Will Cochrane has been at this covert operative business for 15 or so years. 70 missions, not all successful, and the scars to show for it. But some vengeful US Senator blasted his photo over the Internet effectively rendering him to be a non-operative operative. Mustered out of the service (apparently that is the subject of the previous unread book). Now he has to figure out what to do with his life.
The Israeli ambassador to France was strolling a nearby park one lunch hour only to be cut down by a sniper's bullet. In the uproar that followed, Israel concludes that Hamas was behind the kill and prepares for war. Invade Lebanon and rid it of this Hamas threat in one massive strike. Of course such a war will cause the middle east to explode, which bothers Israel not one bit.
In Gaza, a UN rep searches for children that he can take out of the squalor to the west to raise and educate. Help one child at a time. The 12-yo Safa is chosen and moves to France to live with the university professor-guardian. He is brought up to hate Israel.
This presents a problem for the US President. Does he give Israel his support or not? Either way is a loss for the President. In the White House situation room, all his security advisors line up on one side of that fence or the other.
All except Admiral (ret.) Tobias Mason. Housed at the Pentagon, Mason is the president's Svengali, whispering balanced opinion in the President's ear. He wonders if Israel isn't jumping the gun and proposes a listening post in Beruit to sift through the chatter for clues to Hamas' complicity. The post, the Grey Site, is manned by a spook from the US (a close friend and former colleague of Will Cochrane), France, UK, and Israel. It's an impenetrable windowless site deep in a basement and behind a massive steel security door that can only be locked from the inside. The four spooks live and work in this dungeon. A message is intercepted by the American and relayed to Washington for transmission to France, UK, and Israel.
The next morning, the Grey Site goes black. No response, no communication. Nothing. A joint team goes to the site, cuts their way in through the steel door and find all dead. The evidence they find is that the American killed the other three and then himself. Had to be. No way to get in.
Israel concludes Hamas found out and killed them. The plan is to invade in two weeks. Mason convinces the president to hold off his decision about supporting Israel until an unbiased party can determine the how and why of the murders at the Grey Site.
Mason is in contact with colleagues at the CIA and MI6 looking for someone unconnected with any country or policy to find out. Why not Will? He is currently unemployed and looking for something meaningful. After some haggling, Cochrane agrees.
From London to Washington, back to London, and now Beruit, Cochrane distills what few clues he can find. Unfortunately, all point to the American spook (and friend) gone over the edge and killing the rest of the Grey Site. Even after seeing the site, he finds nothing that can change the narrative.
Then comes Chapter 35. Not some unit or corrupt group. I mean the actual Chapter 35 of the book changes everything from Cochrane's investigation to his future and what about the boy Safa.
This is the 3rd book by Matthew Dunn reviewed here. Dunn is a former spook and now author. His books ring with authenticity, much like LeCarre. The attention to detail is monumental, especially when it comes to surveillance. One doesn't get that kind of detail from an interview with a retired spy. This comes from experience. I'm not concerned with book sale numbers. I read what sounds like fun. But I would guess that sales of books by Dunn don't approach that of Brad Thor, Alex Berenson, or other current best-selling thriller authors. And I have no clue why. His are every bit as good and probably a bit closer to reality (OK, the shoot-outs may be embellished a bit. It is fiction). But the ins and outs of the spycraft presented by Dunn are first-rate and presented with skill and flair.
Now I'm going to back up one book and find out just what caused that Senator to get such a burr under his saddle about Cochrane and report back.
ECD
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