Body of Lies

by David Ignatius

Former director, CIA Roger Ferris is one of the CIA's soldiers in the war on terrorism. He 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 for getting inside Suleiman's tent 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, and 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 "a man who might be an Arab version of John le Carr's celebrated spy, George Smiley. But can Ferris trust him?

Genres: Fiction, Thriller, Espionage, Mystery, Mystery Thriller, Spy Thriller, Suspense

349 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2007

About the author

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.

Reviews

[Dante · Rating 1 out of 5]

There's nothing like an intelligent, well thought out spy novel with believable characters and credible situations. If that's your kind of novel, KEEP LOOKING!

This was horrible! Indigestible and inexcusable.

It's inexcusable when an author has supposedly smart people do stupid things. But it gets even worse here. Suspicious people accept information without question. Secretive people talk to other people about their secrets. A hardened terrorist yields to the pressure of being bored in prison to and so spills all.

But the last straw for me was when the protagonist's estranged wife rapes him.

If you like an intelligent spy novel, read Alan Furst. Don't waste your time or money here.

[Emma · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have a lot of mixed feelings about this book. On the one hand, I enjoyed hearing about Ferris' time in Jordan. I felt like the best scenes were between Ferris and the Jordanian spy, Hani, and I also enjoyed the interplay between Roger and his boss Ed Hoffman. These three characters were interesting and compelling to watch, although all of them were a little two diamensional.

Where the book really fell down was introducing a love story between Ferris and an aid worker, Alice. He seems to fall in love with her remarkably quickly, and from that moment it seems like his entire world revolves around her. He is meant to be a war hardened spy, not a lovesick teenager.

Overall three stars, but I could have stretched to 4 if the characterisations had been a bit better.

[Tim · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fairly well done. 8 of 10 stars if you like authentic cia operative stories.

[Toni Osborne · Rating 4 out of 5]

This novel is one well crafted post 9/11 spy thriller with a highly elaborate plot. The story starts when CIA agent Roger Ferris is sent on a mission to flush out a terrorist known as Suleiman. In order to forestall further Al-Qaeda attacks he develops an intricate scheme to pit the terrorists against each other by sowing seeds of suspicion that their leaders are collaborating with the Americans. Unable to succeed alone, he requires the full support of his boss Ed Hoffman and with the help of Hani Salaam the head of Jordan's intelligence service; Ferris sets in motion his body of lies.... The plot is modeled after a British plan used against the Nazis "The Man Who Never Was".

The novel really delivers at every level a great story line of realism and great character development. The writing is done with a journalistic flavour, more of an account seen though the eyes of a reporter, one with first hand experience. Although it is a fictional novel, it reads like fact. His exploration of the complexities of espionage combined with his portrayal of the intelligence community makes this a terrific read and a page-turner. It is a definite stimulation to one's own imagination.

[Joseph Sciuto · Rating 5 out of 5]

David Ignatius' Body Of Lies" is a suspenseful, fast paced, exceptionally well written novel about a secret CIA operation in the Middle East. The purpose of the operation is to bring out into the open a master terrorist known only as "Suleiman."

Mr. Ignatius, a prized winning columnist for the Washington Post, is undeniable acquainted with the methods used by the CIA and his knowledge of the Middle East is extensive which makes this book all the more fascinating and definitely worth reading.

[Lobstergirl · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a pretty good middle east spy thriller, but the sex passages seem to have been written by a 14 year old boy, or else someone who is observing nipples for the first time: "The suit molded to her body like rubber. Her nipples showed through the fabric, stiff and round." Maybe this is why Chris Matthews liked it so much.

[Beth · Rating 2 out of 5]

Rated 2.5 stars because it made me want to watch the movie. Not sure I got all the plot deists

[Apatricia · Rating 3 out of 5]

3,5
Este livro foi uma leitura tão agradável adoro este tipo de livros especialmente com um final feliz! No entanto pareceu-me que alguns pontos não estavam bem assentes por isso as 3,50*

[Bea · Rating 5 out of 5]

The title of this book refers to a corpse that is dressed and made to appear to be an imaginary CIA officer with all the background paperwork to support that fiction. This corpse is depositied in a foreign country to sell the fiction to terrorist organization that this CIA officer hs penetrated their organization. A trojan horse scenario.

