The Innocent

I've never read a book where I was actually fearful of turning the next page. A great book and possibly a masterpiece.

Ian McEwan's novels typically begin in an unsuspecting straightforward manner and gradually torpedo us to the very darkest nooks and crannies with which he is obsessed. "The Innocent" is no exception. It starts with a first-person narrative by a young British intelligence officer posted to the infamous American-Berlin sector headquarters of the Allied Forces just after World War II, where a joint USA-UK project, which really happened, was in the making just past Checkpoint Charlie. It concerned the famous underground tunnel dug so we friendlies could tap East German Stassi and Russian USSR communiques; little did we know then that almost from the beginning the project had been betrayed by England's famous MI6 mole George Blake, who, like his fellow traitors Kim Philby and Guy Burgess sold out the West for 30 pieces of silver. The book's greatest achievement is McEwan's fictional portrayal of William King Harvey's character which is not approached elsewhere, even approximately, except in Norman Mailer's erudite epic "Harlot's Ghost". Harvey, a former FBI agent, was the colorful chief of the CIA's Berlin Station. McEwan's description of what he might have been like -- we know he drank copiously and always carried two revolvers in opposing shoulder holsters -- is probably closer to the truth than we may ever know. Although alluded to in the classic "Wilderness of Mirrors" by David Martin, which McEwan acknowledges as his inspiration and source material, and also referenced in Tom Mangold's "Cold Warrior" about the CIA's witch-hunting DCI James Jesus Angleton, this perhaps is the finest guess at Harvey's true personality. What follows in the book's second half is McEwan's trademark twist-the-knife, unexpected and somewhat surreal noir darkness ... no spoilers here, comrade! Whether you are a McEwan fan -- and all of his books are superb -- or a CIA company/Farm buff, or both, don't miss this one. If only the summer 2007 TNT 3-part TV miniseries "The Company" had taken account of the books mentioned here, and others, we wouldn't have had that sad, ridiculous, disinformational take on the CIA's 1950-1970 "Golden Years". In that TV movie, Harvey for some reason is called "Harvey Territo" and although Angleton's real name is preserved, events are presented in such a convoluted, untrue manner, despite the richness of previously published material, that we have got to wonder what TNT was thinking. Perhaps George Tenet was ghost technical advisor? Forget "The Company". Read McEwan.

The term "breath-taking" is one that book reviewers toss about with more ease than readers believe. but McEwan's post-war/thriller/romance can leave you breathless as it slips cannily from the everyday to the astonishing. People who could not imagine being caught up in webs of intrigue and deception find their lives turned topsy-turvy in most imaginative and startling ways. The more I read of the McEwan list the more I am amazed by his artistry, and variety of plot and characters. Every bit as fine a read as "Amsterdam" and "Atonement."

This fast-moving novel captures the mindset and experiences of an innocent man in the midst of first love, as well as the pleasure he takes in his geeky work, before his world collapses. Across McEwan's oeuvre, "The Innocent" reminds me the most of "The Comfort of Strangers", since the narrative in both these page-turners veers suddenly into the macabre. Unlike many of McEwan's books, the lovers-this time, Leonard and Maria-connect in both strategy and action. But this clean connection yields a grisly misadventure. "The Innocent" is an involving read. But the squeamish might enjoy "Atonement" more.

McEwan deftly illustrates how turmoil and deception can lie just below the surface, whether that surface is a city street in divided Berlin, or the surface of a seemingly clean-cut, upright human being. In McEwan's world of post-war Germany, no one is truly innocent, or at least no one beyond page 20, and nothing is truly as it seems. All is a shade of grey, nothing is black and white. This book is gripping, as Leonard's life becomes more ensnared in lies and cover-ups. A terrific read.

I'm a fervent admirer of McEwan's books and can't help but be affected profoundly by this one as well. The private and the public mix ambiguoulsy and the intricate machinations of the political sphere reveal themselves as the aftermath and residues of the private catastrophes and psychoses. The book reads like a piece of music.