Fault Line

Eisler, Barry. Fault Line.

When Alex Treven discovers a client has been murdered in an apparent drug deal gone wrong, he is uneasy for a several reasons, not least because he expected his work with the inventor of a new encryption program to help Alex make partner at his law firm. When the patent examiner reviewing the program dies of apparently natural causes and information about the encryption program review disappears, Alex is even more unsettled. Then he survives an attack in his own home.

Time to call in estranged brother Ben, a military assassin (conveniently), who comes to the rescue. The brothers' estrangement is a result of an event when Ben was in high school, and the back story is interspersed with current events. This attempt at psychological explanations doesn't really succeed.

The third character: a beautiful Iranian American lawyer. Alex is attracted to her; Ben distrusts her.

Fast-paced where the back story doesn't interfere, Fault Line is a quick read. Author Barry Eisler spent 3 years as a covert operative for the CIA and lists some sources about "military liason elements," the NSA domestic spy program, warrant less eavesdropping, cryptovirology, etc. at the back of the book.

The characters don't really come off the page despite the author's attempt to give them some complexity and the pacing is uneven. A simplistic thriller, but a kind of fun way to spend an evening.

A more positive review: Nicole at Linus' Blanket
Fiction. Suspense/Adventure. 2009. 302 pages.