Roger Ferris is a CIA soldier who creates this plot to try to penetrate Suleiman's organization. The problem is no one knows Suleiman. Roger works with George Smiley head of Jordan's intelligence service, but can he fully trust George? And, is his boss Ed Hoffman at the CIA telling him the truth?

This story is about capturing an elusive terrorist head with a ruse - the body of lies; but, it is more fully the story of international intelligence and the "body of lies' that is created to manipulate friends and foes to get what one man desires. It is a story of intrigue...of truth lost in lies and manipulated...of the world of spies.

Very well-written with a twist that I, at least, did not see coming.

[Steven · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well-paced, but as with almost all such stories, it suffers from being a bit juvenile in its characterizations (over-simplifying people and their motives) and a bit formulaic in its construction. However, based on the reporter's background, it is definitely well-researched and quite a plausible plot. The technical (writing and spycraft) aspects of the novel are its strongest cards, much like the better Tom Clancy books (pre-Op Center drivel). I had already seen the film before picking up the book, so I know how it goes (though the film version is not quite on the same level as Spy Game), it's obviously treading very similar territory with a not-too-dissimilar level of competency/agility in the story-telling.

It's worth picking up - there are minor plot holes, as with all such fiction, but overall it's an intelligent portrayal. Reminds me quite a bit of "Spy Game", which I thought was the best-filmed spy tale I've seen. Very understated and, I believe, much closer to the true nature of the craft than many of the more action-oriented of the genre (film & lit).

[Jak60 · Rating 5 out of 5]

I liked this book a lot; and there are a lot of things I liked in it: above all, the story is totally gripping, I could not put the book down, the last 50 pages are breathtaking! The plot is constructed as a masterpiece of espionage fiction: double games which become triple, quadruple....unbelievable!
I also liked the overall intellectual honesty I found in the novel, the non-western centric view of things in Middle East, the brutally honest portrait of the CIA for what it actually is - a gigantic minster of bureaucracy, filled with too many incompetent technocrats "believing their own powerpoint" - as opposed to the way most spy novels tend to depict it, i.e. the hotspot of espionage, the house of the smartest field agents of the world.
This is in my view one of the top spy novels I ever read - and I read a bunch of them.
PS - I have watched the homonymous movie by Ridely Scott: not bad if you have not read the book, if not just forget it.

[Luckngrace · Rating 5 out of 5]

I learned sooo much from this book. It helped me understand more about the thoughts and principles of Arab Muslims. I learned that America shoots herself in the foot in Arabia because we deal as arrogant interlopers. Yes, we've got the power, the money and the weapons, but it's their home.

Body of Lies was full of adventure and spy story sizzle. It would make a great movie (starring Bruce Willis, if I got to choose). There were surprises at every turn and took me on a thrilling ride all the way to a satisfying end. I've decided I need to read more from David Ignatius. He writes for intelligent readers (and me).

[Dan Bartholomew · Rating 3 out of 5]

I had read another of this author's books (The Increment) which was excellent. So, I had great hopes for this one...but in the end it's politics got in the way for me. I enjoy this genre most when the authors stick to developing plot, characters, and give insight to culture and tradecraft. When I sense an agenda at play, they've lost me. This is one of the reasons I tend not to be interested in the likes of Vince Flynn and Brad Thor. Also, I had seen the movie already and couldn't get Leo Decaprio and Russell Crowe out of my head.

[Sandi · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not up to the usual standards of this author's work. Only one character was interesting and smart and he had too small of a role. While the plot could have been fairly interesting, if the characters had not continuously done stupid things to propel it along, there was entirely too much focus on the MC's romances and the female characters were pretty laughable stereotypes. Listened to the audio which was read by Dick Hill who does male characters fine but his female characters and the love scenes were almost cringe worthy.

[Rodrigo Mares · Rating 4 out of 5]

Existe cierto encanto en leer una novela sobre la cual se ha hecho una película después de haber visto dicha adaptación fílmica: en mi experiencia, aunque limitada, si te ha gustado el filme, probablemente te guste más la obra original —la gran excepción, en mi caso, Hannibal (Thomas Harris, 1999). Y es precisamente lo que me ha sucedido con este trabajo del periodista estadounidense David Ignatius (n. MA, 1950), posteriormente adaptado al cine por William Monahan y Sir Ridley Scott.

