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Duet in Beirut
In this riveting thriller by an ex-Mossad agent, an Israeli spy risks his life to save a Hezbollah leader
For over a decade, Mishka Ben-David was a professional spy, taking part in secret operations on behalf of the Mossad, Israel’s legendary intelligence agency. But after twelve years of service, Ben-David quit the Mossad and became an acclaimed novelist, describing life as a spy from within. A major bestseller in Israel, Duet in Beirut is Ben-David’s first book to appear in English.
Ronen, an expelled Mossad agent, has disappeared following a failed assassination attempt against the Hezbollah operative responsible for suicide bombings in Israel. Feared to be on an unauthorized mission, it is up to his former commander, Gadi, to track Ronen down and stop him from causing harm both to himself and to his country. The physical and intellectual scuffle between the two men becomes one of deeper, moral inquiry.
Written with a master novelist’s terse conviction, Duet in Beirut takes us inside a much-discussed but little understood world. As revealing in its psychological acuity as it is in its portrait of life in the Mossad, Duet in Beirut is an essential thriller of espionage and political intrigue.
For over a decade, Mishka Ben-David was a professional spy, taking part in secret operations on behalf of the Mossad, Israel’s legendary intelligence agency. But after twelve years of service, Ben-David quit the Mossad and became an acclaimed novelist, describing life as a spy from within. A major bestseller in Israel, Duet in Beirut is Ben-David’s first book to appear in English.
Ronen, an expelled Mossad agent, has disappeared following a failed assassination attempt against the Hezbollah operative responsible for suicide bombings in Israel. Feared to be on an unauthorized mission, it is up to his former commander, Gadi, to track Ronen down and stop him from causing harm both to himself and to his country. The physical and intellectual scuffle between the two men becomes one of deeper, moral inquiry.
Written with a master novelist’s terse conviction, Duet in Beirut takes us inside a much-discussed but little understood world. As revealing in its psychological acuity as it is in its portrait of life in the Mossad, Duet in Beirut is an essential thriller of espionage and political intrigue.
336 pages, Hardcover
First published September 18, 2002
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574 people want to read
About the author
Mishka Ben-David
29 books42 followersMishka Ben-David served in the Mossad for twelve years, becoming a high-ranking officer. He is now a full-time novelist living outside Jerusalem.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 33 reviews
January 3, 2025
Much Needed and Entertaining Suspense-Thriller by a Former Mossad Officer
For several years I have been in search of a suspense thriller by a former Mossad agent. I figured it was only a matter of time. Meanwhile, I contented myself with re-reading Harel's "House on Garibaldi Street", Le Carre's "Little Drummer Girl" or Daniel Silva's Gabriel Allon books. I was hoping to find an Israeli version of the vintage John Le Carré (the former British MI5/MI6 agent who wrote spy novels that explored the psychological costs of espionage with its betrayals and deceptions). Well I seem to have struck pay-dirt with "Duet in Beirut", an English language novel I picked up in Israel. Duet in Beirut is the debut novel of former Israeli Mossad agent Mishka Ben-David. It's the story of Gadi and Ronen, former squad mates in a Mossad direct action unit, who become bitter rivals after a failed mission in Lebanon. Gadi planned the mission, a hit on Abu Khaled, Hezbollah's chief of overseas operations, but Ronen, the "number one" (trigger man) failed to execute the hit when one of Khaled's daughters wandered into the line of fire. Upon returning to Israel, both men underwent a commission investigation into the mission's failure, an investigation that ends Ronen's Mossad career. Unable to adjust to his professional failure and life outside the organization, Ronen plans a secret, personal mission to Beirut to finish the job. Gadi, upset by the results of the investigation, finds himself increasingly marginalized within Mossad headquarters. He is also struggling with the sexual tension between himself and Naamah, Ronen's wife, with whom he'd carried on a brief affair when she was a Mossad agent assigned to his squad. When Naamah informs him of Ronen's personal quest, one that could create an international incident now that Abu Khaled had been promoted to a more political and public role in Hezbollah, Gadi undertakes an "unauthorized mission" to stop Ronen and bring him back "in from the Cold" (as John le Carré would say). In the meantime, the Israeli Prime Minister orders an Israeli Mistaravim (Clandestine unit disguised as Arabs) team to track down the rogue agent. The mission is complicated by the mutual suspicions between Gadi, Ronen and the Israeli Mossad Director of