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

Unmanned by Dan Fesperman

Air Force Captain and F-16 fighter pilot Darwin Cole lives alone in a trailer in the desert outside of Las Vegas. See, he got drummed out of the Air Force and his wife took their two kids back to her home in Saginaw, MI. A mission went bad and the resulting fallout stuck him in the desert boonies where the most common livings thing he'd seen in months were coyotes.

Cole was a good pilot; perfect for an up and coming program outside of Vegas - drone pilot. And the job was one part boring and all parts weird, peeking over shoulders a world away before firing a missile into some hut before heading home for dinner with the family.

Intelligence in Afghanistan had a high value target in a home in the middle of nowheresville Sander Khosh. He drives the drone, his spotter finds the target. Ground contact says go. Cole fires the missile. 55s to target. At about 45s, Cole sees 3 kids run out of the house to play. Too late to divert the missile. It obliterates the house, kills the 2 boys, and the girl survives, albeit with 1 less arm.

Cole goes off the deep end. Good-bye war. Hello coyotes.

Keira and Steven find Cole and drive up for a chat. Both are reporters (recent victims of old school newspaper purges) who are on a story about a rogue contractor who was fighting the war using his own rules. And the contractor they are looking into was Cole's on-the-ground contact during the fateful missile strike. So they think maybe Cole can provide some details.

Cole reluctantly joins the pair, and their third, Barb. He travels to their place in Baltimore by bus to avoid cameras, credit cards, and security posts. The unlikely quartet works the story talking with sources, defrocked 'agency' types, and drone engineers not only about the who, but the fact that the genie has been released from the bottle.

The technology is advancing at light speed. And contracting companies are competing with and against each other and will manipulate, buy, and steal their way to bigger more lucrative contracts. Even to the point of buying off local Afghan informants from a competitor. Cole ended up in the middle of an inter-contractor battle that a little girl paid for with an arm.

This is 6th Fesperman book reviewed here at MRB so obviously we must like his work. A number of his other books were centered in an around the former Yugoslavia. The only connection to that conflict is that Cole flew F-16s there and was credited with the only air-to-air kill since Vietnam. While those earlier books explored the brutality and the darkest depths of human hatred, Unmanned veers into a psychological thriller about the people, the technology, and the lengths that people will go to harness what drones can do not only in war, but also the promising and lucrative domestic market of the future. We hear about drones almost daily and Fesperman adroitly parts the curtain for the uninitiated to see just what drone technology is capable of.

So it you hear what sounds like a distant weed whacker, I'd suggest you keep an eye on the skies while I check back in with Fesperman to see the next thing he wants us to watch for.

available at Amazon.com

East Coast Don

Lie in the Dark by Dan Fesperman

Ever wondered just what a homicide detective would do during a time of war? Heck, most all autopsy reports would list the cause of death as 'war' unless a victim was a certain someone with some leverage in government. Wouldn't look good for a fledgling government to have its own secret police conduct the investigation of the death of the head of said secret police, especially when the U.N. is breathing down everyone's neck.

That's what Inspector Vlado Petric faces in Sarajevo during the breakup of the former Yugoslavia. They've not been too busy because the Interior Ministry, home of the Secret Police, has been handling most everything. When its head is killed at close range, not by the usual route - a sniper, the new head thinks it best for an independent investigation in required and calls in Vlado and his partner, Damir to do a quick, quiet, but thorough investigation . . . and by the way, here are the names of 4 reliable informants who should be able to help.

Each of the informants say essentially the same thing - the vic got involved in smuggling (meat, cigarettes, gasoline, alcohol, take your pick), pissed someone off when he wanted a bigger cut and got whacked for his insolence.

Too neat, too tidy, too rehearsed. Vlado believes the profits from smuggling those items, valuable though they were, just wasn't enough to lure in the former Secret Police head. Vlado thinks that either the goods were far more valuable or that the victim was doing some investigation on his own, not telling anyone because no one inside the government could be trusted. Some dogged police work doesn't determine which is the case, but does reveal the product is indeed far, far more valuable and profitable that meat, cigs, gas, or booze . . . and far, far more dangerous than the odd sniper on a hillside.

