Car bombs begin to explode in European cities, and it's only a matter of time until they reach the U.S. CIA agent Roger Ferris learns of the existence of Suleiman, who may be responsible for the carnage. But finding Suleiman and penetrating his cell seem nearly impossible. Ferris, a rising young star in the CIA, is made station chief for Jordan, and he decides to employ a ruse used successfully by the British in World War II to deceive the Nazis. If it works, al Qaeda itself will eliminate Suleiman and deal a devastating blow to its own operations. Ferris wins over bluff, aggressive Ed Hoffman, chief of the CIA's Near East operations, and the elegant, wily, and dangerous Hani Salaam, Jordan's top spy. Meanwhile, Ferris' marriage to a Justice Department lawyer researching legal justifications for torture is failing, and he's falling in love with a woman whose passion is humanitarian aid to victims of Middle East chaos--all of which forces him to question his beliefs and worry about the unintended consequences of his actions. Body of Lies is thoroughly entertaining, but it's also a timely and plausible cautionary tale of schemes within schemes and morality compromised. It has vividly rendered locales, clever plotting, some compelling characters, and a discomforting verisimilitude. --Thomas Gaughan Copyright 2007 Booklist

From Washington Post columnist Ignatius (The Sun King, 1999, etc.), one of the new breed of post-9/11 thrillers, involving Middle East foreign policy, political intrigue, convoluted intelligence operations and the ubiquitous CIA. Former Time magazine reporter Roger Ferris has joined the CIA, and after a terrorist bombing in Berlin develops an obsessive desire to take down "Suleiman," a key al-Qaeda operative whose true identity is unknown. With the help of his boss, crusty Near East Division Chief Ed Hoffman, Ferris begins a journey of deception in which he tries to play an innocent middle-eastern architect to flush out and reveal Suleiman and ultimately take down his whole terrorist operation. But what of the motives of Hani Salaam, the smooth and unruffled chief of the General Intelligence Department in Jordan? He desperately wants to be a part of the operation--but is he a victim of manipulation, or himself a master of the game? The action takes place in Washington and Jordan, where "hypocrisy was mother's milk." Lies, deception, manipulation and hypocrisy pervade the atmosphere like thick, acrid smoke from a Turkish cigarette. Ferris is caught not only between competing policies (mainly illicit) but also between competing women--his wife, Gretchen, herself a master manipulator on the domestic front, and Alice Melville, who aids Palestinians in refugee camps and who views lies, rather than truth, as dangerous. In contrast, Ferris works under the cynical yet pragmatic assumption that "this was a business where any action was sanctioned, so long as it worked." Ironically, however, Ferris develops his own brand of idealism--after all, he's dedicated to his mission to take down the "bad guys," and there are, in fact, dangerous people out there. Ferris chillingly counts on undermining truth with doubt, "the great destroyer," and ultimately uncovers secrets about his own past as well. A fast-paced novel with all the ingredients for a bestseller. Copyright ©Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Displaying his trademark expertise and writing skill, Washington Post columnist Ignatius (Agents of Innocence) has crafted one of the best post-9/11 spy thrillers yet. Subtly framing a highly elaborate plot, Ignatius tells the story of idealistic CIA agent Roger Ferris, newly stationed in Jordan after being wounded in Iraq. After a failed initiative to flush out a terrorist mastermind known as Suleiman, Ferris, who's dedicated to forestalling further al-Qaeda attacks, develops an intricate scheme modeled after a British plan used successfully against the Nazis. Ferris's plot to turn the terrorists against each other by sowing seeds of suspicion that their leaders are collaborating with the Americans puts his personal life in turmoil and threatens his professional relationship with the head of Jordanian intelligence. Few readers will anticipate the jaw-dropping conclusion, and the pairing of first-rate espionage suspense with fully developed characters should propel this onto the bestseller lists and possibly attract Hollywood interest. Author tour. (Apr.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved