Peter Sutherland joined the FBI largely to atone for his father, an FBI agent who betrayed his country. On the elder Sutherland's watch, the names of Russian assets in the U.S. were handed over to the Kremlin, and the assets were killed.
Peter has followed every FBI rule to the T, hoping to become a special agent, but the family taint kept Peter on routine surveillance assignments. Then ten months ago, Diane Farr - the president's chief-of-staff - brought Peter to the White House.
In the White House, Peter staffs a 'Night Action' desk in the Situation Room, a twelve-hour shift from 7 P.M to 7 A.M. 'Night Action' is a standard term in the ops centers and watch desks around Washington, D.C. It means a crisis, call, or cable that is so urgent that the principal, be it the CIA director or the defense secretary or the president needs to be woken up.
Peter's job is to sit by the emergency line all night every night, waiting for a call. When the phone rings, Peter is to forward the call to either Chief-of-Staff Diane Farr or FBI Agent James Hawkins - a senior advisor and veteran of the FBI's national security division, who serves as the president's in-house man on counterintelligence and terrorism.
One night at 1:05 A.M. the phone rings. The agitated caller tells Peter her name is Rose Larkin, and intruders broke into the home of her aunt and uncle. Rose says her uncle hustled her out with instructions to call this number and say 'Osprey was right, it's happening in six days, and we have the red ledger'.
Peter transfers the call, and it turns out Rose's aunt and uncle were killed by the intruders, and their house was searched. Peter goes to the funeral to pay his respects, and - out of empathy for Rose's distress- gives her his card, so she can call if she needs help.
That very night, Rose phones Peter, explaining she was put in a hotel with security, but the agents are gone, and someone seems to be watching her. Peter hustles over to Rose's hotel, and arrives in time to thwart a man who's trying to abduct her. Peter tussles with the ruffian and has his trachea mashed, but he and Rose escape.
Peter and Rose figure out people are after the red ledger, and apparently think Rose has information about it. Rose doesn't know where the red ledger is, but she DID overhear a conversation between her aunt and uncle that might provide some clues.
So Peter and Rose decide to search for the red ledger themselves, and encounter one dangerous/deadly situation after another, because other people are after the same thing.
Peter and Rose's exploits are interspersed with chapters about a Russian espionage agent called Dmitri, a long-time resident of the U.S. who's so clever, he manages to just blend into the background.
Dmitri is a ruthless killer who's part of a plot to help Russia invade other European countries like they did Ukraine - a plot that's being assisted by a mole VERY HIGH in the U.S. government.
Extensive preparation by the Russians is scheduled to come to fruition in a few days, and the red ledger - which would expose the American collaborator(s) - could ruin everything. Therefore the Russians and their American collaborator(s) will do anything and everything to stop people who could thwart them.
As the story moves along, there's a great deal of plotting and killing and back-stabbing and misunderstanding, etc. - all the elements of a good suspense/espionage thriller.
The novel requires some suspension of disbelief, but it's entertaining and exciting. Recommended to fans of spy thrillers.
The book was made into a Netflix series called 'The Night Agent' (2023 on). The Netflix story isn't exactly the same as the book, but that's usual for screen adaptations.
Rating: 3.5 stars
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