The Cover Wife by Dan Fesperman

Claire Saylor is a career CIA operative based on Europe. Competent, but has a tendency to overstep her assignment and occasionally, that has gotten her in the doghouse. And she’s in the doghouse, or at least she thinks she is. We are in late 1999ish.

Claire has been given a crap assignment. Some US academic has published his take on the Koran based on his fluency with the actual language in which the Koran was originally written. She has to pose as his wife as he moves about the lecture circuit on this European tour and make sure no one make a move on him. Apparently, his translation doesn’t fit the modern narrative of Islam and some fanatics have been rumbling that this man probably needs to cease writing . . . permanently.

Mahmoud is the stereotype of the young man who is perfect for recruitment. Disillusioned, alone, trying to find his way, whatever that might be, in Hamburg. While not committed to Islam, he migrates to a mosque with a fairly radical Iman. Desperate to belong, he is drawn into a clique of more radicalized men. The longer he is drawn in, the more he comes to realize that something big is coming. Something huge.

In the meantime, Claire is becoming increasingly frustrated with her baby-sitting assignment. Especially with the more she learns about this guy. On one level, he’s a classic nerd. On another level, he seems like a lousy actor playing a part.

The deeper Mahmoud gets in with this group of guys, the more involved become his assignments. He sees them as tests that will get him something truly meaningful. How Mahmoud’s descent into radicalized thought intersects with Claire’s cover as a wife is the crux of the story. Don’t expect me to present any spoilers. And the spoiler in this story is a whopper that lovers of spy stories won’t want to miss.

Fesperman is a prolific author of classic spy novels. We here at MRB have reviewed favorably 8 earlier books of his all of which were all excellent. But the spoiler in this one is a doozy and, for me, that alone puts this at the top of the Fesperman books we’ve reviewed. Methinks that in the spy novel corner of the market, Fesperman sort of flies a bit under the radar and I'm not sure I know why.

Regardless, do you like spy books? This one’s for you. Don’t pass it up.

Available July 6, 2021

ECD