Intelligence

Intelligence (subtitled "a tale of terror and uncivil service") is a fine first novel by Susan Hasler from 2010, out in paperback this year. It watches an unfolding terrorist incident from multiple points of view inside a US intelligence agency known as The Mines. Our hero, Maddie, her ex-father-in-law and mentor, Doc, among others, see the day-to-day happenings at this agency from their own points of view. They are unable to get anyone to listen to their warnings, are raked over the coals for their inability to prevent another terrorist incident on American soil, and then they get revenge. No actual idiot bureacats were harmed in the writing of this novel by a twenty-one year veteran of the CIA as a counter-terrorism analyst. Liz stole this from me the moment it came from the library, and we both laughed out loud a lot when we read it.

"Yes, there is a Starbucks in the Mines. Ours sells only beverages, no clever mugs with Latin phrases, espresso machines, or bags of beans, but you can still obtain a variety of pretentious concoctions distantly related to coffee --- the way a lemur is distantly related to a human. Coffee with caveats. I stand in a long line and listen to people roll off their lengthy orders, which must specify size of cup; percentage of fat; whether milk be of the cow or of the soybean; flavor and number of pumps of syrup; presence or absense of whipped cream, sprinkles, sugar, and a partidge in a pear tree.

It's my turn. I refuse to say venti. There is nothing wrong with the English word large."

     --- Susan Hassler, Intelligence