The Terrorist

Septuagenarian former CIA field operative Louis Morgan remains in self imposed exile in France. He has never forgiven his former firm for accusing him of being a terrorist and for other reasons. Thus when the agency asks him to help in the war against terrorism, he empathically declines. The CIA never accepts no when they ask so they arrest the teenage son of Morgan's friend on false charge of abetting terrorism. His handler informs Morgan that sixteen years old Zaharia Lefort will be renditioned if he fails to cooperate. Fuming, Morgan heads to Algeria before confronting his former agency in New Jersey with what his handler demanded he retrieve. The third Morgan espionage thriller (see Le Crime and L'Assassin) is a great tale of a retired agent still capable of doing the job even when his mission differs from the Agency's. The confrontational exciting story line is fast-paced and filled with a strong support cast that includes the hero's lover, a personal enemy who brings a lot of CIA power to an anti Louis vendetta and the beleaguered teen. The Terrorist will be on the shortlists as one the best sub-genre novels of the year. Harriet Klausner

The Terrorist isn't a long novel, but the power of its truth is in its simplicity in a tale that moves from Cairo to France and the States. In Cairo, ex-CIA agent Louis Morgon meets with old friends, reminiscing about the old days, visiting with Zaharia, an Algerian boy he has assisted in getting a scholarship at an American school. Life is good, including a romantic entanglement with a French woman near where Louis now resides in France. Branded years ago as a terrorist by his own agency, Louis has left his history behind, burying his bitterness, rebuilding his life in France. But the CIA intrudes once more, striking when Morgon is most defenseless and facing a serious and unanticipated illness. Zaharia suddenly disappears and Louis fears the worst- and he is right. Experience dictates Morgon's attempts to save Zaharia from an unfolding nightmare. In a starkly changed world where the very word terrorism sends shockwaves throughout enforcement agencies, Louis makes deals, barely one step ahead of a CIA agent who fanatically believes in his own cause. Louis knows this game well, taking defensive action even at the expense of his health and budding new relationship. Sabotaged once more by an enemy in the CIA, Morgon sheds his new life for the familiar burden of the past as Steiner delivers a frightening tale of terrorism, innocence and fanaticism, the lack of scruples when the safety of a country is at stake and the fate of suspects-guilty or innocent- are caught in the crosshairs of fate. Disturbing and thought-provoking, this story is all too real, set in a world where human life has become expendable and innocence is irrelevant. Luan Gaines/2010.