|
CIA Agent Michael Stone is assigned to the Strategic Information Operations Center (OC) at the FBI Headquarters, in Washington D.C. On his first day at work, a top-secret message is intercepted by the National Security Agency’s global eavesdropping system, code named Echelon, appears on his computer terminal. When Michael is denied access, he manipulates the restraints of FBI security, gaining access to the message and a puzzling web of illicit activity.
Michael’s FBI SIOC director is enraged. From Michael’s SIOC terminal, he assembles the world’s most powerful eavesdropping system. His eavesdropping begins to reveal a global conspiracy of deception and greed. As the CIA tries to gather intelligence and the FBI struggles with the restraints of its law enforcement mandate, the conspiracy spreads from Florida, to San Diego, and then to Acapulco. Where will the frantic chase end?
ECHELON, SOMEBODY’S LISTENING will catapult you into the post 9/11 world of eavesdropping, where no one has the full picture, and the CIA, FBI and the National Security Agency are deploying an amazing set of tools trying to focus their vision.
I found the characters in ECHELON, SOMEBODY’S LISTENING realistic, though I really couldn’t relate to anyone. The book is written in several point of views though Michael is the main character. I found that certain points of ECHELON, SOMEBODY’S LISTENING, are more telling which makes it harder for the reader to be drawn into the story.
ECHELON, SOMEBODY’S LISTENING is supposed to be fiction, but the facts included in the story are almost real enough to make it seem nonfiction. The book is chilling at times, and not one to be read late at night—especially if you wonder who’s listening to you.
Reviewed by Laura V. Hilton
for The Road to Romance
March 15, 2006
|
