How to Train a Spy by B.W. Leavitt is far more than a spy novel in which espionage missions and the intelligence business are the order of the day. The novel at its core takes a look at the human cost that is merely hiding under the surface of undercover missions - cost that in many cases cannot be seen by the naked eye.
According
to the novel, Brian has a shock to his daily routine that drastically
interrupts and alters his usual routine. He is informed that his military
background has made him qualified to be chosen to go on a classified mission
that was of great significance in the whole world when he is summoned before
federal agents in an unexpected manner and taken to an underground intelligence
facility. The case of Brian highlights the reality that behind each undercover
agent is a man with his fears, attachments and responsibilities- and the
secrecy can more often than not involve a very high cost.
The author
uses the emotional weight to the family of Brian among the most appealing
aspects of the book. He takes a month of his life with his wife, Sue Yong, and
their children before he starts his wide-ranging training, which is supposedly
a temporary military duty. These are tender scenes of anxiety and the silence
of goodbyes. Leavitt uses this moment to emphasize on the extent to which
espionage has touched the lives of not only the spies themselves but also their
loved ones.
The human
cost is further brought to the forefront as Brian goes through intensive
training in intelligence. He is taken to extreme physical, mental and
psychological levels. He is taught to put feelings behind, to identify with nothing,
and to become what he is not, all of which are necessary in the job of an
operative, but all which take away bits of his old self. The authenticity of
these training scenes adds to the emotional impact: Brian needs to become a
person who can survive in the hostile land, and to struggle to preserve the
values and memories that he is.
The risk of
the mission is made worse as Brian goes to a black site in Iran, which is
controlled by the Russians and pretends to be a Russian officer. The fact that
he collaborates with Jasmine, an Iranian spy who masquerades as his wife
requires utter faith between two strangers, faith that is worked out under
threats of being killed. They both sail through a realm of espionage, paranoia,
and survival or extinction. The emotional weight of their secret identities
brings out how undercover jobs compel the operatives to live in an endless
isolation process where they conceal their true identity even to the people
they are close to.
Probably
the most vivid illustration of the human price is in the case of Brian when he
is fleeing. In order to safeguard his identity and accomplish the mission, he
has to permit his handlers to fake his death in a bloody blast. The moments
when he is witnessing his own artificial death, knowing that his loved ones
will assume that he is really dead is one of the most pressurizing and
emotionally distressing moments in the novel. This intense scene demonstrates
the terrible sacrifices the operatives are to suffer-sacrifices which are not
limited by the physical hazard but get deeper to the personal losses.
As Brian
eventually goes back to the United States to be debriefed, the reader is left
to remember that the mission cannot be forgotten even when it comes to its
emotional impact. The mental burden, the trauma that they could not get out of,
and the doubt in the future are left behind. The description of this aftermath
given by Leavitt underscores a fact that has hardly been discussed by spy
fiction, and that is that missions can conclude, but the effects they have
last.
How to Train a Spy is not just an
exciting spy narrative, but a great insight into the human heart in the secret
missions. B.W. Leavitt provides a moving suspenseful novel by bringing out the
emotional price of secrecy that makes it a must-read to those who enjoy
realistic and character-driven thrillers.
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