The Prisoner

By: Alex Berenson

Narrated by: George Guidall

To unmask a CIA mole, John Wells must resume his old undercover identity as an al Qaeda jihadi—and hope he can survive it—in this cutting-edge novel from the #1 New York Times-bestselling author.

It is the most dangerous mission of John Wells’s career.

Evidence is mounting that someone high up in the CIA is doing the unthinkable—passing messages to ISIS, alerting them to planned operations. Finding out the mole’s identity without alerting him, however, will be very hard, and to accomplish it, Wells will have to do something he thought he’d left behind forever. He will have to reassume his former identity as an al Qaeda jihadi, get captured, and go undercover to befriend an ISIS prisoner in a secret Bulgarian prison.

Many years before, Wells was the only American agent ever to penetrate al Qaeda, but times have changed drastically. The terrorist organizations have multiplied: gotten bigger, crueler, more ambitious and powerful. Wells knows it may well be his death sentence. But there is no one else.

And yet... I hope John Wells is killed off soon

(whining ahead) I really enjoy Alex Berenson's writing, and I have enjoyed getting to know John Wells, having loved "The Faithful Spy" and all that followed. That being said, his luck does need to run out. Or he needs therapy. Or Evan needs to die in his first posting with the CIA. I don't know. It can't just be the Ellis, Vinnie, and John show much longer.
One thing that really rubs me the wrong way: If you had a female protagonist flashing back to high school, it would never pass the sniff test. So I am frustrated that John Wells loving his days playing football continues to be a touchstone for his character. It seems incredibly out of place. I want John Wells to evolve into something more, I'm just not sure what. Heck, bring Exley back and make her his manager. Make him do counterintel in the USA. Something... please.

Another great addition

As always, I thoroughly enjoyed this great addition to the John Wells series. I highly recommend this book as well as the entire series, but believe you should start with the first book in the series, The Faithful Spy.

You can’t go wrong with John Wells

Alex Berenson knocks it out of the park again. At least for me, the John Wells series has risen to the ranks of the Harry Bosch reads. This is a good one.

Another hit

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

Great characters and a great story line

What does George Guidall bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

His ability to make all the characters come to life. Outstanding

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

The birth of his daughter

Any additional comments?

Keep them coming.

Solid Listen

Rated a solid 4 stars! This was my first Berenson novel and I doubt it'll be my last. I listened to this book on a 16 hour trip and found it to be a slow starter but definitely intriguing once it got going. It lacked the continuous action that I typically look for in these types of stories but when it did have action...it was spot on! The writing is heavy in facts that may or may not be meaningless. You'll get all the background on certain historical sites and atmospheric tone but feelings are not easily given in this story for the main character. The story follows a man, a hired assassin, who helps his old team find out who a mole is inside the federal government. The jihad-symapthizer is very clever throughout the story in making sure he isn't caught but in the end, the reveal and the "takedown" did little to satisfy the reader. The in-between seemed to be the most interesting...the jail fights and takedowns were the most exciting while the fact finding and posturing was a little meh for those who like typical spy/espionage thrillers. The pace while moderate was sufficient and in the end, I finished feeling good about it, but went straight into the next book on my list without much of a pondering.

Recommended for those that enjoy the slow whodunit with a backdrop of spy work.

Raging Book Reviews Recommended!