Review of "The Silent Man: A John Wells Espionage Thriller" by Alex Berenson

In Alex Berenson's 'John Wells' novels, Wells is a CIA agent whose mission is to stop terrorists.



In this 3rd book in the series, Wells has had too much exposure in Afghanistan, Pakistan, China, Russia, etc. to be 'undercover', and he's living outside Washington DC with his fiancée, fellow CIA agent Jennifer Exley.



Wells is on the 'enemies' list of many rogue countries, and his and Exley's residence is guarded 24/7.



Unfortunately, John and Jennifer are more vulnerable when they're out and about, and an attack when the duo are driving to work leaves Jennifer badly injured, facing a long hospitalization and painful rehab.





Wells learns the strike was ordered by Russian arms dealer Pierre Kowalski.....



.....and John sets out to track down and kill the Russian, probably in the most painful way possible.



Meanwhile, a catastrophic situation is brewing elsewhere. Middle Eastern terrorists have formed a cabal, and mean to destroy both the United States and Russia.



The fanatics manage to steal two nuclear bombs from a Russian armory (a feat that's described step-by-step in the book, in case you want to try it.)





The Middle Eastern zealots don't have the Russian nuclear codes, so they are going to extract the uranium from the purloined bombs and build their own device (this procedure is also described step-by-step).



The fanatics plan to bomb Washington DC during the State of the Union address, which will wipe out the entire U.S. government. If this doesn't work out, the bombers have alternate targets in mind.



To insure the biggest possible explosion, the terrorists need a good quantity of beryllium, which they hope to buy from Pierre Kowalski.



Thus we have all the players in place - John Wells, Pierre Kowalski, and the Middle Eastern zealots.

Of course this is the bare bones of the plot, which is intricate, suspenseful, and more or less realistic. (Terrorists should know detonating an enormous bomb would blow back on the Middle East, AT LEAST with the devastating fallout circling the world. The fanatics in this novel don't seem bothered about this, but it's fiction after all.)





All the major characters in the story - including the Americans, Russians, and Middle Easterners -are well-rounded, with motivations that make sense to themselves. The book is a page turner, and I was on tenterhooks to find out what would happen.

One thing is clear: it would be good to have John Wells around in an emergency.



Well-constructed story, recommended to fans of espionage thrillers.

Rating: 4 stars

Review of "Deadline: A Virgil Flowers Thriller" by John Sandford

 

Virgil Flowers thrillers are spinoffs from John Sandford's 'Prey' series featuring Lucas Davenport - the lead investigator for Minnesota's Bureau of Criminal Apprehension (BCA).



Virgil Flowers is also a detective for the BCA, and Lucas is his boss. In this 8th book in the 'Virgil Flowers' series, the investigator gets involved in three cases, which range from dogs to drugs to murder.



*****

As the novel opens, these are dark days for dog lovers in southeast Minnesota. A ring of dog thieves are kidnapping pooches from their homes and selling them on the black market and to research labs. One of the dognappers is a scoundrel called D. Wayne Sharf, who's adept at snatching canines.



D. Wayne has just stolen Winky Butterfield's two beloved black labs, and Winky is bereft, angry, and vengeful.



Flowers' fishing buddy Johnson Johnson asks Virgil to catch the dog thieves and retrieve the missing canines, or else a group of vigilantes will take the law into their own hands.



Flowers' hunt for the stolen dogs takes him up into the hills of southeast Minnesota.....



.....where Virgil comes across a commercial meth lab housed in a trailer.



While Virgil is combing the Minnesota bluffs for stolen dogs and drug manufacturers, he happens to meet a local boy called Muddy Ruff. Muddy is an observant, rifle-toting twelve-year-old who knows the area well, and the boy is very helpful to Virgil and the drug-busting Feds.



While all this going on, a murder occurs in Trippton, Minnesota. The victim is a journalist called Clancy Connelly, who has unearthed an embezzlement scheme being perpetrated by the Buchanon County School Board.



The school board members - ALL of whom are supposedly upstanding citizens - have been stealing at least one million dollars per year by inflating prices for gas (for school buses) and by perpetrating other larcenous schemes.



When the school board members learn Connelly is about to expose them, they hold a meeting and vote to kill him. Connelly is shot in the back before he can file his report, and Flowers is called in to investigate.



Flowers soon becomes suspicious of the school board, and he takes steps - sometimes involving threats - to unmask the board members as thieves and killers.