This is the 5th Fesperman title reviewed here at MRB . . . and to find that tidbit out, I also find that West Coast Don reviewed this 2000 copyright book in August 2012 . . . don't even know our own product, but i did find different cover art. No matter. I've read 5 books by Fesperman, but still won't put him in my power rotation. He presents the sense of loss and futility of the Sarajevo residents trying to exist while a war goes on around them that is trying to fix affronts to the various heritages that began hundreds upon hundreds of years ago. Heck, we Americans think that the Hatfields and McCoys carried on for a long time. Their little squabble was a back yard spitting match compared to the Croats vs. the Serbs. Despite the constant shelling, snipers, and land mines, the locals manage to scratch out a meager and depressing existence while waiting for the day of a truce. It's this despair that Fesperman paints in dreary grays and blacks under the clouds of dirt and scrum of life that at best provides only intermittent running water and weak instant coffee.

Echoing WCD's summary - you bet, this is a dreary story, and he gave up on it. I wasn't enthralled, but I did want to find out how Fesperman brought it all home. I'll keep looking into Fesperman. Hey, I know what I'm getting myself in for. And I find his stories set in war-torn Bosnia kind of interesting.

East Coast Don

The Double Game by Dan Fesperman

Now this has MRB written all over it.

Bill Cage works for a DC-based PR firm and hates it. He started out as a journalist, but one column killed that career. See, Bill grew up an embassy brat (sort of like an Army brat, but his dad was in the State Department’s Foreign Service) and lived in exotic locales like Vienna, Prague, Budapest, and Berlin. His dad, now retired and living in Vienna, is a confirmed spy novel aficionado – and the nut didn’t fall far from the tree on that love. The both covet their collections of old spy novels.

It was in the early 90s that Bill, a journalist for the Washington Post (or was it the Times?) interviewed one of his favorite authors, Edwin Lemaster, who while being a highly successful spy novelist was also a cold war era warrior. Actually, he was one of James Angleton’s 3 primary operatives (code names headlight, blinker, taillight) on that ill-fated mole hunt within the CIA back in the 60’s. In the interview, Lemaster admits that most all spies consider being a double agent, to make the job more interesting. The edited version of the article says Lemaster was a Russian spy, effectively killing Cage’s cred with the clandestine arm of the CIA and, effectively, his journalistic career.

Fast forward to around 2008. Cage gets an anonymous note that he dropped the ball on Lemaster and should’ve dug deeper. A clue is attached: a cutout of a page from a classic LeCarre novel. The clue sends him back to Vienna for a meeting with his dad, then a trip to a bookseller where the next clue is delivered by old his girlfriend from his teen years in Vienna, and each was the other’s first, if you catch my drift.

They follow more clues, more snippets from classic spy novels, tracking Lemaster’s courier ring, all the while learning more about each other and their inadvertent tangential roles in Lemaster’s passing of information and his dead drops. Not only do they want to know if Lemaster really was a double agent, they also want to know who is pulling Cage’s chain with all these clues.

For spy thriller junkies like the MRB guys, this book is a loving homage to the genre, tracing the genre from its beginnings all the way to its heyday in the cold war. Deciding I needed to write down the names of some of what are, at least to me, some of he more obscure titles, I kept a pencil and paper nearby. On a whim, I thought I’d look at the back of the book for maybe an index only to find the entire development of spy novels; alphabetical by author and chronological by year – over 200 titles and over 40 authors. Needless to say, I photocopied the list and have it close at hand.

So, if you like spy thrillers, especially cold war era tales, you must find this one. The slightly befuddled Cage and his now gently frumpy old girlfriend are an engaging couple, each with a few tricks and secrets up their sleeves. Especially revealing are the ‘come to Jesus’ revelations by old spooks who, though retired, never really left the game and miss the thrill.  I’ve read two Fesperman books, now this. Very enjoyable. I will find more . . . and sooner, not later.