Operations, Doron, as well as the bureaucratic machinations of the Mossad Chief known only by his nom de guerre, Beaufort. A sub plot is built around the developing friendship between Gadi's wife, Helena, and Naamah as they outwit an aggressive pair of journalists out to get a scoop on the story. It has all the makings of a good suspense-thriller yarn with enough psychological tension and betrayals to cover the same ground as a Le Carré or an E. Howard Hunt. In fact, the book's cynical depiction of Beaufort reminded me a bit of CIA Chief Dobbs in Hunt's The Hargrave Deception. The books pacing starts off a little slow and the initial backstory approach confused me. But keep reading. It's a debut novel after all. And the plotting picks up pace about halfway through. Some of the relationship stuff between Helena and Naamah is a little "Chick Lit" boring. And there are two short unnecessary graphic sex scenes to let you know what a passionate woman Naamah really is both with both Gadi and Ronen. But these are minor negatives. Ben-David's depiction of the inner workings and relationships within the Mossad are revealing and fascinating. An Israeli eye view of the clandestine/covert world is a refreshing perspective and this novel deserves a broader audience than it's had so far. I hope Ben-David's next novel shows him developing into the kind of author who can become a literary force in the suspense-thriller genre. Recommended.
For several years I have been in search of a suspense thriller by a former Mossad agent. I figured it was only a matter of time. Meanwhile, I contented myself with re-reading Harel's "House on Garibaldi Street", Le Carre's "Little Drummer Girl" or Daniel Silva's Gabriel Allon books. I was hoping to find an Israeli version of the vintage John Le Carré (the former British MI5/MI6 agent who wrote spy novels that explored the psychological costs of espionage with its betrayals and deceptions). Well I seem to have struck pay-dirt with "Duet in Beirut", an English language novel I picked up in Israel. Duet in Beirut is the debut novel of former Israeli Mossad agent Mishka Ben-David. It's the story of Gadi and Ronen, former squad mates in a Mossad direct action unit, who become bitter rivals after a failed mission in Lebanon. Gadi planned the mission, a hit on Abu Khaled, Hezbollah's chief of overseas operations, but Ronen, the "number one" (trigger man) failed to execute the hit when one of Khaled's daughters wandered into the line of fire. Upon returning to Israel, both men underwent a commission investigation into the mission's failure, an investigation that ends Ronen's Mossad career. Unable to adjust to his professional failure and life outside the organization, Ronen plans a secret, personal mission to Beirut to finish the job. Gadi, upset by the results of the investigation, finds himself increasingly marginalized within Mossad headquarters. He is also struggling with the sexual tension between himself and Naamah, Ronen's wife, with whom he'd carried on a brief affair when she was a Mossad agent assigned to his squad. When Naamah informs him of Ronen's personal quest, one that could create an international incident now that Abu Khaled had been promoted to a more political and public role in Hezbollah, Gadi undertakes an "unauthorized mission" to stop Ronen and bring him back "in from the Cold" (as John le Carré would say). In the meantime, the Israeli Prime Minister orders an Israeli Mistaravim (Clandestine unit disguised as Arabs) team to track down the rogue agent. The mission is complicated by the mutual suspicions between Gadi, Ronen and the Israeli Mossad Director of Operations, Doron, as well as the bureaucratic machinations of the Mossad Chief known only by his nom de guerre, Beaufort. A sub plot is built around the developing friendship between Gadi's wife, Helena, and Naamah as they outwit an aggressive pair of journalists out to get a scoop on the story. It has all the makings of a good suspense-thriller yarn with enough psychological tension and betrayals to cover the same ground as a Le Carré or an E. Howard Hunt. In fact, the book's cynical depiction of Beaufort reminded me a bit of CIA Chief Dobbs in Hunt's The Hargrave Deception. The books pacing starts off a little slow and the initial backstory approach confused me. But keep reading. It's a debut novel after all. And the plotting picks up pace about halfway through. Some of the relationship stuff between Helena and Naamah is a little "Chick Lit" boring. And there are two short unnecessary graphic sex scenes to let you know what a passionate woman Naamah really is both with both Gadi and Ronen. But these are minor negatives. Ben-David's depiction of the inner workings and relationships within the Mossad are revealing and fascinating. An Israeli eye view of the clandestine/covert world is a refreshing perspective and this novel deserves a broader audience than it's had so far. I hope Ben-David's next novel shows him developing into the kind of author who can become a literary force in the suspense-thriller genre. Recommended.
