Reviewing The Peacock and the Sparrow
BOOK REVIEW: THE PEACOCK AND THE SPARROW
By I.S. Berry / Atria Books
Reviewed by Robert Richer
The Reviewer — Robert Richer served as a former Associate Deputy Director for Operations at the CIA. He also served as Chief of the Near East and South Asia Division, responsible for Clandestine Service Operations throughout the Middle East and South Asia. Mr. Richer currently consults on Middle East and national security issues and is a senior partner with International Advisory Partners.
REVIEW — The Peacock and the Sparrow is an extremely complex and well written novel. The author, who has the CIA credentials and experience to make the book ring true, has captured the morality or potential lack thereof, of aspects of the professional life of an Agency case officer. Her descriptive narratives of Bahrain are very well done.
While a work of fiction, the writer captures the political complexity and internal sensitivities of that country as well as any analytical product I’ve read on the topic. Berry’s prose enables the reader to see the streets described in their mind’s eye, to sense the atmosphere, and imagine the smells. For those with experience in the Middle East, her writing brings back both vivid images and sensory memories.
One such description: “The Alley had the bitter stench of death and wreckage, something like rotted leather, mingled with the lingering fumes of commerce-cooking oil, frankincense, tobacco.” For those of us who have experienced the sometimes-chaotic Middle East, that sentence strikes true.
The storyline centers on a CIA case officer, Shane Collins, serving out the last years of a long career in Bahrain. He is working for a “rising star” chief of station who is more concerned with his next promotion and professional step up the ladder within the Agency, than with managing his station or understanding the particulars of his collection and operational mandate.
Shane carries the emotional and personal baggage often attributed in fiction to long serving case officers. He’s a heavy drinker, had a failed marriage and is morally compromised when it comes to his mostly self-centered relationship with women.
As the story progresses, Shane gets drawn into questionable actions with Rashid, one of his key internal opposition sources in Bahrain. These actions compromise his operational reporting and lead to his involvement in a death and cover-up of a murder.
Further, he develops a personal relationship with local artist Almaisa. Almaisa is manipulated by Shane who sees her as a target, not for operational reasons but as a personal conquest.
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Shane notes in describing his targeting of Almaisa: “The ultimate hurdle remained, and I hadn’t figured out how to jump it. Sex would require a more nuanced approach. It remained a maddening mirage, appearing within reach at times then receding into nothing, Still, I was enjoying the game. A spy was a spy, and at fifty-two, I could still lure a fish into my net. I hadn’t lost it—that ability to please, to find soft and hard spots and get inside.”
The progression of that relationship builds to the book’s explosive finale which, while a work of fiction, is not without aspects of what could have happened in Bahrain during not-so-distant periods of intensive unrest between the majority Shi’a population, supported by Iran, and the ruling minority Sunni population.
The Peacock and the Sparrow, (the title is an analogy explained in the novel itself), is a quick and entertaining read. It reads like both a classic espionage novel and a current political narrative focusing on many of the internal issues in the region. I highly recommend it.
The Peacock and the Sparrow earns an impressive four out of four trench coats.
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