An Ordinary Spy
A Novel
By Joseph Weisberg
January 2009
$15.00
288 pp
5.5 x 8.25 in
Paperback
ISBN-13: 9781596915916
ISBN-10: 1596915919
ISBN-10: 1596915919
An Ordinary Spy
A Novel
By Joseph Weisberg
"In a spare but beautifully written book, Weisberg captures the paranoia and frustration, if not the futility, of the real world of spying…"-Newsweek
Mark Ruttenberg may not be fit for the CIA. Early in his tenure with the agency, before he ships out to aaaaaaaa, Mark learns about a former operative, Bobby Goldstein, and becomes piqued by the case - LXMALIBU - that led to his termination. Curious but undeterred, Mark leaves for aaaaaa and focuses on his business, namely, building relationships with foreign informants, people who have access to aaaaaaa information and contacts like the powerful General aaaaaaa. It's a life of hobnobbing and high security. But when he falls for the wrong woman, Mark finds himself sent back to the United States, with nothing to show for his secretive work but a postcard with a mysterious address on it. Who sent the postcard, he wonders, and where is it supposed to lead him? Could this all be an ops test, with Mark's future hanging in the balance? By the time the clues unravel, Mark will have an epiphany about LXMALIBU, and begin to understand, once and for all, what really happened in aaaaaaa. Startling and candid, and filled with suspense, intrigue, and betrayal, An Ordinary Spy is a thrilling portrait of modern espionage.
Praise for An Ordinary Spy:
"I have never read an espionage novel with quite the sense of authenticity Joe Weisberg achieves in An Ordinary Spy. He has crafted not only an engrossing and highly-original work, but a fascinating journey into a world most of us will never encounter. Chances are you'll never think about the CIA in quite the same way again."-- Arthur Golden, author of Memoirs of a Geisha
"It's tempting to say that An Ordinary Spy is extraordinary, but I'm afraid that doesn't begin to do this novel justice. In a world where everyone is always promising to reinvent genres and subgenres, Joseph Weisberg hijacks the espionage thriller and finds the grave beauty in the quotidian-and dares to write about one of the most dangerous topics of all, the search for a meaningful yet moral life."-New York Times bestselling author Laura Lippman
"I have never read an espionage novel with quite the sense of authenticity Joe Weisberg achieves in An Ordinary Spy. He has crafted not only an engrossing and highly-original work, but a fascinating journey into a world most of us will never encounter. Chances are you'll never think about the CIA in quite the same way again."-- Arthur Golden, author of Memoirs of a Geisha
"It's tempting to say that An Ordinary Spy is extraordinary, but I'm afraid that doesn't begin to do this novel justice. In a world where everyone is always promising to reinvent genres and subgenres, Joseph Weisberg hijacks the espionage thriller and finds the grave beauty in the quotidian-and dares to write about one of the most dangerous topics of all, the search for a meaningful yet moral life."-New York Times bestselling author Laura Lippman