December 23, 2013
Would make an incredible movie. Tense, sad, beautiful and depressing.
April 29, 2014
Written in 2002 by a former Mossad agent and just recently translated into English, Duet in Beirut is surprisingly satisfying. The story starts with Israeli team leader Gadi travelling to Beirut in order to extract one of his long-time operatives who has gone rogue in order to complete an assassination the rogue agent initially bungled quite publicly the year before.
It's a fast paced, intense read, but also surprisingly human--no James Bond super spies here. Among the many things the book explores is the emotional fallout to the individual, his family and his comrades, from living one's life in such an intensely clandestine fashion, the hot house atmosphere within these closed, high-pressure teams, and the consequences to everyone involved of the public revelation at the core of the book which the organization, most particularly its higher ups, had failed to keep under wraps. Yet this isn't a 'spill-the-beans' on the spy organization screed. Rather, it's a well-considered, rather intimate exploration of the type of bond that can grow between individuals who do under-the-radar, not always clean but justifiably important work for their country.
It's a fast paced, intense read, but also surprisingly human--no James Bond super spies here. Among the many things the book explores is the emotional fallout to the individual, his family and his comrades, from living one's life in such an intensely clandestine fashion, the hot house atmosphere within these closed, high-pressure teams, and the consequences to everyone involved of the public revelation at the core of the book which the organization, most particularly its higher ups, had failed to keep under wraps. Yet this isn't a 'spill-the-beans' on the spy organization screed. Rather, it's a well-considered, rather intimate exploration of the type of bond that can grow between individuals who do under-the-radar, not always clean but justifiably important work for their country.
November 24, 2013
One can't help but think that the fictional Mossad portrayed in Ben-David's novel must closely resemble the real-life organization, where the author once worked.
Duet in Beirut gives us a fascinating look into a "dark, deceptive, treacherous world in which you never really know what is good and what is evil, in which the permissible is forbidden and the forbidden permitted."
Duet in Beirut gives us a fascinating look into a "dark, deceptive, treacherous world in which you never really know what is good and what is evil, in which the permissible is forbidden and the forbidden permitted."
February 21, 2017
Fascinating look into the Mossad by an ex-Mossad operative. While the story and plot are fiction, it is not hard to imagine this type of action taking place. I will be seeking out Ben-David's other work.
September 15, 2017
When Ronen, an expelled Mossad agent, vanishes after a failed assassination attempt against a Hezbollah operative responsible for suicide bombings in Israel, Gadi, his former commander, must find Ronen before he harms both himself and his country. (Description from library catalog.)
Originally published in Hebrew as, Duet b'Berut, Evan Fallenberg was the translator.
Mishka Ben-David was born in 1952 in Israel. He holds a MA in comparative literature from the University of Wisconsin and a PhD from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Ben-David served in the Mossad for twelve years, becoming a high-ranking officer, and he is now a full-time novelist living outside Jerusalem. He is the author of five bestselling spy novels and several other books, including novels, short stories, and a book of philosophy. His spy novels are being adapted for an international TV series. (Biography taken from book jacket.) (Three of his five “bestselling spy novels” have been translated into English.)
