Body of Lies

I read a lot of spy fiction.  I have observed that the sociology of an espionage organization, as depicted, especially by Len Deighton, is very similar to that of a software development enterprise.  While I may expand on that observation in more detail here, at some point, suffice to say, now, that in both cases, there are people who go over the wall, as it were, and people who do not, and things only work well when those two groups function well together, and share the same priorties, and unfortunately, they often do not. 

Anyhow, last weekend, while on what Bridget Jones referred to, in her famous diary, as a mini-break, I read David Ignatious' spy novel, Body of Lies.  The film version of that book opened in wide release across the United States last weekend as well, and the review I read in The Seattle Times was not favorable, and the film did not perform very well at the box office.  I have not seen the film, but from the review, it is apparent that the character played by Russell Crowe has been adapted somewhat for the screen.  The reviewer also questioned whether there is room, in such a tale, for a romantic interest, which is odd to someone who had only read the book, because that romantic interest is the central plot element in the novel, the one that drives all the action toward its climax.  So the question of whether there is room for a romantic interest in the story is rather like asking whether there is room for the character of Teresa di Vicenzo in On Her Majesty's Secret Service.  

Regardless, as I say, I have not seen the movie, but the book is terrific.