A Fish Out of Water Serves Up Cold Plate of Revenge

A Soldier’s Revenge: A Will Cochrane Novel – Matthew Dunn (William Morrow)

Take one chilled plate of revenge add a pinch of fish out of water and the chase is on! That is the best single line I can muster to describe the latest installment in the ongoing Will Cochrane series by former MI6 spy master Matthew Dunn, A Soldier’s Revenge.

Cochrane thinks he turn the page on his career as a spy/killer and is looking forward to the next chapter; adopting a pair of little boys, the sons of a former mate who was brutally murdered and whos Mother was caught in the crossfire of his last mission. As idyllic as that sounds, it all comes to a screeching halt when Cochrane wakes up covered in the blood of a mysterious dead women in his New York hotel room.

Then the chase is on; Cochrane’s skills are put to the test in the strange environments, moving from urban to rural settings in quick order. A pair of New York’s finest detectives are on his tail along with a cadre of local police officers and some mysterious players from Federal law enforcement and the unseen hand of someone from Cochrane’s past hell bent on revenge.

Dunn is a man possessed of a particular set of skills from his hands on experience in the field that he puts to use in driving the action sequences of the story. You’ll find yourself muttering, “I did not see that coming,” as Dunn mixes things up with just the right amount of twists and turns along the way. The Cochrane series gets better with each installment.

A Flash of Magic

The Spy House – A Spycatcher Novel – Matthew Dunn (William Morrow)

A special team of spies, gathered from four different security/spy services from around the globe, are tasked with getting to the answer; did Hamas kill the Israeli diplomat to France and push the Jewish state onto a wartime footing. The team is conducting surveillance from a specially constructed, basement vault that can only be opened from within. When communications break down, the group who designed and built the vault cut their way in and discover all four members of the team are now dead.

Did someone snap, did a gun battle break out and why are fingers pointing in the direction of one of his former cohorts in the CIA; those are the questions that Will Cochrane is tasked with finding answers to in the new Matthew Dunn thriller, The Spy House – A Spycatcher Novel.

 

Dunn, a former MI6 field officer in his own right, brings a level of authenticity to latest installment in the ongoing Spycather series that seems to be missing from other purveyors in in this realm of fiction. While others tend to sound forced when it comes to the action a tools of thrill, Dunn delivers a lean, spare approach reminiscent of the masters of the field.

The locked room mystery is a classic storyline in the world of magic, so it is fitting that Dunn uses a little bit of illusion to tie the storyline together. The Will Cochrane character continues to evolve, at once brutal to the point of ruthlessness and the next a seemingly contradictory, carrying, normal guy which makes him a full-fledged human being.

 

 

A Mid-Summer Night’s Read

Whether you take to the beach, the patio or any comfortable chair, there’s plenty of entertaining mid-summer reading to choose from.

Silken Prey – John Sanford (Putnam)

John Sanford is back with Silken Prey, the 23^rd installment in the Minnesota-based investigator, Lucas Davenport, Prey series. In a day and age of politicians sending out Weiner Tweets, ending up better known as “Client #9” than as a state’s governor and plenty of dirty political tricks, is so had to believe that an ambitious political newcomer would stoop to planting child porn on an opponent’s campaign computer and then spiral to murder to not only get ahead, but to maintain that advantage?

The simple answer is yes! That’s the set up and Sandford delivers just the right mix of familiar characters and jackknife twists and turns to keep you on your toes. It’s a nice twist to have Sanford’s other familiar lead Kidd make an appearance to lend expertise with computers. Sanford delivers a winner that’s as comfortable as a pair of old, broken in sandals.

Slingshot: A Spycatcher Novel – Matthew Dunn (William Morrow)

Former MI 6 field officer Matthew Dunn checks in with the third novel in his Spycatcher series; Slingshot featuring master spy Will Cochrane. Dunn’s style has a decidedly British air ala John le Carre and like the spy thriller master, Dunn infuses Cochrane with a realistic, been there, done that edge.

 

Slingshot serves up the requisite amounts of far flung locales, murky damp settings and fast paced action to keep the story moving. You may find yourself having to suspend your firm grip on reality on occasion, but isn’t that what a summer read is all about?

The Caretaker – A X Ahmad (Macmillan Audiobooks – Unabridged Edition)

A native of India, A X Ahmad stated his writing career by author literary pieces but transitioned to the thriller realm for his first full length effort The Caretaker. The first in a planned trilogy featuring the adventures disgraced former Indian Army Major, turned illegal alien, Ranjit Singh.

 

Singh and his family overstay their tourist visas as he works menial landscaping jobs for the rich and powerful on Martha’s Vineyard. It’s not surprising that the MIT educated Ahmad would choose the Vineyard and Boston as the setting for the story. Singh ends up taking the task of winter caretaker for a Massacusetts U.S. Senator who has ambitions for higher office.

Somewhat predictably, the Senator turns out to be of less than the highest character and is willing to do anything to get ahead (gee sounds oddly familiar) and Singh’s family’s illegal status soon lands him in hot water. The story propels along nicely and the audio book performance by Mumbai-born, British actor Sam Dastor has an authentic feel.

The Warriors – Tom Young (Putnam)

As a confirmed fan of Vince Flynn, Brad Thor, Stephen Coonts and Tom Clancy, I am not certain how Tom young has escaped my reading list up until now. A retired U. S. Air National Guard master sergeant who logged time in Afghanistan, Iraq, the Far East and over the Horn of Africa.  His fourth fiction book, The Warriors harkens back to Young’s time serving in Bosnia and Kosovo.

 

Young captures flying sequences with accuracy and realism. The realism extends to all of the military action, where the heroes aren’t possessed with super-human powers and not every sequence resolves itself with the cleanest of outcomes. Ethnic cleansing isn’t pretty and Young delivers a gritty dose of reality.