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THE PRISONER OF GUANTANAMO
by Dan Fesperman
Hodder and Stoughton, July 2006
384 pages
12.99GBP
ISBN: 0340896809


Buy in the UK | Buy in Canada

Like any journalist, thriller writer Dan Fesperman follows the news -- and as a result his books are bang up-to-date. The earlier ones were set in Eastern Europe and Afghanistan. He's now closer to home with THE PRISONER OF GUANTANAMO.

Revere Falk is an Arabic-speaking FBI interrogator. He treats prisoners decently, and isn't terribly enamoured of the way some of his colleagues behave. And he reckons he's making progress with Adnan, one of the prisoners at Guantanamo Bay, who may be able to supply them with vital intelligence

Things then spiral out of control when the Cubans find the body of a US soldier on a beach. A high-ranking investigative team is flown in, and it looks like Falk is being sidelined. Suddenly, though, a guilty secret from his past comes back to haunt him.

The book starts promisingly, and is always readable, but it feels anti-climatical and rather tame beside Fesperman's previous novels. And that's odd, given the material he is working with.

The main problem is that Falk is flat. The story revolves on a hasty decision he made as a young Marine -- but I didn't buy that. His girlfriend Pam is equally dull, and bluff friend Bokamper too obvious. One of the more promising characters, the Cuban Pedro, spends too long in the background.

The most bizarre thing is that there is very little feeling for Guantanamo Bay and the camps which Fesperman has visited as a journalist. I was expecting far more about Adnan and the other prisoners who are being interrogated. But generally they and the guards remain firmly in the background

Instead, THE PRISONER OF GUANTANAMO is a tame thriller based on a fairly dreary and naive character who has some boy's own adventures along the way.

The book is worth reading, if only because this a topic that needs keeping in the public eye, but it's nowhere near Fesperman's best. Go and read THE WARLORD'S SON and THE SMALL BOAT OF GREAT SORROWS instead. Both of those are 21st century thriller writing of the highest quality and impact.

Reviewed by Sharon Wheeler, July 2006

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Contact: Yvonne Klein (ymk@reviewingtheevidence.com)


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