We’re so thrilled that CrimeReads featured THE COVER WIFE as one of the best-reviewed books of the month! Read more raves below:
From Bookreporter: “… tense and perfectly paced … an absolutely stunning way to end this taut novel … made such an impression on me that I want to seek out Dan Fesperman’s backlist. This is the thinking-man’s espionage book and the type of story you will have a difficult time not finishing in one sitting. Fesperman’s writing style does not overload you with data and acronyms, but makes you feel like you are there with the characters and experiencing each plot twist along with them. This brilliant read is not to be missed.”
From the Wall Street Journal: “The author specializes in humanizing the internecine turf battles between and within competing intelligence agencies. With The Cover Wife, he has produced another intelligent, tense and sharply written espionage thriller.”
From the New York Times: “Dan Fesperman charts a different, braver course, working his fiction seamlessly into the facts, writing his characters into the past and weaving his story into the warp of history’s nightmares. The result is a sharp, smart novel that hits fast and hard, its reverberations echoing after the last page is turned … The writing is sometimes less than fresh and characters with dramatically important secrets seem to think undercover, even when the narration is deep in their minds. Are they dissembling even to themselves? Or just conveniently staying in character for the reader’s sake? … But these quibbles matter little as the story picks up speed, and Fesperman plays to his strengths, fashioning gripping plotlines out of his deep knowledge of history and politics, setting and culture, sketching in C.I.A. operatives, Muslim extremists and F.B.I. agents with equal credibility. I was particularly taken with how he manages to shift the tone of the narrative as momentum builds.”
From Kirkus: “In withholding key details from the reader early on, Fesperman is cheating a bit. But his follow-up to the exceptional Safe Houses is a breezy, thoughtful thriller that avoids high drama in favor of quick and ultimately unsettling shots to the system. An absorbing tale of terrorism with a tantalizing what if at its core.”
From Publishers Weekly: “Set in 1999, this gripping if uneven spy thriller from Fesperman fictionalizes the story of the terrorist cell in Hamburg, Germany, responsible for the 9/11 attacks … Identities and motives are tantalizingly muddled, and Fesperman, a fine stylist, does a good job portraying the elusive, frustrating nature of espionage, but Saylor, more pawn than leader, doesn’t seem to be the narrative’s obvious fulcrum, and the suspense is undercut by the knowledge that the Hamburg cell succeeded in its mission. With the 20th anniversary of 9/11 looming, this solid effort is worth a look.”