Esta novela sigue a Roger Ferris, un agente de la CIA, que pone en marcha un elaborado engaño para atrapar a un líder de Al Qaeda que ha detonado autos bomba en algunas ciudades europeas, y que se teme que llegue a atacar los Estados Unidos. Entre traiciones y desafíos morales, Ferris se desplaza en una intrincada una red de espionaje internacional en la que no se sabe realmente quién tira de los hilos.

Si bien este trabajo difiere considerablemente en muchos aspectos en contraste con la versión fílmica, solamente puedo quejarme del tratamiento que el autor da a las subtramas pertinentes a las relaciones de pareja de Ferris. Fuera de ello, disfruté muchísimo de este libro que genuinamente sentí emocionante. Además, debo confesar que prefiero la actititud arabófila más manifiesta de la versión fílmica del protagonista así como el personaje de Aisha en comparación con la Alice del trabajo original. La verdad, no puedo recomendar esta novela muy ampliamente, debido principalmente a los temas y a la obligada perspectiva "americanocentrista" en un mundo post-9/11.

[Susan Miller · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am familiar with the author David Ignatius from his appearance as an expert on cable news stories about the Middle East and as a columnist for the Washington Post, however, I did not know that he was an author until I noticed this book in my local library. I am a novice of the spy novel genre so this book provided me with an opportunity to expand my horizons. I liked the book with all it's twists and turns. The short chapters keep you turning the page to see what is the next development in an elaborate scheme to infiltrate a terrorist organization. The story was not more complex than the mysteries that I often read, but the style and pace were different - in a positive way. I will definitely include this type of novel in my reading in the future.

I borrowed this book from my local library in Berkley, MI.

[Katharine Hagerty]

Great read. David Ignatius keeps the story and suspense moving along while still developing the characters into human beings that I wanted to get to know better as the story evolved.

[David Stewart · Rating 4 out of 5]

A solid outing by a skilled novelist. Perhaps because it's more than a decade old, I found it not quite as riveting as his more recent books, but still a strong book focusing on the Middle East and terrorism.

[Mike Warren · Rating 4 out of 5]

In Body of Lies, David Ignatius tells the story of a CIA operation to infiltrate an Al Qaeda network that is terrorizing European cities with a series of car bombs. Set primarily in Amman, Jordan, the story's protagonist is an ambitious CIA case officer named Roger Ferris. Ferris is considered a rising star, and, Ed Hoffman, his tough-minded boss, pins his hopes on Ferris to bring the terror to an end.

Inspired by Operation Mincemeat in World War II, Ferris hatches the idea to plant a dead body that members of the terrorist network have been led to believe is the corpse of a CIA agent. The body has been left with documents that suggest the leader of the terrorist group is working with the CIA. This is done in hopes that the network will turn on its leader and self-destruct.

The book was published in 2007, and although the story doesn’t include dates, the events seem to take place at about the time of publication. Reading the book fifteen years later, the reader is reminded of how fearful we were of terrorists in those years immediately following the September 11 attacks. Al Qaeda and other terrorist networks were a boogeyman that posed a constant and nerve-wracking threat to civilian populations throughout the world. The author convincingly portrays Al Qaida as a menace to Western civilization, but the impact isn’t as powerful now as it would have been at the time the book was published.

According to the information about the author on the back of the book, he “has been covering the Middle East and the CIA for over twenty-five years,” and it is clear he is intrigued by both the Middle East and the CIA. His fascination with the people and places of the Middle East is demonstrated throughout the book. Ferris travels all over the Middle East as he works to undermine the terrorist network, and the author seems to delight in describing the scenery, buildings, food, and culture of those places. For the purpose of completing the mission, and telling the story, much of the travel seems unnecessary, and I suspect the author is using it as an opportunity to create a travelogue for the reader.

