- Hardcover: 464 pages
- Publisher: Thomas Dunne Books; First Edition edition (April 28 2004)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 031230367X
- ISBN-13: 978-0312303679
- Product Dimensions: 24.1 x 16.3 x 3.6 cm
- Shipping Weight: 794 g
- Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #493,580 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Product Details |
Product Description
From Publishers Weekly
Murray's third novel (after The Passion Players) is a complex spy story set in 1978- 1979 in Iran around the time of the fall of the Shah and the Islamic revolution. CIA agent Frank Sullivan is sent to Iran to judge the durability of the Shah's regime and the increasing influence of an unknown Islamic cleric named Ayatollah Khomeini, as well as to keep an eye on Soviet activities in the region. Frank, however, has some baggage that will greatly complicate an already hazardous mission. He and the Shah share an unusually friendly and trusting relationship, which angers some dangerous people. Frank must also contend with an old enemy, Soviet KGB agent Vassily Lermontov, a clever spy who may either want to defect or kill Frank, and who suggests there is a high-level mole at CIA headquarters. Frank's cover job is with the Iranian military as a media specialist, and what he learns from the Shah, Lermontov, some informers and a scary group of Iranian air force men scares the daylights out of him. Murray, himself a former media adviser to the Iranian military during the Islamic revolution, masterfully depicts the complexities of intelligence collection, the risks and tension of not trusting anyone (even your own people) and the complicated and deadly combination of politics, religion and hatred that brought down the Shah. Add treachery, assassination, torture, petty bureaucratic bickering and turf battles, and some very clever cloak and dagger tricks, and this spy novel offers exciting history wrapped in thoughtful fiction.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
From Booklist
From the former media advisor to the Iranian military during the Islamic revolution comes a tight, lavishly detailed spy thriller about an advisor to the Iranian military during the Islamic revolution who is really a CIA agent. Frank Sullivan, for whom the phrase "reluctant hero" might have been coined, has a lot on his plate: not only must he keep his cover secure; not only must he try to seduce a KGB agent to change sides; he must also figure out which of his colleagues at CIA headquarters is a traitor. Fans of spy thrillers told with an insider's eye for detail will be absolutely delighted with this one. As a chronicle of the Islamic revolution of the late 1970s, the book is informative and full of the kind of insights only someone intimately familiar with the events could provide. Definitely for the le Carre crowd rather than the more action-oriented Ludlum camp, this is a smart, well-crafted thriller. David Pitt
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
Inside This Book
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First Sentence
Sully, have I got a surprise for you. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Excerpt | Back Cover
Sully, have I got a surprise for you. Read the first page
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Concordance
Browse Sample PagesConcordance
Front Cover | Copyright | Excerpt | Back Cover
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Customer Reviews
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Most helpful customer reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
Incredible, more so, because it is real!,
By A Customer
This review is from: The Peregrine Spy (Hardcover)
I defer to the other reviewers, who gave 5 stars.To their reviews I add that this book was so good, I wanted more! To me, that's a sign of an excellent story. The liner notes on the Hardcover quotes Mario Puzo as saying that Ed Murray is a "born novelist" and Puzo is not exaggerating! Hopefully, Mr. Murray will give us more of the same in the future! Thanks for an incredible read; and incredible ride!
5.0 out of 5 stars
More than a good spy novel,
By A Customer
This review is from: The Peregrine Spy (Hardcover)
This is a spy novel so good that it transcends the genre, the way Scott Turow transcends the legal thriller genre. The writing is superb, the observations and ironies are sublime, and the characters - American, Iranian, and Russian - spring to life with very realistic dialog and subtle depth. The setting is Iran during the transition from the Shah to the Ayatollah, which is very timely considering the transition occurring in Iraq right now. This is not a comic-book, James Bond style spy story, but a very realistic portrayal of how "spies" and intelligence gathering really work. It's especially revealing if you want to understand how the U.S. intelligence community can get it so wrong, even when their agents get it right.
5.0 out of 5 stars
Gripping and timely reading,
By A Customer
This review is from: The Peregrine Spy (Hardcover)
Murray's scary and informative thriller casts a searing light on the fuming Islamic world of the Middle East. The book is about a potentially explosive situation stoked by a horribly misguided US administration that is often fed distorted and conflicting information by an intelligence community blind to truth, ignorant of history and more concerned with infighting than creating a secure world. Is this book about 1978-79, or today? The large cast is finely drawn, with each character given telling particulars that are often humorous, sometimes biting, but always essential to revealing the inner person and their contorted motives in a fevered, unsettled time. "Atmospherics" (in CIA parlance) flowing from Murray's pen put the reader right in the gut of Tehran, abundant with a swirl of sounds, smells and flavors that intoxicate the mind trying to figure out who is to be trusted. Send a copy to your Congressional representative today!
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