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The Traitor

Abu Qasim was the perfect spy. He was the man who could bring down Bin Laden, the man who could smash Al Queda. Surrounded by fanatics in the heart of the beast, he believed in himself beyond any shadow of a doubt, believed in what he knew to be right with a faith that could withstand all adversity. He lived by his wits and played the double game to the last drop of blood. Or did he?

Assigned to Paris, CIA officer Tommy Carmellini finds himself working for his old boss, Jake Grafton, who is the new CIA operations officer in charge of Europe. Grafton has a mission: He believes that the director of French Intelligence has a secret agent among the leaders of Al Queda and the Americans want access to that intelligence. Yet the director denies it! 

Trying to ferret out the truth, Grafton and Carmellini are quickly entangled in a mare’s nest of espionage, deception and murder. The director has secret investments in the Bank of Palestine and a killer is on the loose. If that weren’t enough, the leaders of the G-8 industrialized nations are soon to meet in Paris, an event that would make a tempting terrorist target. Throw into the mix the very beautiful and clever daughter of the French Ambassador to Washington, an Israeli spy or two, and the stage is set for a tour de force of deception and drama in the world’s most beautiful city, graceful, ageless Paris.

THE TRAITOR was the second Camellini novel, after LIAR & THIEVES. Tommy tells his portion of the tale in the first person. This point of view is a difficult one for a thriller novelist, as Coonts found out, so Grafton's portion of the story is told in the third person. Some readers complained at first about the shifting points of view, but soon found it works very well. All the Carmellini novels are told in this manner.