The author does an outstanding job of providing a nuanced view of the people in this troubled part of the world. He has been writing about the Middle East since well before the September 11 terrorist attack. He understood the threat the Middle East posed to the security of the Western world before they attacked us. He makes no apologies for terrorist behavior, but he provides helpful insights into the culture and the mindset of the Middle Eastern people that helps to explain such drastic behavior.

The author is at his best, however, when he talks about the CIA and the international intelligence community. He characterizes the CIA as a flawed and hopelessly bureaucratic organization that somehow still manages to fulfill its mission of protecting us from people who wish to harm us, at least most of the time.

This is the second book I’ve read by the author, the other was Agents of Innocence, and it's clear the author has developed a formula for his stories. Both books involved an up-and-coming case officer who is highly regarded by at least one of his superiors, and they both featured a gruff boss who is determined to help the case officer complete the mission so long as he doesn’t stray too far from the rules and regulations. And in both books, the young case officer was an Arabist who spoke the language fluently and loved the people and places in the Arab world. It’s still a good book, but I would have preferred a story that didn’t so closely mimic the previous book.

[-Lori · Rating 5 out of 5]

I make a practice of not reading reviews before I read any book so that I go into the reading of the book with no bias one way or the other. I don't want a review to taint my opinion before I even start the book.

At the start of this book & wasn't really getting into it - I even told my daughter I wasn't sure I'd actually be able to finish it, then, all of a sudden I was reading a book I couldn't put down! The suspense, the intricacies, the web of deception & not knowing who you can or can't trust, the detail in description - all completely drew me right in!

I told the same daughter once I finished - "Wow, that was a really good book! This one would make a great movie!" She then googled the title & low & behold - it IS a movie!!! bravo David Ignatius - way to successfully pull me in with your brilliant writing - I am now going to start another one of your books!

I'm anxious to see if I feel the movie is as good as the book - how bad can it be with Leonardo diCaprio as Roger!?

[Martyna · Rating 2 out of 5]

A story of CIA agent Roger Ferris as he tracks down the hideout of one of the al-Qaeda leaders, Al Saleem. In pursuit of the terrorist, on the orders of CIA chief Ed Hoffman, Ferris lands in Jordan, where he is to establish cooperation with local services led by Hani Pasha. Can an agent fully trust his superiors in Washington and Jordanian allies?

Roger Ferris reflects the ideals typical of the young generation, contrasted with Ed Hoffman's way of working, for whom a comfortable position thousands of kilometres from the place of actual events guarantees safety, but does not prevent him from giving orders to conduct actions, often contrary to the code honorary, so important, by the way, for the young agent. Ferris, on the other hand, is at the center of events in Jordan, where its task is to obtain detailed information about the most dangerous terrorist group led by Al-Saleem. And although, as Hoffman says: There are no innocent people in this war, Ferris is hurt by all the evil in the world and is probably the last bastion of goodness on this degraded, moralless land. Which, it must be admitted, is praised by him, because ultimately, in line with American pompous patriotism, good will prevail. Of course, good in the guise of the American hero, who does not equate happiness with luxury and money.

It is not difficult to imagine that infiltrating al-Qaeda is not a game, and that only the best can stand up to this task. And in this not very complicated sentence there are two completely different conclusions. First of all, Ignatius is able to keep up the suspense and dynamic flow of the story. Reader began to feel immense anger towards the evil terrorists who destroy order in the world. So much so, that someone must step in and defeat them. And who takes up the task? USA!! Who else? The "dream of the great America" ​​theme was unavoidable, and it makes you gnash your teeth. And although Ignatus made sure that the story was not one-dimensional and focuses on condemning "those on the top" on both sides of the barricade, at the same time he tries to force us into a moral which will not necessarily make us sleep peacefully from now on.

[Isi · Rating 2 out of 5]

Watched the movie and found it ok, and I tend to enjoy Ignatius's column, so I gave it a try. Have to say i was a bit disappointed - the liberal, Bush-loathing politics (that I agree with) are just put on too thick, and the book can never quite decide whether it wants to be a page-turner or a liberal manifesto on US politics in the Middle East. I also found it questionable in an overtly political novel to lionize the fictional head of the Jordanian intelligence service as a suave, non-violent super-spy. Strikes me that Arab security services and governments as a whole tend to function slightly differently, which just might account for some of the political turmoil in the region, but that's just me.