ECD

Lie in the Dark

MRB has previously reviewed three Fesperman books, and the comments have all been favorable. I didn’t think this one lived up to the others. Talk about dark? Well, the title should have given me a clue. It takes place in war-torn Sarajevo where the Serbs, Croats, and Muslims are all killing each other. Despite all the murders that are war-related, police detective Vlado Petric is assigned to investigate the murder of Esmir Vitas, Chief of the Interior Ministry’s special police. The murder was designed to look like a sniper hit, one like the many that were occurring around the city on a daily basis, but Vlado quickly figured out it was not just a random shooting. Fesperman probably captures how miserable it must have been to live in that city with all the atrocities that were going on. Day-to-day living was very difficult, so most of the characters were just struggling to survive. But, the plot and characters just did not grab me, and despite hanging with the book for more than 200 pages, I gave it up – just was not interested in seeing how it worked out. Amazon gave it a 4 ½ out of 5 rating. I disagree, but I’m willing to take on another Fesperman at some point based on The Prisoner of Guantanamo.

The Prisoner of Guantanamo

As the title suggests, the story mostly takes place in Guantanamo. The author, Dan Fesperman, introduced a great character, FBI interrogator Revere Falk. Falk not only has ties to the FBI, but also a mysterious and complicated connection with Gonzalo Rubiero, aka Paco, a spy for Castro. The action centers around the interrogation of prisoners from the middle east, especially Afghanistan and Yemen. The Yemeni Adnan al-Hamdi is of particular interest because of his seemingly incidental arrest by the Americans, yet the lingering suspicion that he knows much more than Falk has been able to extract from him. Is there a Cuban-Yemeni connection? Who is Hussay? Maybe the only way to get the information is to torture it out of him, rather than use the kinder and gentler way of Falk. The CIA and FBI, as well as private contractors are involved in the interrogations, but no one trusts anyone else. Although they obviously need Arabic speaking interpreters and interrogators, it is those Arabic speakers who come under the most suspicion about data that the U.S. wants and can’t get. Just who is it that is really pulling all the strings behind the scene? In the midst of the action, a sergeant turns up dead on Cuban turf, not the American military base – and it makes no sense where his body was discovered.

Falk is a great character with all the necessary flaws to make him interesting, and he must work hard to sort out the good guys from the bad guys. The author gives him a love interest in Pam Cobb, and like Falk, she is one of the Arabic-speaking interrogators whose loyalty is in question. It’s not clear where her allegiances truly lie.

Not all of the loose ends were tied up, but I found the resolutions of the major conflicts to have been particularly satisfying, but I didn’t see it coming. I chose a Fesperman book based on East Coast Don’s strong recommendation, and I am excited to have a new author to read. I’ve already acquired my next Fesperman novel, Lie in the Dark.

The Small Boat of Great Sorrows by Dan Fesperman

Better watch what you dig up on the job. It could be a metaphor for something bigger. Former cop Vlado Petric of Sarajevo got his family out of what was left of Yugoslavia and settled in Berlin. Now he works construction doing site preparation for German builders. On one dig, he comes across an underground bunker that was a rest haven for SS drivers. Walking through the bunker brings back some chilling memories of Vlado.

            

Seemingly out of nowhere, an American working for the war crimes tribunal in The Hague contacts Vlado to see if he’d be interested in doing a little undercover work in Serbia. The tribunal has been on the trail of a World War 2 Croatian officer accused of genocide. Seems the Croatian sided with the Nazi’s and what was done to ethnic minorities rivaled what the Nazi’s did. But to get to this guy, the tribunal has to get to a younger version who also committed atrocities during the break up of Yugoslavia. This piece of work is to be lured out with the offer of grants to remove mines and Vlado is tabbed to make contact. If successful, the tribunal suggests that Vlado and his family would be able to go back home.

            

After agreeing, Vlado and his American contact head to Croatia, but at each step, Vlado learns bit by bit just how and why the tribunal came to select him to do this job. And like digging up that bunker in Berlin, one can be quite surprised at what one digs up when they keep digging, and most of the reasons point to Vlado’s father who never really addressed the question of “what did you do in the war, Daddy.” Was his role in WWII what Vlado thought or was it worse? And why did his dad go to Italy after the war and stay for 15 years? The more you dig, the more surprises unfold.