I suppose many will compare Mishka Ben-David with the American writer Daniel Silva. After reading this first book of Ben-David, I think the only similarity between the two is that they both write about a Mossad agent. I decided to read this book after reading an article about the author in The Guardian. I will read the second book in the series.
Originally published in Hebrew as, Duet b'Berut, Evan Fallenberg was the translator.
Mishka Ben-David was born in 1952 in Israel. He holds a MA in comparative literature from the University of Wisconsin and a PhD from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Ben-David served in the Mossad for twelve years, becoming a high-ranking officer, and he is now a full-time novelist living outside Jerusalem. He is the author of five bestselling spy novels and several other books, including novels, short stories, and a book of philosophy. His spy novels are being adapted for an international TV series. (Biography taken from book jacket.) (Three of his five “bestselling spy novels” have been translated into English.)
I suppose many will compare Mishka Ben-David with the American writer Daniel Silva. After reading this first book of Ben-David, I think the only similarity between the two is that they both write about a Mossad agent. I decided to read this book after reading an article about the author in The Guardian. I will read the second book in the series.
July 22, 2019
Yıllardır garip bir sürümcemede kaldı bu kitap. Bir dönem Beyrut ile ilgili her kitabı koleksiyon gibi toplarken aldım. Tam sonuna varmışken yarım bıraktım. Bir şekilde hep yarım kaldı. Bu kez elime alıp kararlı bir şekilde okudum ve hiç de pişman etmedi. Akıcı bir kitap. Başarısızlığı ve Mossad'tan atılmanın acısını çok yoğun yaşayan eski ajan Ronen ve onun hayatındaki kilit roldeki meslektaşı Gadi'nin arasında geçen bir hesaplaşma gibi. Bazı kitaplar hayatımda o duyguyu yaşarken sanki sırasını bekler gibi geliyor. Başarısızlık duygusu yaşayıp, yapamadıklarım için başkalarına öfkelendiğim bir zaman diliminde okudum bu kitabı. Ronen, kendininki kadar benim de bakış açimı değiştirdi.
July 4, 2023
When the world’s best spy agencies come to mind, it’s rare that the Mossad isn’t among them. Israel’s Institute for Intelligence and Special Operations, known domestically as “the Institute” (Hebrew: Mossad), has gained a reputation internationally as fearsome and lethally effective. It’s responsible for the country’s intelligence collection, covert operations, and counter-terrorism. But things don’t always go well for the Mossad. And former agent Mishka Ben-David dramatizes one failed Mossad operation in his extraordinary debut novel, Duet in Beirut. It’s based not on a real incident but is nonetheless solidly grounded in the author’s personal experience in the field. And the story is nothing less than jaw-dropping in what it reveals about how the Mossad actually operates.
THE TRUE STORY BEHIND THE NOVEL
According to a review of the novel in the leading Israeli newspaper, Haaretz, Ben-David told British weekly The Observer in 2013 that the Mossad’s ratio of failed missions to successful ones “is about one to 1,000.” (In the novel, he writes that it’s one in several hundred.) “But he had a “special reason to care about a singular event triggering numerous repercussions.” The author had disclosed to a national daily newspaper in Tel Aviv “that he had been part of a five-man Mossad team involved in arguably the agency’s most ignoble failure: the 1997 attempt to assassinate Khaled Meshal, the political head of Hamas.”
In that failed operation, “Mossad agents were caught by the Jordanian authorities in Amman after putting poison in Meshal’s left ear in a street-corner attack, paralyzing him almost immediately. Ben-David said that it was he himself who had to hand over the antidote to save Meshal’s life when the Jordanians threatened to execute the captured spies.” As Haaretz‘s reviewer suggests, that might have made for an even more dramatic novel. But Ben-David’s hands were tied by a confidentiality agreement with the Mossad.
