The action in this novel unrolls in East Africa and
Cambridge, Massachusetts. It is kind of an odd amalgam, but the story moves on
in a satisfactory fashion and keeps the reader engaged.
Misperception, trust and betrayal are the core issues
investigated. The tale begins with an armed attack on a Somali village that the
protagonist, a newly minted CIA officer, seems to have unwontedly instigated.
Following is a series of intrigues as he and others try to unravel the mystery
of the motives for the massacre and who did it. Other characters include a
Harvard academic, a brilliant Somali student—who happens to have had relatives
in the village—his society coed girl friend, a jaundiced CIA chief and a
panoply of various hangers-on. Although some characters have substance to them,
most are fairly shallow as befits the speedy pace of the story. I thought the
hero was a bit too perfect. His basic flaw was naiveté.
On the one hand the novel is a spy thriller, but on another
it is a satirical portrayal of Harvard—its politics, student life, clubs and
old-boy networks. As such, the book appeals to Harvard insiders, but these
aspects of it leave the rest of us a bit perplexed.
The East African scenario appealed to me and by and large I
found descriptions accurate. Author McDonell noted in a forward that he
distorted tribes and geography, which he indeed did; shrinking distances and
using wrong names for people of this or that tribe. I doubt, however, that many
readers will catch these discrepancies. In one instance, however, he relates an
incident in Nairobi and later refers to it as having occurred in Khartoum.
Maybe he was just trying to see if we were alert?
Don’t read this book for political insight into the complex
politics of terrorism, Somalia or Kenya. Nor should you believe that it
accurately reflects how the CIA operates. Yet, with those disclaimers, it
remains a good yarn.
