Show Me 5 Saturday: Inside Out by Barry Eisler

Show Me 5, a meme started by That's a Novel Idea, gives each blogger a chance to answer these questions:

1. Title of book: Inside Out by Barry Eisler
2. Words to describe the book: Political thriller
3. Location or characters you met:

• Ben Treven: A black ops soldier who is asked by his unit commander, Hort, to track down the 92 missing torture tapes that have been stolen and are being used to blackmail the government. The tapes include some explosive material and have become part of a massive cover up by the powers that be in Washington, D.C. Ben's one of the few people who can accomplish this but unfortunately others are also looking for the tapes and will do what is necessary to get them even if that includes eliminating Ben.
• Daniel Larison: one of the original members of Hort's unit who supposedly died in 2007. Daniel has gone rogue and has become his own free agent, trying to shake down the US government for $100 million in diamonds; a sum that will allow him to pursue his secret life while trying to overcome the horrific nightmares from his past. His big threat is that if he is killed, the tapes will automatically be published on the internet.
• Paula Lanier: A gung-ho FBI special agent who is sent to follow Ben as she and the Bureau have their own agendas. But then, so do other agencies and they are not working well together. Although Ben prefers to work solo, he finds Paula to be most tenacious and not easy to shake off. So Paula and Ben hook up to lure Daniel out and try to retrieve the tapes. Both of them have to use all their survival skills to stay one step ahead of those who want them both out of the picture.

4. Things you liked/disliked:

• liked the fast paced, non-stop action
• liked how the author showed the personal and professional side of main character Ben Treven, and how he expanded Ben's backstory from the last book, Fault Lines. (Review can be seen here)
• liked the twists in the book; this is one of those books where the "good guys" can also be the "bad guys" but the bad guys are really, really the "baddest of the bad guys." In other words, who can be trusted? Maybe nobody !
• liked the extensive bibliography and sources at the end of the book. This shows how much research Eisler did and how closely based in reality this story is. Scary stuff!

5. Stars or less for your rating: 4**** for me and 5***** for The Big Guy. Once hubby stuck his nose in the book, he didn't surface until the end.

Hardcover: 368 pages
Publisher: Ballantine Books (June 29, 2010)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0345505107
ISBN-13: 978-0345505101

Disclosure: A review copy of the book was provided by the author, Barry Eisler. Thanks, Barry!