The political fiction genre has a new and unique CIA operative, John Wells, who not only infiltrates Al Qaeda for almost a decade but becomes a devout Muslim during his years in Pakistan. He returns to New York under the orders of a high ranking mysterious Al Qaeda military leader who doesn’t quite trust Wells and keeps John unenlightened regarding his “mission ” until the time is right.
While John was in Pakistan he never communicated with his superiors for fear of blowing his cover and undermining all the trust he earned among his Al Qaeda brothers. Thus when Wells finally reports to the CIA the top brass don’t trust him either. Welles must convince the CIA he has not “gone over” and yet must remain a convincing Al Qaeda warrior.
The Faithful Spy is a nail biting thriller with a diabolically brilliant antagonist who is more than a match for our brave and solitary hero. It is John Berenson’s first novel, for which he won the Edgar Award in 2006. Berenson is a reporter for the New York Times and has covered topics from the occupation of Iraq to the flooding of New Orleans. His fluency in the Middle East is apparent in his storytelling. The thoroughness of this narrative makes it plausible and chilling in its probability.
Read-alikes:
Any of Nelson DeMille’s John Corey stories
Ian Fleming’s James Bond novels
Peg McCarthy, Librarian
Executive Intent by Dale Brown
The book begins with a too long multiple page description of various missiles and their capabilities.
We are then introduced to several members of the space station in orbit and ground crew responsible for the protection of naval ships at sea. Although one does not get a feeling for the characters.
The book starts with tensions at sea between American and Chinese fighter pilots before it segues into how the United States has designed and launched one of the most powerful weapons in history called “Thor’s Hammer” that can strike anywhere in the world in seconds. In order to protect themselves from this design other countries such as China and Russia attempt to gain control of the world’s seas.
Meanwhile, terrorists decide to hijack Pakistani missiles and use them against Indian cities. The President of the United States, Joseph Gardner, decides to retaliate by firing Thor’s Hammer which results in a a large number of casualties. This incites Pakistan to provide China with access to their Middle Eastern ports.
Another plot involves Somali pirates attacking a Chinese ship and the Chinese retaliation of attacking Somalia and setting up missile bases that can target American ships at sea.
An additional plot emerges as both Chinese and Russian spacecraft surround the American space-station threatening the U.S. Navy with missiles unless the Americans are willing to negotiate territories and boundaries.
The intricate descriptions of the missiles were cumbersome at the beginning and proved unhelpful in understanding the differences in strategic warfare if one was unfamiliar with basic weaponry. I found little interest in this book and was unable to care about the characters. The multiple plots were excessive and became confusing at times when the plot design appeared to change from current to futuristic setting.
I would recommend this book only to individuals who already have read prior books by Dale Brown or have a definite interest in technology/military adventure.
Read-alikes:
Baldacci, David Deliver Us from Evil
Bova, Ben Able One
Brown, Dale Strike Force
Clancy, Tom Battle Ready
Rollins, David Hard Rain
Anne Jones, East Hampton Library
Boomsday by Christopher Buckley
It’s the end of the world as we know it! At least is seems to be with Boomsday arriving. Boomsday is the day when all baby boomers start to retire. With the economy and social security in crisis,
Similar books by this author- Thank You for Smoking, Little Green Men, No Way to Treat a First Lady,
Lissetty Thomas, Brentwood Public Library
Sammy's House by Kristin Gore
Samantha Joyce, also known as Sammy, is a health care advisor and aide to Ohio Senator Robert Gary. Despite her character quirks, her friends and her age, she does her job quite well. This is a fun look at the young side of life in the capital. The political wheeling and dealing share time with the dating and bar scene. Although the book is quite funny at times, it does offer a sobering look at the workings of Congress. Fans of Jennifer Weiner, Lauren Weisberger, Emma McLaughlin and Candace Bushnell will enjoy.
Karen Jaffe, Comsewogue Public Library
Last Snow by Eric Lustbader
ATF agent Jack McClure is the special advisor to President Edward Carson, so when the President asks him to investigate the mysterious death of a senator on a diplomatic mission, Jack is off to the Ukraine . He becomes involved with the beautiful Annika, a Russian counterintelligence agent, and with dangerous and unscrupulous apparatchiks and oligarchs. In a previous adventure, (First Daughter, 2008) McClure had saved the life of Carson’s daughter, Alli, and she insists on accompanying him, adding more confusion and complexity to the mission. The story is fast-paced, colorful, and violent.
Lustbader was hired by the Robert Ludlum estate to continue the Bourne books, so readers of that series will likely enjoy” Last Snow”. Other read-alikes include authors Tom Clancy, Philip Margolin, and David Baldacci.
