B.W. Leavitt in his electrifying novel, How to Train a Spy, opens the gate leading to a place that has seldom been accurately explored; the dark world of undercover intelligence affairs carried out deep into Russia, and Iran. In an era whereby, geopolitical tensions are still in the news, Leavitt offers readers a thriller of the first order that is close-up, detailed, and pulse-pounding as it sends its investigators behind the doors of undercover missions, black sites, alias, and the life and death ballet of world powers.
The novel is the account of a New York State correctional officer, Brian Lewis, whose life has taken a dramatic and surprising twist after he is enlisted in a government ultra-secret mission of paramount international concern. Once brought to a well-guarded intelligence base underground, Brian gets informed that he is being deployed on one of the most perilous missions ever to exist. His mission: to penetrate a black site of Russia inside Iran- a secret base where Russian and Iranian agents are working in the production of a huge electromagnetic weapon that is capable of destroying whole regions.
A sequence of realistic, stratified training is the first step into this hidden world which Brian embarks on. He gets to know the tricks of deception, survival, manipulation of identity, avoidance of surveillance, and gathering of intelligence. How to Train a Spy is not dependent on a futuristic or unrealistic technology, as it does in the traditional spy fiction. Rather it gives a barefaced insight into the actual means by which operatives get stealth, discipline, mental agility, language skills and unflinching precision.
The infiltration of Russia and Iran is described in great details. Brian is given an entire Russian army identity, uniforms, papers, living quarters, and a carefully developed persona. Leavitt takes readers through the convoluted dance moves of the undercover travel, such as changing seats on the plane, passing on codes in disguised items, having covert handlers in the open areas, and the constant fear that a slip can lead to the discovery of the operation.
After getting into Iran, Brian is introduced to Jasmine, an Iranian spy who is posed as his wife. The two of them find their way through the crowded space of the black site, which is monitored by Russian officers, is heavily guarded, and governed by complete secrecy. The stress builds up as Brian collects the intelligence to bring the truth out in developing the weapon. Each communication, each movement, each controlled access point has the danger of being discovered. The novel throws the readers into the atmosphere in which there is always terror and little trust.
The most memorable aspect of How to Train a Spy is the fact that this book demonstrates the riskiness of the intelligence business, but also the emotional and psychological cost. Brian has to lead a life that does not belong to him and the partner he hardly knows, and people who would kill him were they to discover the truth. This weakness of man gives the geopolitical drama some depth and the novel is not only thrilling, but also a very involving one.
The climax in the novel is heart-stopping as Brian escapes, a carefully planned event which included faked deaths, false alarms and hidden exits using the Persian Gulf as the backdrop. The authenticity of this sequence brings out the level of extremes that operatives have to go to in order to avoid being noticed even after carrying out a mission.
How to Train a Spy is a book that, with its atmospheric settings, believable intelligence activities, and a protagonist that the reader cannot but sympathize with, is a must-read book to the thriller lovers. It is a unique, all-consuming experience into the secretive realm of the undercover missions in Russia and Iran- one that keeps the readers glued to the very first page to the very last.