Defection Games | A Dan Gordon Intelligence Thriller by Haggai Carmon
What the professionals say about Haggai carmon
What AMAZON readers say:
It was a pleasure to be in the hands of a pro writer. So many I have read recentl resemble a comic book text. I won't name them of course. Mr Garmon has that gift of colouring his characters for an adult , whilst still keeping the action going. I found Detection Games difficult to put down. I will now try to find the authors other titles...!
I enjoyed this novel very much. The change from the usual US super hero was more than welcome. Dan is believable and guess what he makes mistakes. I recommend this writer to the spy/thriller addict.
Like its protagonist, Deception Games moves quickly, talks quickly, and takes no prisoners. I consumed the book over the course of two days while vacationing in Europe. Before long, I began to hear any hushed noise outside our room at night was a secret meeting between secret police and informants and suspect my girlfriend was an Iranian mole. This is what I refer to when I say that Deception Games envelops you into its world of spies and counter-spies. In the fifth installment of the Dan Gordon series, our hero finds himself recruited by the CIA to play a direct role in the extraction of Iranian defector General Madani. But not all is as it seems, and Gordon can't help but feel that something is slightly off. As usual, author Haggai Carmon's greatest strengths are his incredible realism and his command of quick pacing, cementing his role as the Israeli John La Carre and Dan Brown all at once. Recommended for Dan Gordon newbies and veterans alike.
I called this a page turner, but this prose is to be savored. This is the third "Dan Gordon" novel which I have read. Not only did it fail to disappoint, which is significant in itself, but the author maintains his authenticity and avoids "jumping the shark." No need to! One gets the impression that he has only begun to draw on his wealth of real-world experience as an intelligence officer for the US Department of Justice. This novel combines authenticity, suspense, great dialogue and enormous wit. I couldn't be happier with this selection. Regarding authenticity: Didn't you ever wonder how it would feel to be on an undercover assignment in Iran or Syria, or in the previous generation, behind Nazi lines? I always wondered if these guys just had ice-water in their veins. Here is the answer. It feels just like you would expect, gut-wrenching and at times, terrifying. Yet they do it anyway. Fully aware that discovery and capture mean merciless, hideous torture, they do it anyway because of an overwhelming sense of duty. They are not the gallivanting, devil may care, swashbucklers of some of the genre, nor are they the tortured, morally ambivalent anti-heroes of others. They know why their work is crucial. In this sense, these novels give us a real inside picture of what it is like. We owe them a deep debt for their courage and dedication in spite of feelings of terror at the risks they incur. This series is also an eye-opener into the ruthless Iranian efforts to acquire nukes (and please don't tell me they need them for defensive purposes). The forces of evil are active in our times, but not all have the courage to fight them. If they block the Iranians from becoming a nuclear military power, and make no mistake, these operatives are the only men and women who stand in the way, it is no exaggeration to say that the western world owes them its survival. It also tells bits and pieces of the tenacious struggle of the intelligence officers in Israel and the United States who are dedicated to preventing this horrendous event from occurring, in spite of enormous personal danger and often personal hardship. As a reader of the genre since the original James Bond "fantasy" novels came out, this is a truly adult version; no cartoon villains here. These are the real thing. Lastly, we can see the real value of our alliance with Israel as America and Israel become among the few countries with the guts and brains to foil the Forces of Evil in their current incarnation. Yet the books never descend into propaganda. I eagerly await all of his novels to appear in kindle format. I like kindle because I can carry it wherever I can carry my cell phone. Keep them coming. One gets the feeling that Mr. Carmon has only scratched the surface of his experiences and creativity. This book is also one of the wittiest in the series! I wont spoil it by revealing passages, but wait for an unexpected sardonic chuckle or two.
There’s a war being fought, but it’s just below the surface and away from the media’s gaze. It’s the civilized world against the theocratic pariah state of Iran — a race to stop their development of a nuclear weapon.
That’s where Dan Gordon, an Israeli lawyer and former Mossad agent now contracted by the CIA, comes in. He is an indefatigable lone wolf, never safe from hostile moves even by those he should trust. He is undeterred, and hurdles he successfully overcomes are only preludes to new ones.
What the professionals say:
Haggai Carmon’s achievements in gathering intelligence have been essential and invaluable for the United States..
Haggai Carmon convinced me of his intelligence bona fides in the first minute I met him.He brings to life the tension that characterizes the work of the clandestine operator in a hostile environment. A Haggai Carmon story requires an alert reader. Carmon succeeds in the first rule of suspense and the reader discover together. Each page reveals new layers that the protagonist and the reader discover together. His use of suspense keeps the alert reader. Carmon succeeds also in the first rule of the suspense writer, to have the reader wonder: What would I do in that situation? and compelling him to turn the page to find out how the fictional protagonist did it and survived to the end of the story. Whether he writes about Jaffa or Iran, it is like being there. And finally, as a longtime practitioner of clandestine tradecraft, have Dan Gordon’s savvy or imagination, the author’s gift to his brainchild.
I know Haggai personally to be a master of the tradecraft and after reading his thrillers' twists and turns, my appreciation grows. Apart from the riveting read, Haggai is doing a great public service. His novels may be fiction, but the threat of terrorism is more real than ever, and we can’t alert the world enough to the perils terrorist organizations pose; they have no borders, no morals, and no code of ethics, and we are not safe until they are stopped in this battle for survival, fought largely undercover and by deception.
Haggai says that his thrillers are fiction. But as far as my experience goes, they nonetheless ring true. I'd say that they could have happened.
Haggai’s illustration of Dan Gordon’s maneuvering tactics, self-motivation, and deceitful manners fit the profile of a successful undercover agent. “For by deception thoushalt make thy war,” said King Solomon in Proverbs 24:6. The Mossad adopted this verse as its motto because it engages in the war of minds, not weapons. Dan Gordon is a perfect example of how that philosophy is applied. Is there a real-life Dan Gordon? I’m sure my former colleagues would love to take him back.
I have also received compliments on [Haggai Carmon's] work from many US Government agencies,
US Government agencies have assigned him with the worldwide responsibility (except for the US) of complex multi-national and multi-million dollar cases which required sensitive investigative work in more than 30 countries.
More Thrillers
Triangle of Deception (Dan Gordon Intelligence Thrillers)
Triple Identity (Dan Gordon Intelligence Thrillers)
The Red Syndrome (Dan Gordon Intelligence Thrillers)
The Chameleon Conspiracy (Dan Gordon Intelligence Thrillers)
Haggai Carmon
About the Author
Haggai Carmon is an Israeli lawyer who has been representing the United States Government in civil litigation cases in Israel since 1985. He has also worked as a covert agent, gathering intelligence for the US government in over thirty countries. After years of intelligence work, Carmon came to realize that his real-life exploits were more compelling than most of the crime fiction he enjoyed, and thus found an outlet for his extraordinary adventures in his first novel Triple Identity, first published in 2009. He has since followed up with four more books in the Dan Gordon Series: The Red Syndrome, Chameleon Conspiracy, Triangle of Deception.