Agents of Innocence

September 1, 1987
Ignatius, currently a Washington Post editor, covered the Middle East for the Wall Street Journal during the early 1980s. With this adept first novel, he demonstrates how well he paid attention to his beat. Basically, this is an account of CIA agent Tom Rogers's recruitment of Jamal Ramlawi, a high official of Al Fatah. But the story, revolving around the Beirut CIA station during the late '60s and early '70s, is also a highly realistic, comprehensive analysis of Middle Eastern politics. By concentrating on the CIA's actual mandate, gathering intelligence from many sources, rather than fanciful adventure, Ignatius carefully traces the interactions of Rogers and his fellow CIA agents with their contacts in Lebanon's Palestinian, Christian and Shiite quarters, and with Israel's Mossad, thereby illuminating the complex process in which secret intelligence is acquired. The plot covers the September '70 war between Jordan's King Hussein and Palestinian guerillas; the gradual dissolution of the Lebanese government and the country's descent into turmoil; development of the Black September organization and its role in the massacre of Israeli athletes at the Munich Olympics; and the loss of American prestige in Arab capitals. Thrilling and plausible, the novel has the grit of real life combined with a facile narrative style; and its implications are ominous.

September 15, 1987
The factional strife in Lebanon feeds on rumor, deliberate lies, and half-truths, and spawns mercenaries and agents of every ideological stripe. Most share a harsh morality that allows terrorism to advance. A very few others are committed to relationships built on trust, honesty, and a sense of mutual responsibility. One such is Tom Rogers, a CIA agent who penetrates a prime Palestinian unit and makes a secret agreement with a young deputy chief of Fatah intelligence. This first novel is a suspenseful account of the excruciating ambiguity of the undertaking. Ignatius, a former Middle East correspondent for the Wall Street Journal, writes with a fatalistic affection for his subject and deep understanding of its complexity. As a storyteller, Ignatius deploys drama, pace, and character to make this a spy novel of formidable power. Barbara Conaty, Library of Congress

Copyright 1987 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.