The Quantum Spy by David Ignatius

The race is on between China and The United States to be first to develop the super-fast quantum computer.  A major benefit of the quantum computer is the quick deciphering of any code or encryption and therefore access to the flow of highly classified, secret information.  So, protecting and stealing any information about quantum computers is high on the priority list of both the CIA and their Chinese counterparts.

John Vandel is a long-time CIA operative who has risen to the rank of deputy director.  He recruited Harris Chang, a Chinese American and former U.S. Army Ranger, as a field agent for the CIA.  Chang, because of his heritage and his skill set, is assigned to recruit a Chinese scientist as a spy for the U.S.  Chang learns that the Chinese have a mole in the CIA but cannot identify the traitor.  It all goes wrong when the Chinese scientist kills himself and the Chinese find out that the Americans know about the mole.  The Chinese make a move to recruit Chang, revealing to him facts about his Chinese ancestors to try and turn his loyalty.  Vandel becomes suspicious of Chang but the young agent signs up for an extremely dangerous operation against the Chinese to prove his loyalty to America and Vandel.  The future of world dominance hangs on the allegiance of a fourth generation Chinese American.

I know of David Ignatius from his syndicated political newspaper column and his appearances on cable news but this is the first of his novels that I’ve read.  It is an entertaining read but I found myself not that attached to the characters.  The plot was linear with few surprises.  Maybe current politics has squelched my appetite for fictional spy thrillers.

The Increment by David Ignatius

I read Enterainment Weekly's review of the book and thought it sounded reasonable. In the end, that was all it was...reasonable, nothing to shout about and glad when I was finally finished.

An ashamed young Iranian nuclear scientist decides to tell the west that yes, Iran is indeed working on details designed to develop a nuclear device. He goes to an anonymous computer, visits cia.gov and sends a cryptic note off to Langley.

The note lands in the Iran Operations Division on the lap of it's chief, Harry Pappas. Harry is a career covert ops type who soured on the policy makers when they ignored his advice during the Iraq war; ignored advice that ultimately led to the death of his son. Now he is a desk jockey with, if not the smoking gun, at least, the some smoke from the gun proving that Iran is developing a trigger for a bomb. While the info is good, Harry still wants to know more about his source and whether the data is accurate, a tease, or a plant by Iranian intelligence. Trouble is, policy makers in the Pentagon and White House think they have all they need to start the process that will eventually lead to war with Iran.

After Iraq, Harry doesn't trust his own agency and certainly not the suits across the Potomac, so he enlists the help of an old British friend high up in the UK intel biz. Together they hash out a plan to get their mysterious contact out of Iran so they can fully interrogate him to see if this is the real deal. To do so will require the use of a shadow unit called The Increment; a unit of modern day James Bond types, authorized to kill, but not to stand out in a tux, sipping martini saying "So sorry, old man." These are former special forces types, immigrants - arabs, pakis, eastern europeans, hispanics, you name it - with total commitment to Queen and country. They hide, become invisible, and live for the rush of covert operations.

The information passed to the CIA shows attempts, not successes, in making the trigger. Seems the Brits have a man selling the equipment to the Iranians that is doctored to fail, but in such a way that the Iranians can quite figure it out. Once the process starts to extract the reluctant scientist, the story jumps into a higher gear as The Increment carries out its extraction, then reinsertion and another extraction.

But, somehow, Iranian intelligence gets wind of the plot and intervenes in a most unfortunate way. In the subsequent after-action hand wringing, Harry figures out how the plan failed, but that the end result, a crippling of the Iranian nuclear program, was successful. Of course, Harry spills the details and quits as a bitter retiree who lost not only his son to policy wonks, but this young nuclear scientist to business vs. intelligence bickering.

As I started this book, I thought it had promise; trying to figure out who this random contact was and how to verify what he was saying. When The Increment came in, the story move right along, but it ended the way so many do, with a world-weary burnout suffering further losses and eventually quitting. In addition, I thought the author, a Washington Post columnist and author of 4-5 other spy novels, tried too hard to have poignant, flowery insights at the end of each chapter and ended up sounding trite. Entertainment Weekly gave it a B. I'd say C+ tops.

EC Don