Recently I read the new hardcover novel by David Ignatius,
Bloodmoney, and thought it worth a mention here. Ignatius is perhaps best known for his novel
Body of Lies as it was made into a movie by Ridley Scott a few years ago.
Bloodmoney is a present-day thriller, mainly dealing with the relationship between the American and Pakistani intelligence agencies. The plot deals with a secret off-shoot of the CIA that is sending off-the-books agents into Pakistan to bribe local warlords to stay out of the fight. Somehow the agents are being identified and picked off one by one.
Sophie Marx is given the job of tracking down the leak or mole responsible for blowing the identities of the agents. Along the way she discovers the unusual method being used to fund the bribery operation.
As a nice departure from the norm, the main "villain" is not some crazed terrorist looking to destroy the west. He's a university professor who's family was killed in a US drone attack and he is trying to balance the scales a little.
Overall the book was an entertaining enough read. I'm not a big fan of what I call "da Vinci Clones" and serial killer books so it's nice that there are still some authors out there writing espionage thrillers.
