The Cobra

Starred review from June 21, 2010
Veteran Forsyth (The Day of the Jackal) shows once again he's a master of the political thriller by taking a simple but completely original idea and turning it into a compelling story. The unnamed Obama-like U.S. president, disgusted by the horrors wrought by illegal drug trafficking, decides to bring the entire weight and resources of the federal government against the international cocaine trade. He first declares drug traders and their cartels to be terrorists, subjecting them to new and extensive legal procedures, then he brings in ex-CIA director Paul Devereaux to head the team that will implement the effort. Devereaux, known as the Cobra from his operations days, is old school—smart, ruthless, unrelenting, and bestowed by the president with free rein to call in any arm of the government. Forsyth lays out how it would all work, and readers will follow eagerly along, always thinking, yes, why don't they do this in real life? The answer to that question lies at the heart of this forceful, suspenseful, intelligent novel.

Listening to Jonathan Davis perform an audiobook is like receiving an aural massage. His diction is smooth, and his words, especially foreign ones, glide off his tongue with grace. As a result, hearing Forsyth's latest novel is a joy, even when the story is a bit sluggish. The Cobra is former CIA operative Paul Devereaux, to whom the president grants virtual carte blanche to aggressively combat cocaine trafficking worldwide, regardless of the legality of his actions. Although it takes nearly half the book before the suspense begins to build, the result is a thriller that engages because of Davis's ability to make even the most minute detail vivid in the listener's mind. D.J.S. (c) AudioFile 2010, Portland, Maine