Suzanne McGuire, Commack Public Library
Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel
Winner of the Man Booker prize for contemporary British fiction in 2009, historian, novelist and author Hilary Mantel delves into the reign of Henry VIII particularly his long stand-off with the church. The point of view is that of Thomas Cromwell, who directed England’s civil and religious affairs in those tumultuous years. Cromwell has been called the architect of the English Reformation inasmuch as he showed Henry he could get his marriage annulled by breaking with the Catholic Church and leading an independent Church of England.
Best read as a novel, not history. Reviewers noted its capacious structure, the brilliance of its language, the wry, off-beat, elegiac tone of its narration and its sheer inventiveness. Some of these things are true and some are lies . . . but they are all good stories.
At times an ambitious read, but a rewarding one as well.
Read-alikes:
The Lacuna, Barbara Kingsolver
The Glass Room, Simon Mawer
The Little Stranger, Sarah Waters
Brooklyn, Colm Toibin
The Children’s Book, A. S. Byatt
Grace O'Connor, West Islip Public Library
American Savior by Roland Merullo
American Savior is the story of a presidential campaign. A campaign in which Jesus Christ, having become dismayed at the state of spirituality in America and convinced that his own teachings have been distorted, decides to run for President of the United States. He first re-appears in a small city in western Massachusetts performing various miracles. He recruits a ragtag group of campaign workers, primarily the religiously-conflicted family of television reporter Russ Thomas, to manage his campaign. While Jesus’ campaign first encounters many doubters, he soon comes to be the front runner and is well on his way to becoming the next president. Especially interesting are the non-conventional ways in which Jesus addresses the hot-button issues of our day, issues which many on both sides of the political class are convinced they know how he would think.
The book seems to ask the question of how America, a “Christian nation” would recognize and treat the return of its savior. The author seems to want to ask if those who profess to believe in him truly understand his actual message. Of course many others might say that the author is presenting his own conception of how Jesus should be viewed.
Read-Alikes might include campaign novels such as Primary Colors by Anonymous, Sleeping Dogs by Ed Gorman, and Dog Days by Ana Marie Cox. Also recommend to readers who have enjoyed books such as The Stars My Destination by Alfred Bester, The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch by Philip Dick, and More Than Human by Theodore Sturgeon.
Bruce Silverstein, Patchogue-Medford
Skull Mantra by Eliot Pattison
Shan Tan Yun, a Han Chinese sent to the Tibetan gulag for reeducation, undertakes the investigation of a political murder in hopes of saving his fellow prisoners, Tibetan monks, from blame. A tribute to human resilience featuring interesting leads, colorful secondary characters, clever dialog, and lyrical descriptions of a haunting landscape , Skull Mantra is also a fascinating read for anyone interested in the recent history of Tibet.
Read-alikes include Tony Hillerman’s A Thief of Time, Nicholas Shakespeare’s The Dancer Upstairs, and John Burdett’s The Godfather of Kathmandu.
Jackie Malone, North Bellmore Public Library
The Bell Ringers by Harry Porter
By any measure, this political thriller would appeal to someone who enjoys a suspenseful read with numerous twists and turns, a multitude of fully-developed characters, and a strong dose of mystery. But the range of appeal can be broadened to anyone who may have a concern about the societal trends developing in response to recent global events. The Bell Ringers is completely fictional in its portrayal of a dystopian-like society of the future, but it is hard to refrain from drawing comparisons and inferences to present-day reality. Greedy corporations, a corrupt government, or over-reaching technology can easily be a headline in today’s news, and that’s what makes it easy to relate to the believable plot of The Bell Ringers.
While living in exile in Colombia, a former advisor to England’s Prime Minister is murdered in the bombing of a street side cafe. Colleagues and friends gather for his funeral in England and shortly thereafter a former lover learns that she is the sole beneficiary of his estate. Kate Lockhart is perplexed by the designation, as she and David Eyam had been estranged for years. While settling his affairs, Lockhart not only witnesses the murder of several of Eyam’s associates, but she also stumbles upon overwhelming evidence that Eyam was engaged in underground activity with a group called “The Bell Ringers.” Whether it could be attributed it to a complacent society or a serious concern over terrorist threats, a true breach of the country’s water supply or a manufactured peril, the surveillance of Britain’s population had been allowed to develop into an oppressive operation known as DEEP TRUTH—a sinister totalitarian conspiracy that threatens the democratic process—and Eyam, for one, was no longer able to subscribe to his leader’s mission. That is when his troubles began.
Many reviewers have compared The Bell Ringers to Orwell’s classic novel 1984. The works are similar in that both portray a society gone awry; both depict the evils of a totalitarian government demanding total devotion from its citizens. The frightening difference between the two novels, as pointed out by a Washington Post reviewer, is that Orwell’s novel was written as a futuristic prediction of what “could happen;” Porter’s novel is a depiction of what he perceives as “already starting to happen.” Read the Afterword provided by Porter if The Bell Ringers does not alarm you enough.
