Behind the Trig­ger is a psy­cho­log­i­cal thriller writ­ten by an Israeli nov­el­ist and for­mer intel­li­gence offi­cer under the pseu­do­nym Yariv Imbar.

The ten­sion begins imme­di­ate­ly and builds as the sto­ry devel­ops. Irit, a skilled Mossad agent, wife, and moth­er is fierce­ly ded­i­cat­ed to her job going on overt mis­sions. This time, she is asked to set up a lis­ten­ing device in a hotel room to spy on the con­ver­sa­tions of a senior Syr­i­an secu­ri­ty fig­ure. Mak­ing a split-sec­ond deci­sion that brings her face to face with the tar­get’s wife changes the course of both their lives.

Irit befriends Noor, the wife of the senior Syr­i­an weapons engi­neer who Mossad has been track­ing. Mossad takes advan­tage of the wom­en’s bud­ding friend­ship to recruit Noor to help them track her husband. 

The plot engages the read­er in the lives of Noor and Irit. Noor is caught in an abu­sive mar­riage, strug­gling with shame and the loss of mul­ti­ple preg­nan­cies. She is in need of a friend. Irit is recruit­ed to fill that role to achieve their mis­sion, but finds that she becomes more involved than just as an agent. The rela­tion­ship becomes per­son­al as Irit begins to face her own demons, mem­o­ries of her own past emo­tion­al pain, resent­ments and secrets. As the women become clos­er the dan­ger becomes more real. Noor sets up her hus­band for the Mossad and Irit puts her own life in jeopardy.

One one lev­el this is a pow­er­ful thriller, high­light­ing the work of spe­cial forces, their sur­veil­lance tech­niques, and the risks involved. On anoth­er lev­el, it exam­ines inter­nal fears and the themes of friend­ship and love. What makes a mar­riage work and what are the risks to keep­ing a mar­riage togeth­er? How far will a per­son go to save anoth­er? How long can a per­son bury their own trau­ma or per­son­al his­to­ry before it affects their cur­rent life? These and oth­er ques­tions make for a very sat­is­fy­ing read.