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Israel is ready to start a major war in the Middle East when its Ambassador to France is gunned down during his lunchtime stroll through the streets of Paris. Israel immediately blames Hamas and calls on its Western allies to stand behind it.
To avoid a global meltdown, former MI6-CIA operative (now working as an independent) is called upon by the White House to investigate the situation in Beirut after a "Gray Site," a secret communications bunker in Beirut, has been compromised.
Time is running out for the West, and Will Cochrane (a spy who has been discredited by an American politician in DARK SPIES, Dunn's last novel) has been chosen, in part based on the deniability of his participation. Cochrane, for his part, decides to accept the assignment because one of the people killed at the Gray Site was a close friend who now bears the blame for killing his fellow intelligence officers.
The problem for Cochrane is that there's not much intelligence to work with, and a shadowy figure named Thales remains largely unknown. It's clear that this Thales has something to do with the operation, but what? Who is he working for? And what is he doing with a young Arab boy?
As with most good spy stories, people start dropping like flies, Cochrane is being pursued by not one but two men trying to kill him, and time is running out before the Israelis make their move, setting the world on edge.
Props go to Matthew Dunn, himself a former MI6 officer who conducted at least seventy successful missions during his time as a spy. He captures much of the action and setting perfectly. However, the weakness in this book seems to lie with his secondary story of Thales training the young Arab boy for his role in pushing the Israelis to the brink of war. This element of the storyline distracted from the overall plot.
However, for those who love a good twist, there's not one but three at the very end (even to the last sentence of the story). Nobody is who they seem, except perhaps Will Cochrane.
§ Christine Zibas is a freelance writer and former director of publications for a Chicago nonprofit.
Reviewed by Christine Zibas, October 2015
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