Homeland: Saul’s Game audiobook

There are lots of ways to tell a good story. This is the second novel in a prequel series that’s a tie-in to the Showtime Homeland series on cable. In this case, if you discover the television series and like it, you’ll love the book. And also, if you first discover the books and like them, you’ll love the television series.These stories are about fictional characters in the CIA fighting the war on terror, defending the homeland. If you’re looking for passion, you’re definitely going to find it in this book. These characters are so passionate in their beliefs and in their actions. The action is constant, and the situations are desperate. Throughout, you’re never sure exactly who you can trust as the plot takes turns around each corner.The heroine is Carrie Mathison, a CIA operative. Her boss is Saul. The characters are incredibly real, with amazing strengths and chilling flaws. It’s fascinating to see how the strategies and undercover plays unfold. You have to wonder how closely fiction might reflect reality. The life depicted of an operative in the Middle East and Iran is heart pounding. The books give you a more in depth background and feel for the thoughts, emotions and backgrounds of all the characters than the television series platform allows. Books also give a more in depth understanding of the issues facing the Middle East today. For those fans of Nick Brody, the Marine POW caught up in the CIA intrigue, he and his story are included in this novel.The author, Andrew Kaplan is a former journalist, war correspondent. He served in both the US Army and also in the Israeli Army during the Six Day War. He’s worked in military intelligence and has been a consultant with groups that advise governments. He’s the author of several spy thrillers, including the Scorpion series, as well as this novel, and the first in this series – Carrie’s Run. Saul’s Game is the winner of the 2015 Scribe Award for the best original media tie-in novel of the year. The Scribe Awards are selected each year by the International Association of Media Tie-In Writers to honor excellence in licensed works that tie in with other media such as television, movies, gaming, or comic books.Just like the incredible Showtime series, which is available on DVD, Andrew Kaplan’s books leave you wanting more.Thereby hangs a tale . . . .

HOMELAND: SAUL’S GAME by Andrew KaplanThere is probably more truth in this book than fiction. The world of spies is always wrapped in deception. Churchill said that in war the truth must be accompanied by a bodyguard of lies. In the war against al Qaeda, deception and lies are a way of life for Saul Berenson. He is the master composer, creating a masterful story to catch the enemy off guard while spotlighting the double agent who feeds the enemy with the CIA’s plans. Deeply embedded in his deception, Carrie Mathison becomes the spearhead of Saul’s super-covert mission to stop a plot to start a bloody war.Top notch suspense … wonderful characters … a mind-twisting plot … Andrew Kaplan rocks!

I really enjoyed this book, fast paced and well written. I have never seen the show so I did not know what to expect. I enjoyed this book so much and highly recommend it to others, that I ordered the first book. This book felt like it was torn from the front pages of the newspaper.Carrie a CIA spy being used by Saul her boss to find the mole who has been leaking information to the Al-Qaeda terrorists. Well done, I hope you will write more of the Homeland series

Great book! Though it was hard for me at the beginning to understand what operation Iron Thunder is exactly.This book completes especially the backstory of Saul, Brody and Dar Adal which makes the full show (book + TV) more enjoyable. However it might be trying too hard to sound mysterious sometimes.There is a bit (even critical) difference in the character of Saul. In the show, he was willing to save Brody from Iran and Anna, both at the expense of the operation to some extent which he considered acceptable of course. To him it was people > mission. But in the book, after the mission Iron Thunder, he said to Carrie that he was sorry but would do it again. Think about the damage that's been done to her! As for the whole sending her back to Langley for a desk job thing before he sent her back to Damascus, it was more like a disclaimer that makes his conscious feel better. This time it was more like mission > people. Not to mention this very person is his protégé. But maybe that's the reason?

** spoiler alert ** As a huge of fan of Homeland specially the first season as well as the second and the latest one. This book did a great job of filling in what happened from the first book and also what went on before the events of when they first found Brody and it was great to hear more about Saul who is one of my favourite characters apart from Carrie, about his backstory from when he was a child to when he joined the CIA and how he met his wife and Dar and his relationship with him and his one with Carrie, the shocking revelation at the end actually angered me.

Not bad and fast paced, but you really have to know the characters from the t.v. to understand it well. Would hate to have to work like this. Saul is quite a nasty character when you think about it but I suppose you have to be in this game.

Listened to the audiobook. Enjoyed how it blended with the tv show. A good thrilling read. Made you think. Easy to follow

