fault line

a novel

by Barry Eisler

In Silicon Valley, the eccentric inventor of a new encryption application is murdered in an apparent drug deal.
 
 In Istanbul, a cynical undercover operator receives a frantic call from his estranged brother, a patent lawyer who believes he is the next victim.
 
 And on the sun-drenched slopes of Sand Hill Road, Silicon Valley's nerve center of money and technology, old family hurts sting anew as two brothers who share nothing but blood and bitterness wage a desperate battle against a faceless enemy.
 
 Alex Treven has sacrificed everything to achieve his sole ambition: making partner in his high-tech law firm. But then the inventor of a technology Alex is banking on is murdered... and the patent examiner who reviewed it dies... and Alex himself narrowly escapes an attack in his own home. Off balance, out of ideas, and running out of time, he knows the one person who can help him is the last person he'd ever ask: his brother.
 
 Ben Treven is a Military Liaison Element, an elite undercover soldier paid to "find, fix, and finish" high-value targets in America's Global War on Terror. Disenchanted with what he sees as America's culture of denial and decadence, Ben lives his detached life in the shadows because the black ops world is all he really knows—and because other than Alex, who he hasn't spoken to since their mother died, his family is long gone.
 
 But blood is thicker than water, and when he receives Alex's frantic call, Ben hurries to San Francisco to help him. Only then does Alex reveal that there's another player who knows of the technology: Sarah Hosseini, a young Iranian-American lawyer who Alex has long secretly desired... and who Ben immediately distrusts. As these three radically different people struggle to identify the forces attempting to silence them, Ben and Alex are forced to examine the events that drove them apart—even as Sarah's presence, and her own secret wants, deepens the fault line between them.
 
 A full-throttle thriller that is both emotionally and politically charged, Fault Line centers on a conspiracy that has spun out of the shadows and into the streets of America, a conspiracy that can be stopped only by three people—three people with different worldviews, different grievances, different motives. To survive the forces arrayed against them, they'll first have to survive each other.

 

Reviews

"Eisler is one of the most talented and literary writers in the thriller genre."
 

- Chicago Sun Times

 

"(Starred Review) Death by hit men isn't what Silicon Valley attorney Alex Treven had in mind when he agreed to sponsor a young inventor's piece of network-security software. But when the inventor and the patent office handler die in quick succession, Alex has enough survival sense to call his estranged big brother, Ben, a special-ops agent. Ben reluctantly comes to Alex's aid and finds himself entangled in something more sinister than a lucrative new invention would suggest. Beautiful, tech-savvy law associate Sarah Hosseini inadvertently gets caught up in the deadly situation and adds a touch of romance to this cyberthriller. The brothers have suffered greatly since tragedy destroyed their suburban family when they were teens; now they must overcome long-simmering resentments and band together, using their talents to outwit their unknown hunters. Intricate plotting and tech details make this thriller zip by. Eisler, who has training in covert operations and is well known for his John Rain series (e.g., Requiem for an Assassin), presents a winning first stand-alone work. Recommended for all popular collections."
  

 —Library Journal

 

"Eisler fans looking for the return of John Rain won't find him here, but they won't be disappointed. Silicon Valley patent lawyer Alex Treven is counting on a big payday when he closes a potential multimilliondollar deal with the inventor of an encryption program, but his prospects change quickly when the inventor is murdered and Alex is attacked in his home. To uncover the truth of the murder and survive himself, Alex will need to call in the services of a man he never wanted to see again: his estranged brother, Ben, who works for a secret anti-terrorist military organization but agrees to fly from Istanbul to San Francisco to help—and immediately becomes a target. Also involved is another lawyer, an Iranian American woman who also knows about the encryption program and may or not be trustworthy. Rich characterizations and family dynamics blend seamlessly with gripping action scenes. Eisler has himself another winner."
   

—Jeff Ayers, Booklist
 

About the Author

barry eisler After graduating from Cornell Law School, Barry Eisler spent three years in a covert position with the CIA's Directorate of Operations, then worked as a technology lawyer and startup executive in Silicon Valley and Japan, earning his black belt at the Kodokan International Judo Center. Eisler's thrillers have won the Barry Award and the Gumshoe Award for Best Thriller of the Year, have been included in numerous "Best Of" lists, and have been translated into nearly twenty languages. The first book in Eisler's assassin John Rain series, Rain Fall, has been made into a movie starring Gary Oldman that was released by Sony Pictures in April 2009.

 

Visit Barry's website