AN ASSASSINATION THAT NEVER HAPPENS
Ben-David’s story revolves around two special operators, Gadi and Ronen. They’re the best of friends—and Ronen is now married to Gadi’s former long-time girlfriend. Gadi, the elder of the two, commands one of the agency’s three special operations squads. Ronen is one of the about thirty men and women in the squad. They are members of a small team sent to Beirut to assassinate the head of Hezbollah‘s foreign terrorist operations. But everything goes sideways in Lebanon when Ronen, the designated assassin, unaccountably fails to shoot his target, who is standing close by.
As the novel opens, the pair—and all their colleagues in the Mossad, all the way to the top—are struggling to adjust to the failure of the operation, which has gone public in a very big and embarrassing way. And that’s when Ronen, who is held responsible for the fiasco, angrily leaves the agency. After brooding for months, he sets out to kill the man in Beirut to redeem himself. And Gadi frantically rushes off to save Ronen from another catastrophe. The problem is, the terrorist has been promoted into the leadership of Hezbollah, and the Israeli government no longer wants him killed. Because his murder would now set off a furious attack on the people of Israel. Catastrophe.
REVELATIONS ABOUT THE MOSSAD
Ben-David refers in passing to “hundreds of staff members” at the Mossad’s headquarters. To “hundreds of missions” each carried out by three operational squads, each of about thirty agents. Missions on five continents to “bolster Israel’s security.” I found these references surprising. I’d thought that tiny Israel, with a population of just nine million, would field a small if famously able intelligence service. But it’s not so, as I discovered with a little digging online.
It turns out that Mossad is the West’s second largest intelligence agency. Its staff numbers 7,000, and it commands a $3 billion annual budget. Only the CIA is larger, with about 22,000 employees and a budget that’s incalculably greater. MI6 employs 3,600. By comparison, the SVR, Russia’s foreign intelligence service boasts 13,000 employees. (However, its military intelligence arm, the GRU, is much larger.) China’s Ministry of State Security, or MSS, appears to have at least 110,000 employees, although an estimated 100,000 of them are deployed within China. (The MSS handles both domestic and foreign intelligence, incorporating the functions of what in the United States is left to the FBI. And it also seems to take on all the functions not only of the CIA but several others among the eighteen American intelligence agencies.)
HOW THE MOSSAD OPERATES
Ben-David, who was an agent of the Mossad and rose to a senior position in the agency, reveals a great deal about its operations in Duet in Beirut. In telling his tale of a failed Mossad operation, he demonstrates the complexity of contemporary intelligence-gathering and special operations. The James Bond image of the courageous lone wolf operative is a myth. And when Ronen defies the agency he left and sets out to prove otherwise, hundreds become involved in an effort to save him.
On the ground in Lebanon, teams of agents in place scope out the intelligence. In Tel Aviv, hundreds more mobilize. Analysts who scour online sources for vital information. Teams of planners, trainers, and senior-level briefers who prepare a squad of a dozen men who will fly to rescue the wayward agent. Plus the crew of a helicopter to deliver them to Lebanon, and sailors on a ship in the Mediterranean to carry them home if they make their escape by sea. Even the head of the Mossad—and the Prime Minister of Israel. James Bond could get lost in this shuffle.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Mishka Ben-David is a twelve-year veteran of the Mossad. According to his speakers bureau, he served the agency in the field and in intelligence and command positions from 1987 to 1999. In 1997, during a failed assassination attempt in Jordan on the leader of Hamas, he handed over to the Jordanians the antidote that saved his target’s life, as ordered by his commanders. Ben-David’s service in the Mossad is reflected in his three bestselling spy novels, of which Duet in Beirut was the first. He was born in Israel in 1952 and holds an MA in comparative literature from the University of Wisconsin and a PhD in Hebrew literature from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. He lives outside Jerusalem.
Ben-David writes in Hebrew. Duet in Beirut was translated from the Hebrew by Evan Fallenberg.
