Inside Out

Eisler has cemented himself as one of my favorite modern thriller writers. More importantly, he has, I believe, established that he is simply one of the best thriller writers in the business. He creates three-dimensional characters with strengths and weaknesses and real motivations and concerns; he creates characters that the reader cares about, something all too-often lacking in thrillers. Eisler is also one of those writers who is able to give readers a true sense of place; you feel very much as if you are in the places his characters experience and describe. Whether Costa Rica in Inside Out, the Bay Area in Fault Line, or most impressively Tokyo in the John Rain novels, locales become characters in Eisler's books. In addition, when show more Eisler has a character talk about or participate in combat or espionage-related activities, he is able to impart to the reader a real sense that what Eisler is telling you is, in fact, either true or largely accurate; in other words, when it comes to things like combat and tactics, you don't feel as if Eisler is making it up as he goes. Given his experience as a CIA operative, that isn't too surprising.

Inside Out is the second novel to feature Ben Treven (introduced in Fault Line). And for fans of the John Rain novels, Eisler makes it very clear (adding on to the hints in Fault Line) that Treven inhabits the same universe as John Rain. The plot of the novel in some ways reminded me of some of the best novels from Robert Ludlum's heydey, when the protagonist isn't always quite sure which side he is on or who, exactly, is the opposition. More importantly, without getting into spoilers or giving anything away, good and evil, at least in the organizational, rather than indiviudual, sense, is a bit more gray and less black and white. 'Bad guys' have motivations that may not necessarily be intrinsically evil and 'good guys' can do bad things.

At its core, though, Inside Out is a book that takes today's headlines and wraps a fictional (or is it?) story around them. Eisler even goes to the trouble of providing lists of sources and a bibliography at the conclusion of his novel.

Treven chases after the notorious missing (destroyed?) CIA torture tapes. In so doing he begins to learn about and question much of what he has been told and much of what he has previously thought. In Fault Line Treven began to learn that things were not always what they seem and his shift in viewpoint began. Inside Out continues that evolution of character. If I had to register a complaint, it would be that Treven seems a bit quick to make some of leaps of understanding, but that is a minor criticism.

One other thing to make note of (spoiler alert): Eisler makes the interesting choice of making both a primary antogonist and a secondary antagonist minorities. Were Eisler a different writer, this might have come off as motivated by prejudice. But Eisler is able to handle this decision with skill and, more importantly, gives a reason for having done so. That he can make his 'bad guys' minorities without making minorities the bad guys is a true literary feat for which he should be commended.

Some may not like the politics of Eisler's book. However, I'd suggest that fans of Vince Flynn or Brad Thor give Eisler a try and compare some of the views that he expresses with those pontificated (at unfortunate length) by Flynn and Thor. And after reading Inside Out, take some time to really think about the news stories that form the basis for the plot and think about Eisler's suggestions and undestandings of the political system and the implications of some of the things he describes (was that cryptic enough)?

Anyway, stop reading this and go get a copy of Inside Out (or at least pre-order a copy...). And then put Eisler on your must read list. show less

In 2007, operatives working out of the Vice-president of the United States' office were informed that there were ninety-two missing videotapes. Those tapes documented the extreme torture of ghost detainees, individuals captured and whisked away to secret prisons, people who simply disappeared. Waterboarding, while documented on the tapes, was not the worst thing that happened to the ghost detainees. Ulrich, the lead operative, crafts a plausible story to spin to the media, which allows everyone else to sigh in relief.

Two years later, someone surfaces, contacts one of the operatives, and tells him that he is in possession of the ninety-two videotapes. He will release them to the world's media in five days if he is not paid $100 million show more in small, uncut diamonds.


Barry Eisler does a great job descriptively at putting you in the middle of the action. I just picked up one of Barry Eisler's John Rain books started reading them several years ago. I have been hooked on them since. This begins a new series with FBI and CIA characters. If the future ones ar as good as this, I will eagerly await them. show less

I loved Fault Line so I was thrilled to find out Barry Eisler's new novel was a sequel, though quite able to function as a stand alone. It starts out with a brawl and snowballs into a full scale conspiracy.

