The Faithful Spy (37 page)

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

This book could not have been written without my brother David, who helped conceive the idea of a CIA agent inside al Qaeda and think through ways to tell this story. He too is a writer, but when I asked him if I could take a shot at this book, he told me to go ahead. For that encouragement, and for the ideas he offered each step of the way, I cannot thank him enough.

Thanks also to:

Ellen and Harvey, my parents

Mark Tavani, an editor who edits

Heather Schroder, who somehow convinced Random House to sign a contract on three chapters and an outline, giving me the confidence (and legal responsibility) to finish, and Matthew Snyder, who performed a similar trick with the movie rights

Jonathan Karp, who bought in early

Pilar Queen, Deirdre Silver, Andrew Ross Sorkin, and Jennifer Vanderbes, who offered wise and gentle criticism on the first draft

Dorian and Eric Nerenberg, who showed me the Buford Highway

Douglas Ollivant, Kelly Pippin, and other soldiers and officers too numerous to mention, who shared their stories (and their chow halls) in Baghdad and Najaf

Zaineb Obeidi and all the translators and drivers at the Baghdad bureau of the
Times

And, finally, all the war reporters and photographers who risk their lives every day. I worked with them for only a few months, but my respect for them grows daily.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

A
LEX
B
ERENSON
is a reporter for
The New York Times
who has covered topics ranging from the occupation of Iraq to the flooding of New Orleans. He graduated from Yale University in 1994 with degrees in history and economics. This is his first novel. He lives in New York City.

The Faithful Spy
is a work of fiction. Any resemblance between these fictional characters and actual persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.

Copyright © 2006 by Alex Berenson

All rights reserved.

Published in the United States by Random House, an imprint of The Random House Publishing Group, a division of Random House, Inc., New York.

R
ANDOM
H
OUSE
and colophon are registered trademarks of Random House, Inc.

LIBRARY OF CONGRESS CATALOGING-IN-PUBLICATION DATA

Berenson, Alex.

The faithful spy: a novel / Alex Berenson.

p. cm.

1. Terrorism—Fiction. 2. al Qaeda (Organization)—Fiction.
3. Intelligence service—Fiction. I. Title.

PS3602.E25F35 2006 813’.6—dc22 2005044689

www.atrandom.com

eISBN: 978-1-58836-542-2

v3.0_r1