The novel's voice somehow struck me as flat and unimaginative, a far cry from Le Carré, although that might be an unfair yardstick. The plot is a bit more complicated than in the movie adaptation, but not necessarily much better.

If you do decide to read/listen to Body of Lies, do yourself a favour and skip the romance and sex scenes - they're corny enough to make anyone cringe.

[Dave · Rating 4 out of 5]

The movie was pretty good - one of the best spy films I've seen lately. The book was better in some ways and worse in others for me. Ignatius definitely knows his stuff, and you have no trouble visualizing the places he's talking about - he clearly knows them well. Likewise, he seems to have a decent hold on the modern business of espionag e. All that stuff is good, but the love story in the book is just not compelling for me - the girl, Alice, is a little too plainly allegorical for the "just-show-the-Arab-world-we-care-and-they-will-love-us-back" point of view, and so the whole story of their relationship and the dissolution of the main character's marriage to a "true believer in the War on Terror" becomes political commentary to beat the reader over the head with. The spy stuff is good, though.

[Tharen · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoy reading David Ignatius' columns for the Washington Post, so when I spotted this in a used book store last summer in Maine thought it was worth checking out. Set in 2007, it involves a CIA officer, wounded in Iraq and serving in Jordan, who comes up with a way to lure out an Al Qaida mastermind who is responsible for several car bombings in Europe. Along the way he has marital and romance complications, and seriously doubts some of what he is doing. It was exciting and I enjoyed some of the plot twists. Good escapist fare although I wondered a bit how much is realistic about what the CIA is up to in this day of NSA revelations.

[Shar · Rating 3 out of 5]

i started this expecting it to be overwrought with jargon and terminology that would render it impossible to follow if you're not 1000% well versed in every detail of current events. luckily that wasn't the case and i found it very easy to follow, mostly thanks to it being very well paced. however i found a lot of the characterizations to be pretty shallow and i was not as invested in the characters or their relationships as i may have been had that been different, so the lack of believability in that respect brings my rating down. still, it's evident the author was well researched in writing this and it is better than the movie by leaps and bounds!

[Richard Gullickson · Rating 4 out of 5]

You can tell that David Ignatius is an editorial writer for the Washington Post by his skillful weaving of international events and terrorist threats into his very plausible and fast moving stories. This excellent account of CIA counter-terrorist operations against Al Qaeda in Jordan has the ring of truth from a man who knows. Roger Ferris is an Arabic speaking new CIA operative and Iraq veteran. He learns that the Jordanian intelligence service understands counter terrorism measures in the Middle East better than his parent organization. Both have a lot to learn from British Intelligence in WWII. If you want a realistic well grounded spy thriller, read David Ignatius first.

[Dianeparente62gmail.com · Rating 3 out of 5]

When it comes to spy novels, David Ignatius is one of the best. His knowledge of his subject makes his stories ring true, including this one involving an attempt to draw out an Al Khaida mastermind who is wreaking havoc. As with most Ignatius novels, this one has unexpected twists and turns leaving a reader fully satisfied at journey's end.

This really deserves a 3 1/2 star rating, but have not mastered the 1/2/ star designation.

[Alan Brehm · Rating 4 out of 5]

I saw the recent movie, and in comparison, the story in the book works much better. I like the way Ignatius spins the web of his spy novels, with generous helpings of the background knowledge of the Middle East from his time as a correspondent there, along with interesting plot twists. Even though I saw the movie, the story in the book is different enough that the development was surprising at times. I thoroughly enjoyed it!

[John Treanor · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent book. Ignatius really knows his stuff. Paints the CIA in a seemingly more realistic light, as a bureaucratic nightmare filled with careerist losers, much closer to how it's depicted in the other book that I'm currently reading (A Legacy of Ashes, The History of the CIA). I've seen the movie twice, and enjoyed it, but the book was better (of course).

[Haider Hussain · Rating 5 out of 5]

An intricately woven scheme to deceive a deadly terrorist and lure him to come out in the open. But who is actually being outwitted? Who is running who? Is tech-intelligence greater than human espionage?

David Ignatius strikes another home run with this one!