Lion Eyes. A Novel

Of Claire Berlinski's marvelous debut novel, Loose Lips-a perfect blend of satire, romance, and suspense featuring a young female CIA operative-book critic Frank Bascombe observed: "It's more than a little obvious that [protagonist] Selena Keller is Claire Berlinski." Despite her assertions to the contrary, Berlinski isn't above poking fun at that notion in her hilarious and intriguing new novel. In Lion Eyes, a fictional Claire-the author of a novel about love among young CIA trainees-is unsuccessfully dodging a deadly Paris heat wave and her even deadlier ex-boyfriend.
When she receives an e-mail from an Iranian admirer who wonders how to obtain a copy of Loose Lips in his native city of Esfahan, Claire wastes no time in replying. Her correspondence with the mysterious stranger, Arsalan-whose name means "the Lion" in Persian-quickly becomes personal, then intimate .