The Silent War

Former Swedish diplomat Norman follows Into a Raging Blaze with a powerful indictment of contemporary espionage techniques in the West’s ongoing conflict with terrorism. In spy-ridden Brussels, Bente Jensen, the head of Swedish Counter-Terrorism, receives damaging information regarding British MI6’s illicit covert activities in Syria. Bente, who seeks patterns in everything and trusts nothing, discovers that her old nemesis, Jonathan Green, MI6’s undercover Brussels station chief, is implicated. Green, his career in jeopardy, feverishly attempts to minimize the fallout from the leak revealing his government’s “controlled use of death.” Both Green and Bente end up risking their professional futures and sacrificing those they love in conscience-wrenching choices. Readers should be prepared for graphic scenes of physical torture and psychological intimidation. This propulsive, thought-provoking thriller will leave readers pondering the bedeviling eternal question: should evil ever be done so that good may result? Agent: Lena Stjernström, Grand Agency (Sweden). (Sept.)