The embezzlers become exceedingly nervous, which leads to more homicides, and Virgil himself becomes a target. (Who knew school boards were so ruthless‽‽)



The Virgil Flowers novels mix humor with crime-solving, and "That F****n' Flowers" (Virgil's nickname) is a fierce investigator with a heart of gold.



Even dogs know this, which leads to a great finale for this thriller.



This is a good suspense novel, highly recommended.

Rating: 3.5 stars

Review of "Sudden Death: An Andy Carpenter Mystery" by David Rosenfelt

In this 4th book in the 'Andy Carpenter' series, the Paterson, New Jersey criminal defense lawyer represents a professional football player.

*****

Since Andy Carpenter inherited twenty-two million dollars from his father, he doesn't NEED to work. But Andy hasn't had a case in three months, and is itching to get back in the courtroom.



A possible case comes up when Paterson, New Jersey Homicide Captain Pete Stanton summons Andy to the home of Kenny Schilling - a star running back for the New York Giants.



Kenny is holding off the police with a gun, INSISTING on speaking to Andy. Kenny says he found the bloody corpse of Tony Preston - a wide receiver for the New York Jets - in his bedroom closet, but Kenny contends he didn't kill the man, and has no idea how the body got into his house.



Kenny says he panicked when the cops showed up, and he needs a good lawyer. Andy is skeptical at first, but comes to believe Kenny was framed, and agrees to defend the running back.



Andy's team includes his investigator and girlfriend - former cop Laurie Collins;



law associate Kevin Randall;



Marcus Clark - the toughest guy on the planet, who watches Andy's back and squeezes information out of bad guys when needed;



Sam Willis - an accountant and computer hacker extraordinaire.



Andy's secretary Edna - a crossword puzzle aficionado, who goofs off more than she works;



and Adam Strickland - a Hollywood screenwriter who's helping with this case for a screenplay he's writing.



Laurie discovers that the victim, Tony Preston, was using AND dealing drugs, and Andy decides to work up a SODDI (some other dude did it) defense - the idea being that a drug kingpin called Cesar Quintana had Tony killed. The drug lord doesn't appreciate the attention Andy's stirring up, and sends goons to Andy's house, so it's a good thing Marcus is on the job.



Things get even more complicated when Andy's team learns that young football players across the country have been dying unexpectedly, from sudden heart attacks and road accidents. Can this be related to the murder of Tony Preston?



Andy is well-known for throwing everything plus the kitchen sink into his defense maneuvers, and prosecutor Dylan Campbell - who's no slouch himself - resists and objects with all his might.



Among the highlights of the Andy Carpenter series are Andy's quips, jokes, and sarcastic comments.



For example, when prosecutor Dylan Campbell drags his feet providing discovery, Andy tells the judge: "There is the matter of discovery your honor. We've discovered that the prosecutor does not seem to believe in it. They have not turned over a single document to us." Campbell explains the weekend got in the way of turning over the material, and Andy jibes, "Since I had no evidence to examine your honor, I spent some time over the weekend looking at the rules of discovery, and it quite clearly states that the prosecution must turn over documents as they receive them, even if God forbid, it interferes with their weekend. I might add that they were able to find the time during that same weekend to provide information to the media. Perhaps if I had a press pass I would have a better chance of getting the information the discovery statute requires." Of course, Andy prevails, infuriating Campbell in the process.

Another fun anecdote revolves around Detective Pete Stanton, who's a close friend of Andy's. Pete offers to pass on some information about the case over dinner, and Andy observes: "Since I've inherited my fortune, Pete's goal is to make me poor again. He does this by selecting the most overpriced restaurants he can find and then stuffing himself to the point where he has to be lifted out of his chair with a crane while I pick up the tab.....it would be cheaper to bribe the jury."



As always in this series, there are plenty of courtroom scenes, with Andy demonstrating his knack for cross-examining witnesses and throwing the prosecutor off his game. 😊



In the midst of all this, Andy is dealing with a personal issue. His girlfriend Laurie is thinking of moving back to her hometown in Wisconsin, where she has a good chance of becoming police chief. This puts Andy on the horns of a dilemma. Does he go to Wisconsin with Laurie? Does he convince Laurie to stay in New Jersey? Only time will tell.



The tale has plenty of twists and surprises, and armchair detectives will be challenged to identify the killer. For me, the book has too much chitchat about Andy and Laurie's love life, but this is an entertaining addition to the series, recommended to fans of Andy Carpenter and humorous mysteries.

 Rating: 3 stars