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DEAD DROP is the second novel in M.P. Woodward's John Dale espionage procedural series. The first was THE HANDLER. Woodward is a former naval intelligence officer and blogs about the intersection of national security and technology. He is also an expert on "the strengths women bring to the intelligence community as operatives, analysts, and spies."
DEAD DROP involves Middle Eastern terrorists and is a slow-paced, unbelievable bundle of tired and laughable stereotypes. Ultimately, it's also a domestic romance. While trying to save the world, Dale and his ex-wife, Meredith Morris-Dale have to reconcile in some fashion. Whether they save the world will depend upon their ability to communicate with each other.
In the latest installment, Dale and Meredith remain single and co-parenting their occasionally mentioned daughter. John confronts a new threat: the development of a nuclear Weapon of Mass Destruction. Right now, in reality, the most serious terrorist threat to American security is domestic terrorism. That was the conclusion, two years ago, of the bipartisan, Washington D.C.-based think tank the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS). In DEAD DROP, it's Middle Eastern terror, specifically "the largest organized terror force in the world," Hezbollah. Meanwhile, at the CIA, Human Resources must be asleep at the wheel, because Meredith is forced to work with her ex.
Either Dale isn't the sharpest tool in the box or Woodward's exposition is very heavy-handed. Dale works for the CIA, but needs to have it explained to him that Shatila is a refugee camp. He can't be expected to know about the Sabra and Shatila massacre in 1982. Also, despite his access to the technological resources of the CIA, Dale needs to use Google Maps to navigate London.
He's better at dealing with the international intelligence community's women operatives, analysts, and spies. He tussles with and also a Mossad (Israeli intelligence agency) operative named Maya. She certainly brings strengths to the community. She is a kidon, or elite assassin. Woodward repeatedly uses this foreign word, italicizing it to highlight its foreignness. He often calls Maya "the kidon." She's not a person: she's a killing machine.
She is also a Bond Girl for the twenty-first century: a former model in the Parisian fashion scene who left modeling because French modeling agencies want blondes. She's a perfectly cliched femme fatale: with "eastern eyes." Dale's ex-wife notes Maya's most prominent character traits: "the woman's tapered legs, olive complexion," and "elongated nose." She's built to be played by Gal Gadot, but only because Mata Hari is no longer available. She comes across as a more memorable character than Meredith, but only visually.
The Middle East is the usual cocktail of reheated imagery. The Israelis are ruthless. The Muslims are terrorists and women who don't show tapered legs in public. The bad guys talk about Westerners as "the infidels," and of course have a vehicle bomb. In the interests of saving the world, Meredith and Maya learn to team up, going on an exploratory mission in "chadors." The academic, one Colonel Kalihdi, is an Orientalist Professor Moriarty, not to be trusted in part because he's smart enough to teach at Oxbridge. Dale gets to whack him in the head.
The novel wraps up with an Agatha Christie-style explanation scene and the Dales seem to be moving towards some kind of reconciliation. If you want to know what happens to the Dales, and the world, I'm sure a third installment will be forthcoming.
§ Rebecca Nesvet is an Associate Professor of English at the University of Wisconsin, Green Bay and co-edits Reviewing the Evidence.
Reviewed by Rebecca Nesvet, May 2023
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