THE OPERATIVE By Willard Boyd Gardner

From the back cover:
Consumed with unbearable guilt, Kam Daniels, an ex-Seattle policeman, is unable to forget the horrific accident he is certain he could have prevented. Desperate to escape his anguish, he takes a job halfway across the world and leaves everything behind: his home, his career, and his beautiful, bewildered wife-CIA agent Rhiana Daniels.

When an undercover operative is kidnapped by a fanatical Arab faction in Yemen, Kam's knowledge of the language and culture prove to be invaluable, and he is recruited to help rescue the agent. However, the mission becomes even more complicated when he learns that one of the team members is his estranged wife.
Traveling with a research group sponsored by Brigham Young University, Kam and Rhiana attempt to navigate the obstacles that distance and time have placed between them, even as they confront dangerous militants determined to prevent the agent's rescue by any means necessary.
From the lethal deserts of the Middle East to the battlefield of a troubled soul, best-selling author Willard Boyd Gardner delivers an unforgettable story of action and conspiracy, of heartbreak and betrayal, and of faith and forgiveness.
I have been borrowing a lot of Dad's audio books to listen to while commuting to and from work.
I lstened to this book a couple of weks ago and really got into the advenure and intrigue.
It is a spy story set in Yemen, a country that is in the middle of a civil war between warring tribes. Kam finds himself the target of militants, cut off from the American Embassy and eventually alone, except for a religious scholar from BYU, in the desert.
This story is everything the back cover promises and more.
I recommend  to any one that likes adenture and intrigue with a smattering of romance thrown in.
It is available on http://www.deseretbook.com/, http://www.seagullbook.com/ and http://www.amazon.com/ or inter library loan.
I was not able to find aweb site or blog for the author, but h has written several oher books.

CHAOS by JEFF DOWNS

From the back of the book:
When he opens his door after a long day of teaching, Jason Harrington finds his apartment has been ravaged. Drug paraphernalia litters his bedroom. Then the phone rings. What he hears chills him to the core, and sends him into hiding with little more than fear and a 72-hour kit.
Framed for unspeakable crimes, Jason turns to the only person that may be able to help-an ex-girlfriend he has not seen in years. As the police net around the city tightens, and a foreign assassin draws closer, Jason realizes that the only way he can clear his name and survive is to hunt the hunter.
Author Jeff Downs delivers nonstop action wrapped in spine-tingling suspense in this story of an ordinary man thrown into a maelstrom of misunderstanding-a man whose heroic efforts are fueled by desperation, love, and faith.
This is another book on CD I borrowed from Dad. It was an exciting suspenseful story. I enjoyed listening to  the story on m drives to and from work. Just when I thought I had it figured out who the bad guys were and why they were after a mild mannered school teacher a new twist would develop.
I was also impressd by the sacrifice his ex-girl friend was willing to make to help him out.
I would recommend this book as an audio book, the reader is great and makes the story even more exciting.
Jeff Downs doesn't have a web site, but he has written other books. You should be able to find Choas at Deseret book, Seagull book, Amazon.com , or inter library loan.