Intelligence by Susan Hasler 308 pages

I saw Susan Hasler interviewed on C-Span and was impressed with the fact that she was a 21 year veteran of the CIA.  She wrote this first novel as fiction, but in her interview she implied that so many of the events in the novel are based  on her experiences.  For example, when the intelligence analysts bring forth information based on their work, they are told, "The president doesn't want to hear this."  They go back, bring forth infomation that they have less confidence in, only to be told, "The president doesn't want to hear this."  After several repeated attempts, the information is very suspect but is what the president wants to hear as a pretext for going to war.
In this novel, the main character,, Maddie James, and her colleagues are terrorism experts working in a crumbling intelligence agency.  They are certain another big terrorist attack is coming.  They labor through bureaucratic obstacles and come very close to stopping the attack.  The administration tries to pin the attack on Iran despite a lack of evidence - so Maddie and her team try to investigate.
The novel is plot-driven and not very well written, but I enjoyed learning more about how and where the CIA analysts work and the obstacles they face - including trying "to connect the dots" when the page is almost solid with dots.