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WORK TITLE: Three Envelopes
WORK NOTES: trans by Steven Cohen
PSEUDONYM(S):
BIRTHDATE: 1968
WEBSITE: http://nirhezroni.com/
CITY: Tel Aviv
STATE:
COUNTRY: Israel
NATIONALITY:
RESEARCHER NOTES:
PERSONAL
Born 1968 in Jerusalem, Israel.
EDUCATION:Studied economics and business management.
ADDRESS
CAREER
Writer and high technology worker.
MIILITARY:Several years of military service, intelligence, Israel.
WRITINGS
SIDELIGHTS
Nir Hezroni is an Israeli writer. He was born in Jerusalem in 1968. Hezroni studied physics in high school and served for the intelligence branch of the Israeli military for several years following graduation. After his service in the military, he returned to school to study economics and business management.
He lives near Tel Aviv with his family and works in the high technology industry.
Hezroni’s debut thriller tells the story of a made-up Israeli intelligence agency referred to as the Organization. The story opens with Avner Moyal, a supervising agent for the Organization, receiving an envelope with a notebook inside. The notebook is the personal journal of Agent 10483, one of the Organization’s agents who died ten years ago.
Notoriously unstable, Agent 10483 caused grave chaos for the Organization. Moyal worries that the notebook is a sign that Agent 10483 may still be alive. Further, Moyal suspects the deranged former agent may be murdering Organization agents as a means to seek revenge for past events.
While still in duty, Agent 10483 would carry out his orders in horrifically violent ways, leading his superiors to believe he was a diagnosable psychopath. As the Organization tried to control Agent 10483, he eventually turned on the agency, attacking superiors. Moyal learns that Agent 10483 was followed by a mysterious woman as he performed his duties, and mind control is considered as a possible explanation for the Agent’s behavior.
While the majority of the book is written in the third person, the narration switches to first person when the contents of Agent 10483’s notebook are revealed. The reader learns about his upbringing and his views about the world through his own words, written in the journal. The reader learns about Agent 10483’s anxieties and paranoid nature. He writes about how, as a child, he would wait for his parents to fall asleep and then sneak into the kitchen to measure all of the liquids in the refrigerator to see if someone was adding poison.
The story jumps between the 1990s and present day, with flashbacks detailed by the narrator as well as by Agent 10483 through excerpts from his notebook. As Moyal reads the notebook, he learns about the deeply hidden secrets of the Organization, and tries to search for clues to where Agent 10483 may be today and what his next actions will be. A contributor to Publishers Weekly wrote: “Hezroni maintains a high level of suspense as he expertly toggles between past and present en route to the heart-stopping conclusion.”
BIOCRIT
PERIODICALS
Publishers Weekly, February 13, 2017, review of Three Envelopes, p. 48.
Xpress Reviews, March 24, 2017, Terry Lucas, review of Three Envelopes.
ONLINE
Criminalelement.com, https://www.criminalelement.com (April 16, 2017), Jenny Maloney, review of Three Envelopes.
Shots, http://shotsmag.co.uk (October 1, 2017), Adam Colclough, review of Three Envelopes.*
NIR HEZRONI (1968) was born in Jerusalem. After studying physics in high school and completing several years of military service in intelligence, Hezroni retired to study economics and business management. He then proceeded to build a career in high tech. In 2014 he published his first thriller, Three Envelopes, which was enthusiastically received by critics and readers alike. He lives with his family near Tel Aviv.
Nir Hezroni was born in Jerusalem. After studying physics in high school and completing several years of military service in intelligence, Hezroni retired to study economics and business management. He then proceeded to build a career in high tech. In 2014 he published his first thriller, Three Envelopes, which was enthusiastically received by critics and readers alike. He lives with his family near Tel Aviv.
Nir Hezroni was born in Jerusalem. After studying physics in high school and completing several years of military service in intelligence, Hezroni retired to study economics and business management. He then proceeded to build a career in high tech. In 2014 he published his first thriller, Three Envelopes, which was enthusiastically received by critics and readers alike. He lives with his family near Tel Aviv.
Three Envelopes
264.7 (Feb. 13, 2017): p48.