            

Fesperman is a journalist from Baltimore who has covered a number of hostilities so his attention to historical detail is critical in setting the scene at both the end of WWII and after the Balkin war. Each day is like rolling away another stone hiding some detail of the conflict and just who and what Vlado’s father was.

            

This book is Fesperman’s 2^nd and I think it would have been better to have read the first novel, "Life in the Dark," where Vlado is introduced and the reasons behind why he had to leave his home so suddenly. Despite that, the circuitous path followed by Vlado is curious enough to keep you tuned attentively to the details. I’m certain more Fesperman books will be reviewed here. Thanks again to Jack the Librarian for suggesting Fesperman’s books.

By the way, the slightly pretentious title is actually a line from an old Slavic poem.

East Coast Don

Layover in Dubai by Dan Fesperman

 One of the biggest of Big Pharma is Pfluger Klaxon. Global, highly profitiable. Sam Keller doesn't really have one of the more glamorous jobs at Klaxon. He's an auditor, a CPA/MBA in his late 20's; on the lookout for anyone, inside or outside, who looks to profit at Klaxon's expense. He's headed for Hong Kong with Charlie Hatcher, a middle manager with a reputation as a partier on Klaxon's nickel. Corporate security asks Sam to keep an eye on Charlie during their 2 day layover in Dubai. Nanette Weaver, the head cop at Klaxon, tells Sam to just keep an eye on him by keeping the company cell phone on so she can get updates at a moment's notice. 

Charlie's rep is accurate. After some seemingly innocent wandering around Dubai clubs and hotels, he takes Sam to the York Club, a front for prostitution. Sam thinks Charlie is being well taken care of and shuts off the phone for a while. Minutes later, Charlie has had his abdomen opened up with an automatic pistol. Lt. Assad, a Dubai detective, draws the case and starts the investigation. Sam calls Nanette to  tell her what happened who then sets her travel for Dubai. She tells Sam to search the body for the Klaxon Blackberry, but the only thing Sam finds is an address book with a few notes in some sort of Charlie-speak shorthand. 

A mysterious 'Minister' contacts Detective Anwar Sharaf, an unlikely sort, unassuming, portly, middle aged, sort of ugly, speaks 5 languages and is reading Crime and Punishment in its original Russian. The sort of cop people underestimate and the worst kind of cop in a corrupt district; an honest cop. Sharaf checks out what happened and Assad ain't happy. Even Dubai cops are protective of their cases. 

Still jet lagged after the initial interview, Sam is dragged from his hotel room and arrested. Sharaf believes Sam is being set up and bluffs his way through booking and takes Sam to the best option for a safe house - his house. Madame Sharaf ain't happy either, but their young 20s-ish daughter, Laleh, in mid-rebellion mode, actually talks with the strange westerner, much to mom's chagrin. It's bad enough Laleh doesn't always cover her hair, but to actually sit on the same couch with a westerner is downright scandalous.  

Sharaf moves Sam from safe house to safe house over the next couple days while he and Sam form a wary and uneasy alliance to track data that links Nanette to Assad to the local US Counsel office, Russian and Iranian mafia, dozens of shopping malls, a battered women's shelter and lifelong friends of Sharaf "who dove the deepest waters with me." That's code for men he can trust (used to pearl dive and participate in a little smuggling as teenagers), because part of his work for the "Minister" is into dirty cops and the political peril they bring to men in power. 

Jack the Librarian works at, well . . . , the local public library. We have the same tastes in authors and I'm trying to get him to contribute to MRB. Having just been in Dubai, I saw this title on the 'We Recommend" rack, sitting on Jack's shelf. I asked Jack what he knew about Fesperman. Said he as an award winning novelist, former journalist in multiple war zones and, most importantly, a staple on his must-read author list, aka in his 'power rotation' as we say here at MRB. Good enough for me. Checked it out and polished it off in less than a week, no problem. Characters you care about, interesting clash of cultures between Sam and family Sharaf, and very well plotted. Not ready for my power rotation just yet, but neither was Hunter or Box or Pelecanos or Stella after one read.

Stay tuned. MRB just may have struck a new vein of gold in vast mine of thriller writers.

East Coast Don