Clif's Book World

I was first attracted to this book because it involved the relationship between Jordanian Intelligence and the CIA. Since there had been a recent story in the news about several CIA agents who were killed by an operative who came from Jordanian Intelligence, I thought perhaps this novel may have predicted the actual news event. Well, this book didn’t do that, but I’ll have to admit that I was impressed with the book’s ending.

Through the first half of the book I seriously considered bailing out and not finishing. The description of personal relationships seems sophomoric, written at a level to appeal to adolescent males. The description of CIA activities could only appeal to people who think the real life CIA program of “extraordinary rendition” was a good idea. Then the action started becoming more interesting, so I decided to finish the book. But I still planned to rate the book at one star. Then I came to the end. I was blown away. So I have to give it more than one star. What do you do with a book that you both love and hate? Well, how about two stars?

Here's the review of the book that was on my PageADay Calendar:
EVERYTHING YOU WANT IN A SPY NOVEL
This intricately plotted post-9/11 spy thriller is so gripping because its author, journalist David Ignatius, has a masterful command of the ins and outs of Middle Eastern politics, and because his characters are such fully drawn individuals. The suspense is riveting and the conclusion unexpected, to put it mildly.
BODY OF LIES, by David Ignatius (W. W. Norton, 2007)

The WW2 era Operation Mincemeat is referenced in this book. It's interesting to note that a recent book by the same title has been published, Operation Mincemeat by Ben MacIntyre. If you don't know what Operation Mincemeat involved, I'll let you do your own research.