Two authors, Tom Clancy and Lee Child, came to mind as I was reading “The Ghost War” by Alex Berenson. Berenson’s hero John Wells has the same commanding presence as Lee Child’s Jack Reacher. At the same time his books contain the technological detail of the best Tom Clancy novel; however, unlike Clancy, I did not get lost in the details. Berenson kept me on the edge of my seat in this action packed tale.
Berenson is relatively new on the scene. His first book was “The Faithful Spy”, for which he won the 2007 Edgar Award for the Best First Novel. Recently he quit his day job as a business reporter for the New York Times because his night job as a novelist had become too successful.
“The Ghost War” is a spy thriller and a definite page-turner. CIA agent John Wells returns in this book to face a power play by China that will put the world on the brink of war. Jennifer Exley, his CIA handler and lover, joins him in this credible story.
Although he craves the violence of war, Wells takes no pride in the man he has become. He is scarred both physically and emotionally by what he has seen and done as a CIA double agent. Still recovering from injuries sustained in the previous novel, Wells releases pent-up emotions with late night motorcycle rides at breakneck speed. A disastrous attempt to extract a CIA operative in North Korea brings him back into the thick of action.
A North Korean submarine destroyed the boat, sent to rescue a North Korean scientist. All aboard were killed, including a CIA agent who was friend of Wells and Exley. Wells’ effort, to discover who betrayed the rescue attempt, leads him to Afghanistan, where he is part of a deadly mission against the Taliban. In Afghanistan he discovers that Russian mercenaries are being paid by an arms dealer to assist the Taliban. The discovery of a mole inside the CIA and a Machiavellian scheme by Chinese General Li Ping to seize power in China further complicate matters. Li Ping’s machinations, in turn, lead to a military face-off between the United States and China. Only Wells can save the day. All of this may seem far-fetched, but Berenson makes it work. He combines knowledge of the techniques and technology of war with some amazing action sequences to pull off a cliffhanger finish. His description of a Chinese submarine’s advanced satellite and torpedo system left me wondering where he got this information. Berenson’s action sequences are some of the best I have ever read. He manages to keep the tension ramped up even while he is explaining intricate weaponry.Fans of Tom Clancy or Lee Child run, don’t walk, to your nearest library and check out a book by Alex Berenson. He has only written three, but readers will clamor for more. Currently the Scottsbluff library has “The Ghost War” and “The Silent Man”.
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