THE TRUE STORY BEHIND THE NOVEL
According to a review of the novel in the leading Israeli newspaper, Haaretz, Ben-David told British weekly The Observer in 2013 that the Mossad’s ratio of failed missions to successful ones “is about one to 1,000.” (In the novel, he writes that it’s one in several hundred.) “But he had a “special reason to care about a singular event triggering numerous repercussions.” The author had disclosed to a national daily newspaper in Tel Aviv “that he had been part of a five-man Mossad team involved in arguably the agency’s most ignoble failure: the 1997 attempt to assassinate Khaled Meshal, the political head of Hamas.”
In that failed operation, “Mossad agents were caught by the Jordanian authorities in Amman after putting poison in Meshal’s left ear in a street-corner attack, paralyzing him almost immediately. Ben-David said that it was he himself who had to hand over the antidote to save Meshal’s life when the Jordanians threatened to execute the captured spies.” As Haaretz‘s reviewer suggests, that might have made for an even more dramatic novel. But Ben-David’s hands were tied by a confidentiality agreement with the Mossad.
AN ASSASSINATION THAT NEVER HAPPENS
Ben-David’s story revolves around two special operators, Gadi and Ronen. They’re the best of friends—and Ronen is now married to Gadi’s former long-time girlfriend. Gadi, the elder of the two, commands one of the agency’s three special operations squads. Ronen is one of the about thirty men and women in the squad. They are members of a small team sent to Beirut to assassinate the head of Hezbollah‘s foreign terrorist operations. But everything goes sideways in Lebanon when Ronen, the designated assassin, unaccountably fails to shoot his target, who is standing close by.
As the novel opens, the pair—and all their colleagues in the Mossad, all the way to the top—are struggling to adjust to the failure of the operation, which has gone public in a very big and embarrassing way. And that’s when Ronen, who is held responsible for the fiasco, angrily leaves the agency. After brooding for months, he sets out to kill the man in Beirut to redeem himself. And Gadi frantically rushes off to save Ronen from another catastrophe. The problem is, the terrorist has been promoted into the leadership of Hezbollah, and the Israeli government no longer wants him killed. Because his murder would now set off a furious attack on the people of Israel. Catastrophe.
REVELATIONS ABOUT THE MOSSAD
Ben-David refers in passing to “hundreds of staff members” at the Mossad’s headquarters. To “hundreds of missions” each carried out by three operational squads, each of about thirty agents. Missions on five continents to “bolster Israel’s security.” I found these references surprising. I’d thought that tiny Israel, with a population of just nine million, would field a small if famously able intelligence service. But it’s not so, as I discovered with a little digging online.
It turns out that Mossad is the West’s second largest intelligence agency. Its staff numbers 7,000, and it commands a $3 billion annual budget. Only the CIA is larger, with about 22,000 employees and a budget that’s incalculably greater. MI6 employs 3,600. By comparison, the SVR, Russia’s foreign intelligence service boasts 13,000 employees. (However, its military intelligence arm, the GRU, is much larger.) China’s Ministry of State Security, or MSS, appears to have at least 110,000 employees, although an estimated 100,000 of them are deployed within China. (The MSS handles both domestic and foreign intelligence, incorporating the functions of what in the United States is left to the FBI. And it also seems to take on all the functions not only of the CIA but several others among the eighteen American intelligence agencies.)
HOW THE MOSSAD OPERATES
Ben-David, who was an agent of the Mossad and rose to a senior position in the agency, reveals a great deal about its operations in Duet in Beirut. In telling his tale of a failed Mossad operation, he demonstrates the complexity of contemporary intelligence-gathering and special operations. The James Bond image of the courageous lone wolf operative is a myth. And when Ronen defies the agency he left and sets out to prove otherwise, hundreds become involved in an effort to save him.