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2017 PWxyz, LLC
http://www.publishersweekly.com/
* Three Envelopes
Nir Hezroni, trans. from the Hebrew by Steven Cohen. St. Martin's/Dunne, $24.99 (320p) ISBN 978-1-250-09759-0
Hezroni's superior thriller debut will send chills up the spines of even jaded genre fans. Blowback from a complex Israeli intelligence operation plotted by an entity known simply as the Organization has murderous consequences a decade later. Extracts from the notebook of the man who was recruited by the Organization and known as agent 10483 reveal him to have been a paranoid child, who routinely measured the level of liquids in his family's refrigerator to make sure that no poison was added to them while he was asleep. This notebook implicates 10483's former superiors in a mass murder in Canada in 2006; in 2016, one of them, Avner Moyal, receives the notebook from a law firm that held it for 10 years. As Moyal works his way through 10483's recollections, he learns the truth about the agent's activities. Meanwhile, the reader learns that someone currently poses a threat to the Organization's leaders. Hezroni maintains a high level of suspense as he expertly toggles between past and present en route to the heart-stopping conclusion. (Apr.)
Source Citation (MLA 8th Edition)
"Three Envelopes." Publishers Weekly, 13 Feb. 2017, p. 48. General OneFile, go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?p=ITOF&sw=w&u=schlager&v=2.1&id=GALE%7CA482198144&it=r&asid=793f97083989322674e6ed733a61f772. Accessed 1 Oct. 2017.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A482198144
Hezroni, Nir. Three Envelopes
Terry Lucas
(Mar. 24, 2017):
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2017 Library Journals, LLC
http://www.libraryjournal.com/lj/reviews/xpress/884170-289/xpress_reviews-first_look_at_new.html.csp
Hezroni, Nir. Three Envelopes. Thomas Dunne: St. Martin's. Apr. 2017. 320p. tr. from Hebrew by Steven Cohen. ISBN 9781250097590. $25.99; ebk. ISBN 9781250097606. F
[DEBUT] Hezroni's first novel takes the reader into the labyrinthine world of the Israeli intelligence agency known as the Organization. Going back and forth in time from the late 1990s to present day, the story of Agent 10483 unfolds. This agent carries out his mission in ways his superiors could not have anticipated, resulting in horrifying consequences. Interspersed in the narrative are the agent's detailed diaries, which reveal his mind. Is he a natural-born psychopath who somehow fooled the Organization? Traveling from Israel to Switzerland, Argentina, and Canada in 2006, Agent 10483 pursues the Organization's agenda, followed by a mysterious woman who may have the power to control his mind. Ten years later, members of the Organization are in peril as they scramble to find Agent 10483 before he causes further harm to those who directed and controlled him.
Verdict This thriller will delight those who enjoy the twisted world of international espionage. Fans of Jason Matthew's Red Sparrow or those looking for a darker, more technical Daniel Silva read-alike will also appreciate this disturbing tale.--Terry Lucas, Shelter Island P.L., NY
Source Citation (MLA 8th Edition)
Lucas, Terry. "Hezroni, Nir. Three Envelopes." Xpress Reviews, 24 Mar. 2017. General OneFile, go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?p=ITOF&sw=w&u=schlager&v=2.1&id=GALE%7CA491612763&it=r&asid=4df0c63df06b9859060f3af5b98db3ea. Accessed 1 Oct. 2017.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A491612763
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Fresh Meat
Review: Three Envelopes by Nir Hezroni
Jenny Maloney
Three Envelopes by Nir Hezroni
Three Envelopes by Nir Hezroni delves into the twisted mind of a rogue agent in the Israeli intelligence agency and his mysterious plot for revenge.
The secret to Three Envelopes by Nir Hezroni is: do not trust anyone.
When Avner—a supervising agent for a group known only as the Organization—receives an envelope containing a notebook kept by one of his most notorious field agents, Agent 10483, he knows trouble is not far behind. 10483 was highly unstable. It was almost a blessing when he died ten years ago. Now—with the arrival of this notebook—Avner realizes the psychopathic 10483 might be alive and hunting down members of the Organization.
Three Envelopes is a new, exciting novel from Israeli writer Nir Hezroni. With its international settings, multiple viewpoints, and detailed timeline, this story rewards readers who pay attention to details.
