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.
Review
“Berenson rises above the thriller genre.”—*St. Louis Post-Dispatch
“The authenticity Berenson brings to his ripped-from-the-headlines stories makes them seem as vividly real and scary as nonfiction or the nightly news.”—Booklist
“Wells is a refreshing thriller hero, sort of the anti–Jack Bauer.”—St. Petersburg Times “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 *
About the Author
Alex Berenson graduated from Yale University in 1994 with degrees in History and Economics. In 1999 he joined the New York Times where he covered everything from the drug industry to Hurricane Katrina. During his tenure he served two stints as a correspondent in Iraq, an experience that led him to write THE FAITHFUL SPY, which won the Edgar Award from the Mystery Writers of America for Best First Novel and was a #1 NYT bestseller. Alex left the NYT in 2010 to devote himself to writing fiction. He lives in New York City with his wife and dog.
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.
Review
“Berenson rises above the thriller genre.”—*St. Louis Post-Dispatch
“The authenticity Berenson brings to his ripped-from-the-headlines stories makes them seem as vividly real and scary as nonfiction or the nightly news.”—Booklist
“Wells is a refreshing thriller hero, sort of the anti–Jack Bauer.”—St. Petersburg Times
“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 *
About the Author
Alex Berenson graduated from Yale University in 1994 with degrees in History and Economics. In 1999 he joined the New York Times where he covered everything from the drug industry to Hurricane Katrina. During his tenure he served two stints as a correspondent in Iraq, an experience that led him to write THE FAITHFUL SPY, which won the Edgar Award from the Mystery Writers of America for Best First Novel and was a #1 NYT bestseller. Alex left the NYT in 2010 to devote himself to writing fiction. He lives in New York City with his wife and dog.