wells he never disappoints. this is a very good series I always look forward to listening to.

Love this narrator, but...

... he needs to learn how to pronounce "chemise." He does the female voices better than most narrators.