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Agents of Innocence
Agents of Innocence is the book that established David Ignatius's reputation as a master of the novel of contemporary espionage. Into the treacherous world of shifting alliances and arcane subterfuge comes idealistic CIA man Tom Rogers. Ordered to penetrate the PLO and recruit a high-level operative, he soon learns the heavy price of innocence in a time and place that has ...more
Paperback, 448 pages
Published
September 17th 1997
by W. W. Norton & Company
(first published 1987)
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A piece of paper with a few dots on it. There is no pattern to the dots, they are random on the pristine whiteness of the sheet. Start drawing lines connecting them without a thought as to where they will go. There, that should about do it. All crisscrossed with no idea as to what goes where.
This roughly could be a very juvenile representation of how the intelligence agencies of the world work. Somebody comes across a piece of information that they do not know how to use, they send i...more
This roughly could be a very juvenile representation of how the intelligence agencies of the world work. Somebody comes across a piece of information that they do not know how to use, they send i...more
Also the Body of Lies, the Increment, and a Firing Offence, clearly a patch of sleeplessness. This was the best of the group, all useful for middle of the night attempts to get back to sleep, sort of Ambienish. Ignatius does keep the action away from violent movie mayhem, and he is predictable, but these were nonetheless good page turners in an old fashioned spy novel way. It does make you a bit nervous that the CIA may have lost its edge, that what goes on behind the scenes, ala black ops, m...more
A workmanlike story of espionage in the Middle East in the the late sixties and early seventies. It reads like the author had access to some live data and personalities of the time, although I'm not knowledgeable enough to be sure of that. The fictional "color" parts seem so obviously tacked on to the main story line, and contacts with various agents are so ordinary and dry, that one wonders if an agent were dictating his memoirs and the novelist, while transcribing them, adde...more
I actually picked this book up because it was there and I had nothing better to do, otherwise I never would have read a story about the CIA and Lebanon in the 70's but OMG, it was really, really good! I got so wrapped up in how the CIA operative went about scouting out his Lebanese agents and carrying out his mission in a very turbulent time in the Middle East. The story is fiction but many of the events that take place are factual, which helps make the story feel more "real." It wa...more
Except for the really poorly written female characters, and a touch of naivete evidenced by the title, this is a spy novel that puts most others to shame. Pre-9/11 middle east - Lebanon to be exact, and filled with all the turmoil, double-dealing, trade-craft, and (my latest favorite word) mayhem, that you'd expect from the region. David Ignatius knows his subject well, plots very well, and writes more intelligently than you'd expect from anyone save le Carre.
Looking forward to a f...more
Looking forward to a f...more
WOW!!! A novel that tells you right on the cover "A Spy Story." You got your CIA, you got your Mossad, you got your Beirut base of operations in the 60s & 70s; how can it miss? Only if it also has a very thin plot which this one does. The author covered the Middle East for the Wall Street Journal and obviously knows the history of Lebanon's turmoil. If he had been writing a history book
or even a CIA manual on tradecraft this would have been a winner.
or even a CIA manual on tradecraft this would have been a winner.
This book was selected by my book club and while it isn't something I would initially think to read on my own, I actually liked it a lot more than I thought I would. Even though this is a work of fiction, I certainly learned a bit more about the Middle East during the 70's. The spy story itself was interesting, filled with fascinating and complex characters. My one complaint was how most of the women were portrayed as one dimensional, sex fiends - the protagonist's wife excluded. Aside from ...more
The author's eye for colorful detail reflects his experience as a reporter in the sensuous and violent middle east. This absorbing story of the interactions of spies amid the swirl of events there reflects the human emotions that complicate the job of espionage for agents of not only nations but factions within them.
I keep thinking that I'll love spy novels.
I don't love spy novels.
This is a pretty long book, and pretty much nothing happens.
It's not Ignatius, it's me. I think I'll read some Le Carre, and if that doesn't do it for me, I'm giving up.
I don't love spy novels.
This is a pretty long book, and pretty much nothing happens.
It's not Ignatius, it's me. I think I'll read some Le Carre, and if that doesn't do it for me, I'm giving up.
A very good spy yarn that is set over a skeleton of actual history. Very entertaining and realistic, gritty in its detail. Obviously the author is someone who knows the territory well.
A very narrative suspenseful spy novel of David Ignatius. A splendid and seems realistic story of espionage. It is the story contained only in the middle east countries.
Learned alot about the Middle East and terrorism yet find I still don't understand it all. Very interesting book.
Great to live the Lebanese experience during the 60s and 70s. Subtle education along with an interesting story line.
great reading, learned a lot about espionage and middle eastern countries,and their histories.
A good, fun, quick read with some interesting historic perspectives on the Mid-East.
Great spy novel. not a potboiler, but a terrific read.
Best spy book I have ever read. LeCarré meets Plot.
An extremely real-feeling book that provides a good sense of what happens when Americans (willful naifs in the complicated politics of betrayal common in the Middle East) make the ethical trade-offs necessary to run intelligence operations. Great characterization of Embassy life, especially the ambassador's wife. Though set in the past, some things never change. The only disappointment was that the ending seemed rushed - as if the author realized he had reached his contracted page limit, and ...more
If you are looking for some background on the middle east, this is a good choice.
This is a great spy novel set in Beirut in 70's and 80's. For those who have read Tom Friedman's 'From Beirut to Jerusalem", this is a companion piece, and in fact, Friedman and Ignatius were both journalists in Beirut in the early 80's. In addition to the mystery and intrigue it is a fascinating but depressing look at the cultural differences between Arabs and Americans that have made diplomacy so hard.
The CIA commented on this book by saying...."it is novel, but it is...more
The CIA commented on this book by saying...."it is novel, but it is...more
I remember hearing that David Ignatius, a writer for the Washington Post and sometimes commentator on the Diane Rehm show had written spy novels, but I forgot until I heard his latest book mentioned on NPR recently. So, I thought I would give this a try. I'm about 50 pages in, and I like it. It was published in 1987, and this novel takes place in Beirut. I'll be curious to see what he does with it.
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Wow, great book rooted in history!
The author's first book, it is set essentially in the Middle East in the late 60s and early 70s. It is a well-written, interesting and involving spy thriller.
Will
marked it as to-read
The spy novel that supposedly provides the most realistic glimpse of how the CIA really works.
Well-written and fascinating story, though depressing throughout.
The best novel ever written about American intelligence
Laurel Seppala-Etra
is currently reading it
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David Ignatius, a prize-winning columnist for the Washington Post, has been covering the Middle East and the CIA for more than twenty-five years. His novels include Agents of Innocence, Body of Lies, and The Increment, now in development for a major motion picture by Jerry Bruckheimer. He lives in Washington, DC.
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