Allegiance Burned

Allegiance Burned is the second book in a trilogy about Jackson Quick, who could be thought of as a somewhat reluctant assassin, but one who is quite adept in the necessary skills of his trade. The story opens with the murder of a senior scientist in his secret lab which is a mile underground. He’s been studying the use of solar neutrinos, a subatomic particle that has never been harnessed. However, the scientist had apparently made great advances with this technology, but for what purpose? Was it useful to help submarines communicate under water, to detect nuclear weapons in rogue states, or to vaporize the nuclear weapons of one’s enemies? As the story unfolds, Quick is confused by the shifting allegiances and betrayals of the primary characters with whom he is engaged: Sir Spencer, a mysterious figure that seems to be one step ahead of everyone; Bella Francesca, CEO of Nanergetix, the company who had employed the dead scientist; Mack Mahoney, who once was loyal to Bella’s deceased father; and Liho Blogis, the enemy and competitor of Sir Spencer who also wants control of the new technology. As Tom Abrahams captures the confusion of Quick as he sorts through the twists and turns of the plot, so the reader experiences the same disorientation as new information is revealed.

My own standard for assassins is the Alistair MacLean story Where Eagles Dare. That was also a 1969 movie with Clint Eastwood as the main killer. Quick probably did not murder as many men as Eastwood did in that story, but he certainly participates in multiple shootouts where lots of bad guys die. I liked this book significantly more than the first one in the trilogy, and I’m eager to get to the concluding novel, Hidden Allegiance.