On the ground in Lebanon, teams of agents in place scope out the intelligence. In Tel Aviv, hundreds more mobilize. Analysts who scour online sources for vital information. Teams of planners, trainers, and senior-level briefers who prepare a squad of a dozen men who will fly to rescue the wayward agent. Plus the crew of a helicopter to deliver them to Lebanon, and sailors on a ship in the Mediterranean to carry them home if they make their escape by sea. Even the head of the Mossad—and the Prime Minister of Israel. James Bond could get lost in this shuffle.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Mishka Ben-David is a twelve-year veteran of the Mossad. According to his speakers bureau, he served the agency in the field and in intelligence and command positions from 1987 to 1999. In 1997, during a failed assassination attempt in Jordan on the leader of Hamas, he handed over to the Jordanians the antidote that saved his target’s life, as ordered by his commanders. Ben-David’s service in the Mossad is reflected in his three bestselling spy novels, of which Duet in Beirut was the first. He was born in Israel in 1952 and holds an MA in comparative literature from the University of Wisconsin and a PhD in Hebrew literature from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. He lives outside Jerusalem.
Ben-David writes in Hebrew. Duet in Beirut was translated from the Hebrew by Evan Fallenberg.
May 20, 2015
The author of the book is a very interesting person. Miska Ben-David was for many years a Mossad operative, and one of the senior members, if not a team leader, of the ill-fated Mossad operation, to assassinate Khaled Meshaal in the Jordanian capital, Amman. Because of that, reading the book was not a complete waste of time. Some of the pages dealing with inner politics of the Mossad, preparation and execution of operations on the foreign soil were very interesting to read.
September 18, 2016
Totally enjoyed. Kept my attention all the way through. Mishka Ben-David is my first spy thriller. The author is an ex-Mossad agent (Israeli Intelligence Agency). For me, the book was an interesting look inside the mindset of such agencies while being a captivating spy story.
October 26, 2015
Very interesting to have a new location for a spy book. The Mossad details made this a good read with new a new setting for the political and ethical dilemmas in the story,
July 9, 2018
I love the discipline of Mossad agents. The lonely lifestyles that accompany state sanctioned assassinations are only for the strong. In this novel, a botched killing of a terrorist leader leads to a story of a sulking agent who goes to great lengths to make up for his failed mission. Ronen is a husband and father who has lost his way. Heading back to Lebanon was a mistake with deadly implications. Planing a bomb and then having his friend retrieve it twice from the terrorist leader's Mercedes Benz was totally unbelievable though. I loved the author's writing style and could pick up another one of his books.
July 26, 2017
Based in Israel & Lebanon it tells the story of 2 men who try save the life of a Hezbollah leader after a mission to assassinate him goes wrong.
The work family isn't as supportive as one would expect but when it comes to saving your back they are there
Some good scenes are filled with action & other times you just wish things would move
along.
Overall a good read & I will read another of his books soon.
The work family isn't as supportive as one would expect but when it comes to saving your back they are there
Some good scenes are filled with action & other times you just wish things would move
along.
Overall a good read & I will read another of his books soon.
May 26, 2025
I think this book could've been much more. It is certainly intriguing with a certainish rogue Ronen and his relations with Gadi, but more could've been made more of it.
The plot to avenge Ronen's reputation to remove a top hezbollah chief which was subsequently taken over by morals and ethic codes of the Mossad is almost propagandaist in nature.
We don't know what Mossad does with Ronen in the end but he reacquaints his once lost relations with Gadi.
The plot to avenge Ronen's reputation to remove a top hezbollah chief which was subsequently taken over by morals and ethic codes of the Mossad is almost propagandaist in nature.
We don't know what Mossad does with Ronen in the end but he reacquaints his once lost relations with Gadi.
January 9, 2018
I tried to get into this for one of my international titles; nope. The early chapters make constant reference to events which preceded the book's opening. Again, double-checked series status multiple times before packing it in. I also found the writing (or, again, possibly the translation) too reliant on cliches and tropes.
July 19, 2020
This was rather disappointing.
I assume the detailed operations procedures are true to life; perhaps, this inevitably resulted in the action/drama being rather undramatic on the page.
What really did it no favours were the shallow, poorly drawn wives and the excessive ethical moralising.
I assume the detailed operations procedures are true to life; perhaps, this inevitably resulted in the action/drama being rather undramatic on the page.
What really did it no favours were the shallow, poorly drawn wives and the excessive ethical moralising.
