The Walk-In Review

There's been a lot of books lately about Islamic terrorism and intrigue, and the best I've read so far is The Walk-In, by Ralph Pezzullo and Gary Berntsen.

The Walk-In begins when an officer with Iran's security service walks into a US embassy and says he wants to defect. To show his sincerity, he tips Matt Freed at the embassy off to a bombing plot in Qatar. Then the Iranian says that there will be a bigger attack in a large US city, but he doesn't know exactly what or when. Freed follows up and events in Qatar prove the Iranian operative correct. However, Freed needs to check things more thoroughly before he can completely vouch for the Iranian, even though time is flying by and there's a LOT of ground to cover.

Freed then crosses the Middle East and southern Asia following leads, taking him to a prison under attack in Afghanistan, a former Soviet toxic dump and to Moscow to interview a mysterious scientist. He is amazingly resourceful, and the trick he uses to get into Moscow at the last minute is both funny and sexy. Meanwhile, Freed has a wife and children that he loves but seldom gets to see. Can he expect support from the homefront? Will he figure out if the Iranian is friend or foe? And can his conscience survive the things that he must do to protect the United States?

I enjoyed The Walk-In. It was quite realistic, probably because one of the authors was a 20-year veteran of the CIA's foreign service. The Walk-In felt much more believable in the little activities that a foreign officer must do to check the background of a hostile intelligence operative. There was lots of action and the motives of both friends and foes are often hard to figure out at a moment's glance. Constant demands from Freed's Washington-based boss were realistic, too.

If you enjoy contemporary thrillers that explore the limits of US bureaucracy and international terrorism, The Walk-In is a good one. It has loads of action, lots of intrigue, an insightful look at international politics and even some romance. It was pretty believable, too. About the only thing I didn't like was a little tacked on medal-award ending. I'd like to know if the events in the story changed Matt, both professionally and personally, but we got a hackneyed ending that left me wanting more.

I recommend The Walk-In.