A deft cat-and-mouse novel that keeps the action moving and the reader guessing.
An FBI countersurveillance expert continues his mission against a generation of Russian agents secretly working in the U.S.
While software engineer George McDonald sends valuable intel on missile tests to Russia before disappearing, Karl Berg attempts to pull off a deadly collaboration with Israel that he hopes will get him back into the good graces of Russian crime lord Yuri Pichugin, a Putin puppet. Pichugin operative Felix Orlov is meanwhile tracking the movements of FBI agent Devin Gray, whose team is on the trail of a nest of deeply embedded Russian agents in Baltimore and elsewhere. Gray has inherited his mission from his mother, Helen, a deceased CIA agent, and yes, it’s personal. These are the major chess pieces in Konkoly’s elaborate thriller, unfolded at a brisk pace and built on regular twists and questions of allegiance. Chief among them: Why is Berg collaborating with Devin…or is he? Though readers would certainly benefit from having read Deep Sleep (2022), the previous Devin Gray adventure, the author effectively weaves in the backstory as he thrusts the action forward from the get-go. His knowledge of technology and weapons adds authenticity. Drone strikes and the tracking of them figure prominently. The operation begins in Baltimore but takes Devin and his gritty sidekick and old pal, fighter pilot Marnie Young, to Russia and Ukraine. Konkoly’s basic premise—that a network of Russian agents has lived here for decades, thus attracting no suspicion—is frighteningly believable, giving his story extra juice.
A deft cat-and-mouse novel that keeps the action moving and the reader guessing.Pub Date: Oct. 25, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-5420-3662-7
Page Count: 383
Publisher: Thomas & Mercer
Review Posted Online: July 26, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2022
A fun read. Terrorists make great Clancy fodder.
Evildoers plan attacks from America to India, and Jack Ryan Jr. is a prime target.
In Washington state, a man and his family are murdered, and President Jack Ryan learns it is another Poseidon Spear incident. Three retired members of that counterterrorism group have been killed now, and the U.S. government suspects a mole in its midst. Meanwhile, the Umayyad Revolutionary Council believes it has a holy and wholly anti-American mission. Against this backdrop, Jack Ryan Jr., and his fiancée, Lisanne Robertson, visit Delhi, India, to attend the wedding of Srini Rai, the brilliant surgeon who attached Lisanne’s prosthetic left arm. Lisanne had lost her arm in Tom Clancy Shadow of the Dragon (2020). Jack and Lisanne are both operators working for the Campus, a covert group that executes secret presidential directives. A wedding is a happy occasion, and the engaged American couple intend the trip as a vacation. Jack and Lisanne will attend a sangeet, an elaborate pre-wedding party. But it isn’t long before they survive a suicide bomb attack. As with all Clancy novels, there’s plenty of action on a global scale. In simultaneous strikes, terrorists plan to contaminate America’s Western water supply with radioactive waste from Washington’s Hanford nuclear power plant, blow up a spectacular new bridge in Kashmir, and kill the evil Ryan—or Junior, at least. It will be At-Takwir, the end of days. There is an appealing mix of Indian culture, high-speed action, and the rich lode of details that characterizes the whole series. And in the background lingers the question on several characters’ minds: Have Jack and Lisanne set their own wedding date?
A fun read. Terrorists make great Clancy fodder.Pub Date: Sept. 2, 2025
ISBN: 9780593718032
Page Count: 448
Publisher: Putnam
Review Posted Online: Aug. 16, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: tomorrow
Amateurish, with a twist savvy readers will see coming from a mile away.
A woman accused of shooting her husband six times in the face refuses to speak.
"Alicia Berenson was thirty-three years old when she killed her husband. They had been married for seven years. They were both artists—Alicia was a painter, and Gabriel was a well-known fashion photographer." Michaelides' debut is narrated in the voice of psychotherapist Theo Faber, who applies for a job at the institution where Alicia is incarcerated because he's fascinated with her case and believes he will be able to get her to talk. The narration of the increasingly unrealistic events that follow is interwoven with excerpts from Alicia's diary. Ah, yes, the old interwoven diary trick. When you read Alicia's diary you'll conclude the woman could well have been a novelist instead of a painter because it contains page after page of detailed dialogue, scenes, and conversations quite unlike those in any journal you've ever seen. " 'What's the matter?' 'I can't talk about it on the phone, I need to see you.' 'It's just—I'm not sure I can make it up to Cambridge at the minute.' 'I'll come to you. This afternoon. Okay?' Something in Paul's voice made me agree without thinking about it. He sounded desperate. 'Okay. Are you sure you can't tell me about it now?' 'I'll see you later.' Paul hung up." Wouldn't all this appear in a diary as "Paul wouldn't tell me what was wrong"? An even more improbable entry is the one that pins the tail on the killer. While much of the book is clumsy, contrived, and silly, it is while reading passages of the diary that one may actually find oneself laughing out loud.
Amateurish, with a twist savvy readers will see coming from a mile away.Pub Date: Feb. 5, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-250-30169-7
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Celadon Books
Review Posted Online: Nov. 3, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2018
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