WHISTLEBLOWERS

The CIA recruits a college professor to track down a mysterious computer hacker leaking classified information to the public in this thriller. 

Highly sensitive material purloined from National Security Agency computers keeps making its way into the news, much to the embarrassment of the nations targeted. American intelligence agencies are at a loss to uncover any clues and dub the perpetrator “The Executive,” since the kinds of secrets he pilfers are generally restricted to a high level of security clearance. Professor Kate Adams is asked to help the CIA find the cyberthief responsible, which leads her to clandestinely infiltrate the radical group Programmers for Peace and Freedom. She feigns interest in the development of technology for covertly maintaining financial accounts overseas and is invited to reside and work at a commune the organization maintains for its members. The group is an offshoot of another that has its origins in communist agitation during the 1960s but developed into radical anarchists, funded by the illicit trade of drugs and sex on the dark web. Meanwhile, an intramural agency battle over the case brews, pitting the NSA director, Adm. Doug Reynolds, against rival investigative departments, a tug of war that only intensifies after a computer expert reporting directly to Reynolds is murdered. As Adams closes in on the Executive, she is forced to painfully relive her traumatic past working for the CIA, memories that visit her in fits of panic.  Bell (Trading Salvos, 2016) weaves an intricate tapestry of intrigue, intelligently plumbing the bleak depths of international espionage. Furthermore, this sequel is a timely meditation on the morality of large-scale whistleblowing on government, an unpardonable act of treason to some and a courageous show of heroism to others. What keeps readers immersed in the story, though, is the emotional depth of the protagonist; following the attack on the World Trade Center, she was inspired to join the military and became the only female soldier attached to a Delta Force Unit. Readers are slowly, tantalizingly issued details about her painful past—they learn she was kidnapped and tortured, that her husband died, that she was betrayed, and that she was reluctantly drawn into intelligence work and seems resentful of her permanent status as a pliable pawn. In addition, Bell paints a disturbing picture of the competitive dysfunctionality of American intelligence agencies as well as the murky amorality of the internet’s shadiest corners. But while Adams’ complexity grounds the novel, the plot’s convolution undermines it; it becomes increasingly difficult to follow, with far too much laboriously condensed into under 300 pages. Instead of ratcheting up the suspense, the tale’s entanglements produce a feeling of narrative languor, slowing what should be a furious march to a climactic conclusion to a belabored crawl. Thankfully, Bell’s prose is lucid, and she produces some memorable exchanges between Adams and the CIA psychologist who functions as her primary contact to the agency. Early on, he tells her: “You’ve had to build some walls around yourself, I get it, but don’t forget to put in a few windows so you can see beyond them.”

A thoughtfully conceived but frustratingly overcomplicated tale of cyberespionage.