Blow The House Down

On Saturday, I completed reading the first novel I have read in exactly one year. "Blow the House Down" was written by Robert Baer, former case officer in the CIA. As I have referenced on these pages or on my Amazon homepage (http://www.amazon.com/gp/pdp/profile/A6UM853EULFEV/002-7361455-7084848), Mr. Baer is a great writer who brings great understanding and perspective that only someone who has operated from the "inside" can. He has met the people about whom he writes and has visited the places about which he references.

"Blow the House Down" is half Robert Ludlum and half X-Files. It is long on intrigue and conspiracy and short on the James Bond'ness that too many novels about spy agencies focus. The premise of this novel is that a veteran CIA case officer (not too incidentally modeled after Mr. Baer himself) searches for the kidnappers and ultimately killers of CIA station chief, Bill Buckley (real person). In his quest, he ruffles some feathers and gets kicked out of the agency. Being like a bull-dog, he refuses to give up his quest and ultimately stumbles onto the 9/11 plot months before it is perpetrated.

It makes for some engrossing reading and a plausible conspiracy theory to explain the attacks. In the epilogue, Mr. Baer acknowledges that his theory is far fetched, but leaves us with some unanswered questions regarding the attacks not addressed by the 9/11 Commission, including a possible Iranian angle. It is a quick and interesting read and a good display of the kind of officers we have out in the field.