This one is a little heavier than Fault Line, probably due to the fact that Ben's brother Alex has been taken out of the mix. This was a little more along the same vein as the John Rain series which I've started, but not finished. It was the family connection that originally drew me into Fault Line more so than his John Rain series, but I think I'm more attached to the character of Ben because Eisler set up roots for the character so well in the first book.

The plot is terrifyingly realistic, ripping it's facts from the headlines and show more creating it's own account of the details surrounding it. One of the quotes Eisler uses was quite definitive for Ben:

`There are different kinds of truths for different kinds of people. There are truths appropriate for children; truths that are appropriate for students; truths that are appropriate for educated adults; and truths that are appropriate for highly educated adults, and the notion that there should be one set of truths available to everyone is a modern democratic fallacy. It doesn't work.' ~ Irving Kristol

Ben has become increasingly disenfranchised through his recent experiences (In a way, he kind of reminds me a little of Seeley Booth) and he's starting to become more aware that everyone has an agenda and their own version of the truth to back them up. This is something that Ben will continue to struggle with, as there is no easy resolution for him. It's messy, but I imagine the real world of spies and assassins is messy.

There is a little more 'alphabet soup' with all of the government agencies being involved in this one and sometimes it took a minute for me to juggle the acronyms and remember who's who. The action, however is phenomenal and well worth any minor acronym confusion on my part. It took twists and turns I didn't foresee and was wrapped up without being too neat and tidy, leaving plenty of room for continuing the story throughout the series.

READ MORE: http://girlsjustreading.blogspot.com/2010/07/jenns-review-inside-out.html show less

Started February 01st, 2014.
Lend this on the Kindle with Amazon Prime.
The beginning is gripping, a discussion of high ranking US government people of how to spin 72, maybe more, missing interrogation videos aka torture tapes.
As with the book before, [b:Fault Line|3377968|Fault Line (Ben Treven, #1)|Barry Eisler|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1320412516s/3377968.jpg|3417510], this is very real, and the one little sex-scene is even better.
Most I said in my review for that book could be repeated here, the persons are more real to me.
And also again not simply good or bad.
This is a political book that goes to heart of the US-Power-Struggles, Outsourcing of Military Operations, Blackwater, Spin-Doctors etc, .
A lecture about the show more current state of Democracy in the USA and the process of decision-making in the US Government packed in a page-turner I could not put down until I finished it.
And unlike the books I read from [a:Brad Thor|5088|Brad Thor|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/authors/1201288917p2/5088.jpg], this one has a highly critical edge to it, the main characters question them self and their own actions (and those of others). In the end the book leaves the path for the development of the main character Ben wide open.
Something I hope will be further explored in the next book in the series. Whenever that gets published.
Highly recommended. show less

Much better than I thought it would be -- using historical news headlines of US torture, treatment and disappearing of international prisoners, the story focuses on a black ops member who finds himself stuck in the middle retrieving videos of human rights violations, and he ends up having to make some tough decisions.

Very good continuation of the Ben Traven character. Eisler goes deep into fictional (and non-fictional) American politics at the highest level. His opinion of our seeming oligarchy and "war on terror" is quite clear, lol.

Lots of thrills and a reasonable number of twists. I didn't like that the original characters from the first novel, brother and love interest, are only mentioned in passing. Cute, how John Rain, Jim Hilger, and Dox (all from the Rain series) get mentioned. Their backstory gets nicely integrated if you read that other series. It adds depth to the plotting here.

I enjoy Eisler's tone of authenticity as I mention in other reviews. He lso rarely writes something that makes me pull my head out of the story. You could say his show more words go down smoothly. I call that good editing. Perfect? No, but nothing to whine about.

You get a great sense of the box Ben finds himself in. You can also just smell book #3 coming... show less

I agree with some of the reviews on the back on the book --- is this real or fiction?!? It seems pretty close to being real and that's a wee bit scary!!!! Ben Treven is tasked with finding an ex-soldier who is blackmailing the government with previously unknown torture videotapes. I love the character of Ben Treven and can't wait to read more of him in the future books. He's definitely flawed and I like that he knows that about himself. Ben Treven is one scary dude, right up there in ranks with John Rain (also of Barry Eisler fame). In fact, there seems to be a teaser that Ben and John and Dox will meet up in future books. Color me excited if that were to happen.