Metzger's Dog: A Novel Review

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(More customer reviews)Metger's Dog is one of the finest novels I have read in quite a while -- and working in publishing (don't hold it against me) I see hundreds a year. There are moments in this narrative, many moments, when the reader realizes he has placed his or her attention in expert hands. Humor and seriousness are expertly blended. Perry is a subtle observer of people and of life. The character of Chinese Gordon is revealed only on the very last pages of the book ( and never fully), and rarely have I seen such judicious treatment of a CIA type as with Perry's creation of the character Porterfield. Good and evil are carefully intertwined in this text -- all of the characters trouble these moral boundaries. Even Gravirjas (sp?), a drug boss, is admirable in his assessment of circumstances, in his reasoning and objectivity given the life he leads, the hand he holds. His fatal mistake would have been impossible for him to grasp ahead of time -- circumstances just got way beyond what he knew.
In fact, only Poterfield and Chinese Gordon, the two main characters, are up to the chess board in this plot. And like two generals from opposing armies, they walk away respecting each other, though perhaps not equally.
The name "Metzger's Dog" is a metaphor -- the dog in the novel, a vicious animal, has been salvaged from a junkyard and tamed. At the end of the novel, this dog is given the name Porterfield.
In this story it is ultimately the CIA that has been tamed. The details of how this is achieved hold up to any test for authenticity.

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The much-loved comic thriller by the author of the Edgar Award–winning The Butcher's Boy is now, by popular demand, back in print, featuring a new Introduction by bestselling author Carl Hiaasen.When Leroy "Chinese" Gordon breaks into a professor's lab at the University of Los Angeles, he's after some pharmaceutical cocaine, worth plenty of money. Instead, he finds the papers the professor has compiled for the CIA, which include a blueprint for throwing a large city into chaos. But how is the CIA to be persuaded to pay a suitable ransom, unless of course someone actually uses the plan to throw a large city into chaos—Los Angeles, for instance? Assigned to cope with the crisis and restore the peace, veteran agent Ben Porterfield steps onto the scene to remind us that the CIA's middle name is, after all, Intelligence. Enlivening the mix are Gordon's beautiful girlfriend, Margaret, his temperamental cat, Dr. Henry Metzger, and Metzger's friend, an enormous half-wild dog with huge teeth.

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Bloodmoney: A Novel of Espionage Review

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(More customer reviews)David Ignatius has written another political thriller/mystery. It is filled with the cynicism of someone familiar with the current situation of international politics and the espionage community...all intelligence communities lie, it is their job. We can also see the touch of history in here, the same conflicts happening today as yesterday, the same thing that happened to the British is occurring today in their once occupied countries. Ignatius is also an astute observer of human and national nature.
Two matters stand out in this novel, looking through the eyes of the enemy and why he is motivated to act as he does. A brilliant mathematician/computer scientist/professor, "pondered how he might make these assassins feel the same fear that the people of his valley had felt for all these years," after seeing his whole family destroyed by an American drone. There is a bit of sympathy for this person, but he is still presented as a criminal. The other matter is the constant need for subterfuge, the lies of espionage and intelligence communities even within their own ranks, the problems and the necessities to get their job done.
The mystery to be solved is: Where is the leak that is getting agents killed? How do they know where and when these undercover operatives are going to be? This is a political thriller, a mystery that perhaps delves deeper into the seas of the espionage world than they would enjoy.
Where Ignatius shines of course is in describing the actions and methods of the news media. Ignatius, has researched his subject thoroughly, even traveling into these dangerous regions. It is an interesting twist to get inside the head of someone who wishes to kill your countrymen; but even more than that is the fact that the reader can picture and feel and know and empathize with all of the main characters. It is a well written novel that will pull you into its' world.


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From the author of the best-selling Body of Lies and The Increment: in a tragedy of revenge, the CIA falls victim to its own daring operation in the Middle East.
Someone in Pakistan is killing the members of a new CIA intelligence unit that is trying to buy peace with America's enemies. It falls to Sophie Marx, a young CIA officer with a big chip on her shoulder, to figure out who's doing the killing and why. Her starting point is Alphabet Capital, the London hedge fund that has been providing cover for this secret operation, but the investigation soon widens to include the capitals of the Middle East and the cruel hills of South Waziristan. Sophie thinks she has the backing of her hard-nosed boss, Jeffrey Gertz, and his genial mentor at headquarters, Cyril Hoffman. In addition, she gets help from the well-mannered lieutenant general heading Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence Directorate. But the closer Sophie gets to her quarry, the more she realizes that nothing in this gallery of mirrors is quite what it seems. This is a theater of violence and retribution, in which the last act is one that Sophie could not have imagined. David Ignatius has written a disturbing and compelling novel where the price of unchecked government is paid in blood, and peace can be bought only through betrayal.

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The Gray Man (A Gray Man Novel) Review

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(More customer reviews)Anyone looking for an action thriller hero need look no further than here, to Court Gentry. After running afoul of his bosses in the CIA and being put on that agency's shoot-on-sight-list, Gentry has been earning his living doing what he has been trained to do, he takes out targets he is paid to terminate. Anyone associated with hired assassins knows about The Gray Man. This man has the uncanny ability to simply fade into the background. His targets never see him coming and the investigations afterward never find any connection to anyone. The reputation of this man grows to legendary proportions because of his complete anonymity, nobody is ever completely sure of who he actually is. There is only one man who positively knows the identity of this operative, his handler Sir Donald Fitzroy of Cheltenham Security Services. At least that's what Sir Donald thought. Someone literally wants The Gray Man's head delivered on a platter and there is no limit to the amount of money they are willing to spend to achieve that goal. What follows is an incredibly exciting journey from Iraq to a chateau in Normandy with danger, destruction, and death all along the route. A bounty has been put on The Gray Man's head and paid assassins have been invited to join in the hunt to see who can deliver him, dead or alive, to the chateau before the time limit runs out.
I had to keep reminding myself that this is a debut novel for author Mark Greaney. The plotting for this book is outstanding. The pace started out with an exciting episode and just never let up. The man behind the legend was very slowly revealed so that he did seem to be a shadowy figure, a ghostly figure, someone who could fade in and out simply because there was no substance to him. Over time this very talented author lets the reader come closer and closer to the main character to glimpse his intelligence, his efficiency in doing his work, and his moral code. It may sound unusual to consider that a person who kills for a living would have a moral compass but Court Gentry does. And it is believable. Characters are well defined and clear, the dialogue is crisp and clean and well suited to each character. This author did a wonderful job of describing both locations and weaponry used in the story and it is very obvious that he is familiar with both subjects. While there are a large number of professional killers involved in tracking Gentry down, I think this was necessary to represent the "contest" nature of the hunt. I really like that Greaney finished off the story by tying up loose ends, nothing was left unresolved. And yet, could it possibly be that The Gray Man isn't finished yet? I certainly hope not.
I do not assign 5 star ratings to books lightly. They have to earn that designation from me. This book would probably get an even higher rating from me if the Amazon system would allow it. I found the book to be well written, well plotted, and very, very exciting.
I received a free copy of this book from the publisher.

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