This second prequel of Homeland is even better than Carrie's Run, but to follow it some background knowledge may be helpful on the situation in the Middle East in 2009.Drugi, po Carrie's Run (Ścieżki Carrie) prequel serialu telewizyjnego Homeland.Jest rok 2009, a więc za rok rozpocznie się Arabska Wiosna, za dwa lata wybuchnie wojna domowa w Syrii. Carrie Mathison, agentka CIA, od swojego syryjskiego kontaktu, oficera gwardii prezydenckiej o pseudonimie Cadillac, otrzymuje wiadomość, że w miejscowości Otaibah ukrywa się od dawna poszukiwany dowódca IPLA, irackiego oddziału Al Kaidy, Abu Nazir. Szefowi Carrie, Saulowi Berensonowi udaje się nakłonić najwyższe władze do przeprowadzenia ataku na kryjówkę terrorysty. Jednak po wylądowaniu helikopterów członkowie grupy specjalnej natrafiają jedynie na ślady pospiesznej ewakuacji z obozu. Jest oczywiste, że Abu Nazir został ostrzeżony. Musiał zatem nastąpić przeciek, czyli wśród niewielkiej grupy osób, które znały plany operacji, zapewne funkcjonuje kret. Ambicją Carrie jest jego wykrycie. A o jaką stawkę gra Saul przygotowując nową operację, o kryptonimie Iron Thunder, której głównym wykonawcą ma być Carrie?Powieść Kaplana, oprócz wydarzeń rozgrywających się w kwietniu i maju 2009, zawiera przerywniki relacjonujące rozmowy, które odbyły się parę miesięcy później w Białym Domu w gronie prezydenta, wiceprezydenta oraz senatora kierującego komisją ds. służb; wspomnienia Saula z domu ortodoksyjnych Żydów i późniejsze, kłopotów w pogodzeniu życia małżeńskiego ze służbą; a ponadto przeżycia pozostającego od sześciu lat w niewoli Abu Nazira innego bohatera Homeland, Nicholasa Brody, i również jego wspomnienia.Sądzę, że miłośnikom Homeland (dziś, 15 stycznia, w USA startuje szósty już sezon serialu) drugiego prequela, autorstwa Kaplana, nie trzeba zachwalać. Na mnie Gra Saula wywarła chyba większe wrażenie niż Ścieżki Carrie. Ale wypada zaznaczyć, że jej akcja jest zagmatwana i wymaga pewnej wiedzy o sytuacji na Bliskim Wschodzie, o tym, co działo się tam wówczas, w przededniu wycofywania wojsk amerykańskich z Iraku, a także o tym, co nastąpiło później, w Iraku, Syrii, Iranie.... Autor, kiedyś korespondent wojenny, w ciekawy sposób potrafił połączyć swój ogląd rzeczywistości z wydarzeniami fikcyjnymi.Na końcu książki znajduje się lista postaci, w takiej kolejności, w jakiej pojawiają się one w powieści, oraz alfabetyczny glosariusz organizacji i instytucji występujących w książce, a wśród nich ... Agencja Wywiadu.

Homeland Saul' s Game, by Andrew Kaplan, is my one hundred and forty-third book that I have received and read from Goodreads. This is my first book that I have read from this author. I found this book to be a fantastic spy thriller.This is a story about Carrie Mathison, she is working undercover in Damascus 2009. She is leading an undercover operation against al Qaeda terrorist Abu Nazir. The special operations meant to capture him fails, she and her boss Saul Berenson become convinced that there is a leak within the CIA. Before long everything that should be certain shifts into lies, Saul uses Carrie as a weapon to flush out who the mole is. This book does a great job of showing how hard it is to work undercover in the Islamic world. By reading this book I found that this is a series, and that they have a television version. I will be getting book 1 of this series, and any other book published by this author.I really enjoyed having the list of characters in the back of the book, it helped me to keep track of all the characters with foreign names. I would recommend this book to anybody who enjoys reading spy novels.

SAUL’S GAME: A HOMELAND NOVEL is the second in a series of prequel novels for the Showtime television series. In this outing Andrew Kaplan has CIA’s Carrie Mathison on the hunt for the terrorist Abu Nazir. When a special operation meant to capture him fails, she and her boss Saul Berenson become convinced there is a leak within the CIA. Before long everything that should be certain shifts into lies and Saul uses Carrie as a weapon to dissolve the fog and try to glimpse the truth. Working undercover in the Islamic world is especially difficult for Carrie but she must pull it off or die in the attempt. There is an abundance of background revealed about Carrie and Brody and other characters from the television program. For true believers in that program there is plenty of details about both of them and several other characters. This is a fast paced, action filled thriller. Even those who have never seen the program or heard of the characters can enjoy this undercover CIA novel. I won this book through Goodreads.

This is the second Kaplan novel which ties in with the hugely successful series Homeland. The book surrounds Carrie on a mission to uncover a mole and touches upon Brody's incarceration under Abu Nazir and his subsequent feelings towards Nazir's son and the American administration. This for me was the better of the novels and was really tense at times. It really does lead up to the Tv series so well and is a must for any homeland fan.

Yet another winner in the Homeland series from Andrew Kaplan.The only thing I can add that has not through other reviews is that I have not yet seen the TV series, so this and Carrie's Run are great ways to step into this saga.

I have never watched Homeland so I can truthful say I did not know what to expect out of this book. I found it to be a fast paced easy read. With what is going on in todays world it is easy to picture this scenario. It also made me think that maybe I would understand some of the characters better if I watched the series. But all in all a good read. I received this from LibraryThing early Review for an honest review.

Disclaimer: I received an advance copy of this book via the FirstReads program.This is a prequel to the Homeland television series. While it isn't necessary to be familiar with the series to enjoy the novel, it does add some depth to the characters of Carrie, Saul, and even Brody. Recommended for fans of the espionage genre.

Excellent Homeland prequel with Carrie and Saul trying to track down the infamous Abu Nazir. He, of course, has captured a certain US marine called Brodie ...The book is fast paced and the characters are true to the tv show. Very readable, full of action and suspense. A real thriller with intrigue and middle east politics aplenty.

Now that I've finished the books I can continue watching the series. I'm sure the show is excellent but I can't help but wish the series had several more books to read. This second one was hard to put down and at the same time hard to finish because I knew this was it.