Triple Agent, Triple Crossed

Book Review:

The Triple Agent by Joby Warrick

The al-Qaeda Mole Who Infiltrated the CIA

This is the gripping non-fiction spy thriller about Humam Khalil al-Balawi, a Jordanian physician turned underground blogger turned counterspy who in December of 2009 actually because a counter counter spy and blew himself up at a secret CIA base in Afghanistan known as Khost, killing not only himself but a number of CIA and allied assets. Joby Warrick is a Pulitzer Prize winning staff writer for the Washington Post with a knack for detail and storytelling, spreading out this story like a novel and recounting every turn of this gripping tale. I read the electronic version, which was 1060 pages. I highly recommend it for its descriptive detail, historic perspective, clear character development, and well-paced storytelling.  This is great reading about the battle that goes on in Afghanistan and Pakistan against al-Qaeda, a most difficult and pernicious enemy.


Review by
Alan Eggleston
Writer, editor, bookseller of leisure and business books


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Publishers Weekly's Best Books 2011

Publisher's Weekly presents its list of "Best Books 2011: The Top 10", including brief synopses.

• The Marriage Plot by Jeffrey Eugenides
• The Devil All the Time by Donald Ray Pollock
• State of Wonder by Ann Patchett
• After the Apocalypse by Maureen McHugh
• Bossypants by Tina Fey
• Catherine the Great by Robert K. Massie
• There but for the by Ali Smith
• Hemingway's Boat by Paul Hendrickson
• One Day I Will Write About This Place by Binyavanga Wainaina
• Arguably: Essays by Christopher Hitchens

See what the publishing industry thinks are the year's best reads.

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