The Secret Soldier (John Wells)

With the Saudi monarchy facing an internal conspiracy that threatens regional stability and American interests alike, John Wells accepts an undercover mission on behalf of the aging King Abdullah, infiltrating the court's power structures with no guarantee of who can be trusted on either side of the Atlantic. Alex Berenson's fifth Wells novel takes its protagonist deep into the labyrinthine politics of the kingdom, where the lines between ally and enemy are deliberately obscured.

George Guidall brings the same weary authority he has delivered across the entire series, his voice giving Wells's internal calculations and physical courage equal weight. Guidall's narration suits Berenson's procedural approach to espionage fiction, where the intelligence and tradecraft are as important as the action, and his handling of the Arabic-language passages and Middle Eastern settings carries conviction. At just over eleven hours, The Secret Soldier is a tight, well-paced addition to the series.