"Body of Lies" Book Review

Body of Lies by David Ignatius
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

"A tale of counterterrorism from an author who "ranks with Graham Greene in his knowledge of espionage and the human heart" -Publishers Weekly.

"CIA soldier Roger Ferris has come out of Iraq with a shattered leg and an intense mission—to penetrate the network of a master terrorist known only as "Suleiman." Ferris's plan is inspired by a masterpiece of British intelligence during World War II: He prepares a body of lies, literally the corpse of an imaginary CIA officer who appears to have accomplished the impossible by recruiting an agent within the enemy's ranks.

"This scheme binds friend and foe in a web of extraordinary subtlety and complexity. When it begins to unravel, Ferris finds himself flying blind into a hurricane. His only hope is the urbane head of Jordan's intelligence service. But can Ferris trust him?"

I thought this was well-written. From what I read before I got this book, it made it sound as if it was going to be so terrible that I would be pulling my hair out in frustration. It wasn't that bad. The author certainly knows his way around the Middle East, specifically Jordan. It was very well researched about plots, terrorists and government officials that are off the books.

But I feel as if he could have made his characters a bit less typical. Roger Ferris was almost too goody two shoes for a CIA agent. Alice was downright annoying - I understand the political message but if you treat your readers like they're morons instead of just going with the story, you might upset some people who wanted to read a good CIA novel. Also, she should have been more realistic about Ferris's safety in the Middle East. And then why would those people listen to her anyway? She's a white woman and I don't care how well she's known, that part seemed utterly ridiculous. Gretchen was completely useless. Hani Saleem was the best character. He was very interesting and I would never want to play poker with him.

I must say that the only reason I got this book was because I saw the Ridley Scott movie and I was intrigued by it. I was hoping that the book would let me know more, but it actually didn't, so in that way it was disappointing. But the movie was very different from the book.

If I had to choose, I would pick the movie. It captured the excitement this book should have had for me. And also, the relationship was treated more realistically. Gretchen was completely taken out of the picture, which was perfect. Also, the men in it are fine examples of humanity - Russell Crowe (though a bit chubby, but more to love then), Leonardo DiCaprio, and Mark Strong who is incredibly sexy as Hani Pasha.

To see my movie review of "Body of Lies", click here.

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