The Shadow Patrol is the fifth novel by former New York Times reporter Alex Berenson featuring semi-retired spy John Wells, the only American undercover agent to successfully penetrate Al Qaeda.

Wells is called in by his former boss, Vinny Duto, to make a trip to Afghanistan and visit the CIA offices there. Two years previously, a suicide bomber succeeded in a ruse that killed several agents and the station has never fully recovered. Duto also wants Wells to poke around the military base where the CIA works -- information has been leaking to terrorists and he needs to know who's doing it. Drug smuggling, double-dealing and rival mountain tribes will only complicate his mission.

Berenson's prose flows smoothly and lets his story unfold at a walk or a sprint as his plot requires. Wells is a canny pro who questions his own willingness to rely on violence in his job -- has he seen too much to live a normal life? Berenson also gave the spy a twist. During his undercover time, Wells actually converted to Islam and considers himself a Muslim today, which is something that makes some of his former fellow agents question his loyalties.

Patrol is a well-crafted spy novel, but Berenson has started to wear some of Well's character traits a little thin. The agent has found comfort in his religious life, but again we see him with the same doubts caused by his failure to maintain his prayer and study. The situation stays static. The plot he investigates its twisty enough, but the resolution happens sort of offscreen, leaving a feeling of incompleteness.

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