In a world where nothing and no one is what they seem, Hezroni has created a series of characters that are fascinating to follow. And none are more interesting than his centerpiece creation: 10483. His is the only point of view given in first person. The notebook begins when 10483 is a boy and continues through his training and eventual betrayal by the Organization. His story serves as the backbone of the novel, and it’s the reader’s first introduction to the world Hezroni creates.
I walk back to my room and pass by Dad and Mom’s room. They’re asleep. Their breathing is peaceful and deep. They don’t breathe quickly like I do.
Back in my room.
I remove a ruler from my pencil case.
I take quiet steps back to the kitchen.
No one hears me.
…
I open the fridge door. The light from inside floods the kitchen. I wait for a minute to make sure I haven’t woken Dad or Mom. If they wake up, I’ll say I was thirsty and got up to get cold water from the fridge.
I take the ruler and measure the level of water in all the bottles in the fridge. In one there’s 20 centimeters and 7 millimeters and in the other there’s exactly 15 centimeters. I don’t use a pencil to mark the level of the water on the bottles because Mom tells Dad that’s not appropriate behavior for a child my age or any child at all actually, and it worries her.
I’ll check the level of water in the morning again. That way I’ll know that no one added poison or some other material to the bottles.
Obviously, first person narration always creates a certain skepticism—how can we believe what this person is telling us? Hezroni embraces that element. But, while 10483 is portrayed as, shall we say, questionable, the motivations of other characters are not above suspicion. Avner and Amiram, the recipients of 10483’s notebook, trained the killer. They gave him assignments. In many ways, they are culpable for his violent actions.
Then there’s Carmit. By day, a bookseller. By night, an operative with certain scientific talents that would strike fear into the heart of any government. Her experiments in behavior modification are terrifying when inflicted on mice … let alone men.
The cage contained four white mice. She removed them from the cage one at a time, injected each one with a small amount of the solution, and then put them back in their cage. The mice appeared indifferent to the treatment and started to nibble away at the food Carmit scattered on the floor of the cage for them.
Then she reached for a switch on the wall. The instant the color of the LED lights changed from blue to red, the mice flew at one another in a mad rage, creating a white mass of fur and gnashing jaws. Carmit quickly switched the lights to green and the mice relented scurried away in fear, each one pressing itself into a corner of the cage, trembling uncontrollably. When she changed the color to yellow, the four mice immediately fell asleep.
Considering the Organization’s questionable methodology, the reader begins to wonder if, perhaps, 10483—for all his obviously dangerous and odd behaviors—has really been manipulated by those he considered mentors. Or perhaps his thought patterns have been modified somehow. Or maybe everyone is telling the truth, and he’s 100% behind every mass murder, bombing, and assassination he’s accused of.
But whatever 10483 is—manipulated victim or violent psycho—the Organization and its agents are in trouble.
Told with an eye for detail in every element (science, timeline, and character development), readers who like to put puzzle pieces together will enjoy Three Envelopes. Nir Hezroni’s tale of high-level espionage and international intrigue is an intricate tangle that’s satisfying to unravel.
Three Envelopes
Written by Nir Hezroni
Review written by Adam Colclough
Adam Colclough lives and works in the West Midlands, he writes regularly for a number of websites, one day he will get round to writing a book for someone else to review.
Point Blank
RRP: £12.99
Released: April 6 2017
PBK
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Agent 10483 was the best agent The Organization had on its books. Until he went rogue, then went off grid. Now he's back, bringing with him the ghost of operations where ends justified means and determined on gaining revenge by his own unique means
Chilling is word that tends to be overused in book reviews, yet nothing else seems to fit Nir Hezroni’s deeply unsettling debut novel. He takes his readers into a brilliant, but disordered mind in a way that is as convincing, as it is shocking.
The cold cynicism of the intelligence industry, where anything goes so long as it gets results and can be plausibly denied later, is described with disturbing accuracy. You don't have to be a sociopath to get ahead in the spying game; but it sure helps.
Three Envelopes is by no means an ordinary espionage thriller, much of what happens is as outlandish as the antics of Bond or Bourne, but it is always underpinned by awareness that the collateral damage incurred involves innocent lives being wrecked beyond repair. As a picture of how far a country is willing to go to guarantee its security in a threatening world it is all too awfully convincing.
This is a book that will absorb and alarm its readers in equal measure. It establishes Nir Hezroni as an important new voice in writing about the murky world of the secret services.