Enjoy the conspiratorial and suspenseful aspects of The Bell Ringers? Readalikes include The Ghost by Robert Harris, Acrobat by Lira Gonzalo, and Overton Window by Glenn Beck.
Deborah Formosa, Northport-East Northport Public Library
First Daughter by Eric Van Lustbader
In this political thriller, the soon-to-be President’s daughter, Alli is kidnapped and everyone wants to keep it quiet. Luckily, Alli used to be friends with the daughter of an ATF agent named Jack McClure making him the perfect choice to find the First Daughter since the Secret Service and out-going President have their own hidden agenda. As Jack uses his investigative skills to locate the First Daughter, an undercurrent of devout government members, including the current President, are hunting down those who think church and state should be separate entities and trampling civil rights in the name of God.
First Daughter is a jumbled mess of past, present and future sometimes bordering on the absurd (the ghost of Jack’s daughter Emma begins appearing to him, Jack’s dyslexia allows his to see things in colors and shapes making him able to solve things that no one else can). All of the characters are in constant conflict with each other, with religious fundamentalists and with anyone else who doesn’t toe the company line. Jack’s past comes into play as he searches for Alli, including his obsession in trying to discover what was behind the death of Emma, and characters that seem trustworthy turn out to be just as flawed as everyone else. Fast-paced with short chapters, this would be a good read for anyone looking for more action than plot. Although the underlying theme of church and state makes for an interesting debate, it’s handled poorly making the reader more frustrated than anything else.
Read-alikes:
Tom Clancy
Vince Flynn
Robert Ludlum
Daniel Silva
Azuree Agnello, West Babylon Public Library
Eighteen Acres by Nicolle Wallace
In Eighteen Acres, the reader follows a year in the lives of three powerful, career-minded women; Charlotte, the United States’ 45th president; Melanie, her chief-of-staff; and Dale, a White House correspondent who is also sleeping with the president’s husband.
Charlotte and Melanie are in each others’ lives 24/7 and have become close friends. They journey to Afghanistan to visit the troops and spend weekends at Camp David. Dale has been steadily moving up the career ladder at her network and is hoping to land the gig on the president’s campaign trail. The president knows about her husband’s affair with Dale, but feels it’s the result of her neglect and doesn’t begrudge him.
When Charlotte and her vice president go to Afghanistan, with only a select few of the press, they come under attack. The press helicopter crashes and Dale is hospitalized. Naturally, the affair becomes national and international headlines.
Each chapter of the book follows one of the three women. The questions that arise after the crash concern whether Melanie will continue working after 15 years in the White House, whether Charlotte will try for another four years in the White House, even after the scandal, and whether Dale can resume her career and hold onto Peter (the First Man).
This political fiction is more women’s fiction with a political setting. It is a quick read with lots going on. The White House and DC are hubs of activity where no one is spared. No one has much of a life outside their careers and, as women, that is something they all battle with.
The female characters are well drawn; however, the male characters hardly have a presence.
Written by a woman, for women, including references to Marc Jacobs bags and a $2,000 Dior purse, this book is just this side of “chick lit”, making it an enjoyable, easy read.
Read-alikes:
• Protect and Defend, by Richard North Patterson
• Eleanor vs. Ike, by Robin Gerber
• Sunday Brunch Diaries, by Norma Jarrett
• Girls of Riyadh, by Rajaa Alsanea
Lori Ludlow, Babylon Public Library
Julian Comstock: A Story of 22nd Century America by Robert Charles Wilson
A portrait of an imagined 22nd America, Julian Comstock reflects the political and social turmoil in today’s world. The most poignant political themes in the novel are the separation of Church and State, religious freedom, the US‘s dependency on oil and the increasing monetary gap between the middle and the upper classes. Additional themes include America’s consumer driven society tainted by the desire for excess and the dangers of viral mutation from antibiotics.
This novel takes place after the age of oil, in feudal caste society. The presidency is no longer determined by election but is inherited or appointed. The whole of North America is the new USA and the USA is still at war with European’s, who are labeled “the Dutch,” over Canada’s northern territories. After the end of oil, an indentured class is created, these citizen’s sell the only thing they own, their own bodies in order to survive.
Julian Comstock, a member of privileged class, sets off to find America and himself. Julian is accompanied by two companions, Sam and Adam, who are of the working or indentured classes. The three involuntarily get drafted into the army and are sent off to fight the Dutch. The three eventually return as hero’s to New York, now the US’s capital. Soon the group is threatened by there political ties to the president and Julian is faced with overwhelming opposition from the powerful Church/Feudal run government.
As well as a political novel, Julian Comstock is a coming of age story. I would recommend this book to both adults and older teens, especially lovers of Science Fiction.
Read-alikes
Paul Park
Alison Sinclair
Eric Nylund
Pat Murphy
Pamela L. Wells, Lindenhurst Public Library
