Book Log 2007 #36: Morning Spy, Evening Spy by Colin McKinnon

Set in the months prior to 9/11, Morning Spy, Evening Spy is set in the framework of that event but follows a much more personal story, as an intelligence agent trying to unravel the killing of an American with murky CIA ties in Pakistan. The investigation uncovers layers of deception and paranoia within the CIA, which wind up translating into the agent's own relationship with a Washington journalist.

The action in the book is juxtaposed with the actual movements of the 9/11 terrorists, but the action rarely intersects. Rather, the story told by the book helps to demonstrate, if not explain, the ways in which something like 9/11 can be missed by the very people paid to look for it.

I do think that the ending was a little cute, but it's about the only issue I had with framing the story around 9/11. There are probably a few too many characters - I found myself backtracking well into the book - but it's a solid intelligence thriller/procedural, a nice change from other entries that make the CIA either too demonic or too omniscent.