Cobraville
A Novel
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4.3 • 6 Ratings
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- $8.99
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- $8.99
Publisher Description
A prophetic thriller from the author of Cuba Strait, Cobraville follows a covert CIA mission deep in the jungles of the Philippines during a savage civil war.
Cole Langan's five-man unit -- in country to repair what they have been led to believe is a vital NSA surveillance monitor -- instead finds itself caught up in a spiraling vortex of lies, spies, and traitors. When the unit collides -- disastrously -- with UN peacekeepers, the surviving CIA agents may face war-crimes trial at the International Criminal Court.
On the other side of the Earth, Cole's father, Senator Drew Langan, tries desperately to identify a shadowy group behind the betrayal of his son's CIA unit. An elusive German businessman leads Drew and his femme fatale bodyguard down a rabbit hole of intrigue and corruption that leads all the way to the highest levels of the United Nations.
Shot through with Stroud's grimly mordant sense of humor and painstakingly researched, Cobraville cuts deep into the harrowing reality of America's secret wars, in a cautionary book that ought to be read by every spymaster in D.C. and every apparatchik at the UN.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Betrayal among friends and enemies is the tie that binds in Stroud's latest standout novel of terrorism and international intrigue. When Sen. Drew Langan is given a classified tip that al-Qaeda is planning a bombing in Iligan City, the Philippines, where the United Nations is conducting a peacekeeping mission, he dismisses the communication as having little to do with him. Back at home, a little late-night Web surfing and an attempt on his life convinces Drew that maybe he should be paying more attention. At the same time, his estranged son, Cole, is embarking on a covert CIA mission just north of Iligan City. Cole is under no illusions as to the nature of the conflict he's stepping into: "What was actually happening here was obvious to anyone with a functioning cortex: Iligan City was the yawning iron gate of yet another United Nations feel-good rat-fuck fiasco, a doomed-from-the-get-go cub-scout jamboree that was slowly but inexorably sinking into the blood-drenched malarial swamps of Southeast Asia." Stroud (Close Pursuit; Cuba Strait; etc.) switches between Drew's investigation and Cole's jungle adventure, heightening the tension as the two men fight for their lives on two very different battlefields. The military scenes in the jungle are superb and the stateside political intrigue suspenseful and absolutely believable. The prose is sharp, funny, exciting and bloody. This is a solid, top-shelf performance from a quality writer who never fails to deliver.