May 21, 2025
The 2 major protagonists are not super spies - they make mistakes, get filthy, go against their ethics. One step further - it’s almost like one of those best pals in a dilemma kind of story. Thoroughly enjoyed it. And the translation felt effortless.
January 31, 2021
Very poor translation.
December 30, 2024
Didn’t quite grab me… maybe suspense was lost in translation?
June 20, 2025
Immersive yet occasionally sacrifices good storytelling on the altar of realism. While originally intended as a screenplay (it shows), the assumed competence and inherent accuracy is refreshing in a genre chock-full of cliche and good fortune. Worth the read.
July 2, 2016
I picked up this book thinking it to be an action-thriller, which it is. I didn't expect to learn how much the Mossad is controlled by the bureaucracy and micro management. Now this isn't necessarily a bad thing (the author is a former member of the Mossad, so there more than a bit of truth to all this) it just shows that sometimes people who make mistakes might actually have a reason, especially when your out in the field.
Such is Ronen's failed mission to assassinate a Hezbollah big wig. Cashiered from the Mossad he plots to return and make good on his original plan. His friend Gadi sends himself on an unauthorized mission to stop Ronen from making a huge mistake that will find both of them pitted against not only each other but the leaders of the Mossad as well.
Heart pounding stuff here as Ronen and Gadi must make amends and attempt to save the day.
Such is Ronen's failed mission to assassinate a Hezbollah big wig. Cashiered from the Mossad he plots to return and make good on his original plan. His friend Gadi sends himself on an unauthorized mission to stop Ronen from making a huge mistake that will find both of them pitted against not only each other but the leaders of the Mossad as well.
Heart pounding stuff here as Ronen and Gadi must make amends and attempt to save the day.
March 9, 2015
I received this book for free through Goodreads First Reads. This book was a thrilling, suspenseful, spy novel. It follows the life of two agents as they go through trials and tribulations faced by them on a daily basis regarding their jobs. It kept me turning the pages to find out what was going to happen next. No love stories here, just straight up thriller that gives you a look at what some spies go through. It makes you realize that just because some choose to protect their country they still face difficult times dealing with what is morally and ethically acceptable. Overall intriguing read.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 10, 2017
Not as good as Spy Who Came in from the Cold yet gives (I hope) an accurate picture of Mossad operations.
December 3, 2013
"Duet in Beirut" by Mishka Ben-David is an intriguing spy thriller about a Mossad agent going into Beirut without an official mission to complete unfinished business. Another agent goes after him to stop him.
The two main characters are well set off against each other, allowing for multiple perspectives and personal feelings towards the agency and its politics. The book has a very authentic feel and is quite enjoyable.
The two main characters are well set off against each other, allowing for multiple perspectives and personal feelings towards the agency and its politics. The book has a very authentic feel and is quite enjoyable.
November 11, 2016
Although parts of this book have good suspense the story didn't really leave me with much. I found the characters to be very shallow, specially the female characters. In terms of Beirut the city I didn't feel like I was there when I was reading. I go to Beirut a lot there was a huge part of the feel of the city and country missing here. There are plenty of more informative and suspenseful novels out there on the same subject that are worth reading before this one.
April 4, 2015
I would not say it any more basic then "Foxglove" did "Would make an incredible movie. Tense, sad, beautiful and depressing." - That says it about as simple as you can say it. - Love it! I won this great book on GoodReads and like I do with most my wins I will be paying it forward by giving my win either to a friend or library to enjoy.
June 26, 2015
Has an air of authenticity in a story of spycraft. Knowing the author was in the Mossad makes it utterly credible. The careful and exhaustive preparation for a mission is both interesting and surprising somehow. It's the opposite of James Bond, which I realize formed my idea of how spies operate.
July 6, 2014
really Exciting! written by a former Mossad agent, gives you the sent of reality which makes it more Exciting to read. I loved the book!
March 22, 2015
beautifully descriptive especially the seaside sunsets, etc
Feelings enfolds that all governments have their devils
Feelings enfolds that all governments have their devils
May 26, 2015
good book
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