The Ghost War

I read the Ghost War based on a NYT review. I liked it a lot- especially for its new ideas and plot elements, I then read The Faithful Spy- which as other readers have pointed out, is even better. If it helps other readers, I like Da Silva's books very much, yet found The Faithful Spy even better than any of them. To help those who wonder if it matters which to read first- my answer is yes. The Ghost War gives away a number of the twists in the Faithful Spy. So read The Faithful Spy first. If you like it as much as I did, you will then want to read The Ghost War.

I have to say that I am surprised at the comparatively tepid reviews that this book has received here. I purchased the audiobook as is my wont, to occupy my time on a roundtrip drive to the Nation's Capital. I had not heard of the author's first effort, so this was my introduction to CIA agent John Wells. For my taste, this was a very well written spy thriller. The pacing is excellent, the subplots are good, the characters are very nicely developed and the author obviously knows his stuff regarding the various locations, including Korea, Peking, Northern Virginia, a destroyer and a cargo plane. The love angle might be just a tad lame, but overall, the book was a hit for me.

Berenson's first book, The Faithful Spy, was amazing - crisp writing, well-thought-out action, fine character development. The loss that John Wells incurred by serving as the secret servant of the US for many years was staggeringly portrayed: the deaths of his parents, the loss of contact with his child, the sense of being out-of-step with what he thought of as his own culture, all of this should have made even the most cynical readers think about what deep-cover agents agree to give up. It's hard to imagine how Berenson could have upped the stakes in a second novel. And he doesn't. He simply provides a compelling and realistic continuation of the narrative. What can Wells do to top saving the world in Times Square? Not much. But Berenson gives us another tale well worth reading, as well as a number if political zingers to wonder over. The John Wells character continues to develop in The Ghost War, and unsurprisingly he is beset by doubts about how he can sustain the life he has fallen into back in the States. Berenson, realizing that his readers expect action, doesn't let this introspection go on too long, but it is a necessary preface to the main events of the novel; without that we would just have James Bond walking in the door and greeting Moneypenny, ready for the next adventure. Jennifer Exley, the CIA handler who saves Wells in the first book, is back, but we see less of her than I had hoped. There are some passages about her choice of a professional life over the young children she has, but these all have a slightly formulaic ring. Yes, Exley avoids stereotypes, but that's about the best that we can say for her in this book. Even her out-of-the-box solution for getting Wells back is given only the briefest brush of ink. More next time? The other important characters - Li, Cao, and the mole - are believable, but the American character's motivation is given much, much more ink, something of a problem, I think. Cao's thinking is at least as important, but we don't get enough of it. These are quibbles. The settings - the coast of North Korea, Afghanistan, China -- are vividly described, the action is practically non-stop, and the day is saved by human cleverness and perseverance, not by techno-interventions. The DC in-fighting has the sad ring of truth, while the recognition of China as a threat moves beyond head-line ripping and into political commentary. This is a terrific read.

Berenson strikes again as this action thriller keeps you up at night. Just as in the best works of Le Carre, Wells and associated constantly struggle to figure out who is on their side. The problem is, much of the time you can't be sure, which can be deadly. Berenson's time in Irag for the the NY Times comes through as the fighting scenes come across particularly well. buy the book!

This book turned out to be an outstanding follow up to Berenson' first book "Faithful Spy". This book introduced our hero John Wells. Wells had sucessfully infiltrated the Taliban in Afghanistan. He came back to America and helped stop a terrorist attack. In this book the CIA is attempting to rescue a defector,a nuclear scientist named Dr. Sung Kwan. They discover that there is a mole in the CIA. It is also discovered that the Taliban are showing more competance in their fights with American troops in Afghanistan. Jennifer Exley and her CIA counterparts begin a search for the "mole" in the CIA. They get help from an unlikely source. Wells travels back to Afghanistan. He discovers that the Taliban is being trained by Russian Spetsnaz soldiers. He finds that funding isbeing provided by a billionaire arms dealer named Pierre Kowalski. In the mean time a Chinese General named Li Ping is bringing China and America to the brink of war. Wells also travels to China to rescue another defecter named General Cao. Thank goodness there is room for a sequel. Be sure to read this book.