Traitor
Stephen Coonts
St. Martin's, Jul 2006, $25.95
ISBN: 031232359X

While flying over the Mediterranean first class to Amman, Jordan, French intelligence agent Maurice Marton suffers a heart attack and dies. Marton was carrying interesting documents with him when he passed away. Apparently Henri Rodet, Director of the French spy agency Direction Gernale de la Securite Extelieure, has holdings in the Bank of Palestine.

Espionage agencies on both sides of the Atlantic panic with a need to know what is in Henri's investment portfolio with the fear being he sold out or worse. The Americans send top operative Tommy Carmellini to discover what Henri is up to. Tommy recruits his partner on several capers (See CUBA) US Navy Rear Admiral (R) Jake Grafton to determine whether Henri has sold out to terrorists and if so to stop him and his new cronies without compromising the lives of their sources.

This is an action-packed exhilarating thriller that never slows down from the moment that the flight attendant realizes that Marton is not debarking from the plane until the final climax that will surprise the audience with a terrific end state twist. Carmellini and Grafton still have it as they compete with several European allegedly allies and Middle Eastern operatives of what might prove to be the greatest treachery in history making Judas, Quisling and Arnold look like patriots.

Harriet Klausner