You have to accept that Flannery's hero, Bill Lane, is really James Bonds. Flannery was too cheap to pay the royalties and too patriotic (nothing wrong with that) to make him Brittish. One thing Lane is NOT, however: he is not an analyst and does not work for the NSA.Once you get over that charade, it's easy to be absorbed by the book. It takes you on a lively tour of action and travel from the hotels of the rich and famous to the desert of Morocco. It's actually hard to put down.