Face Off by David Hagberg

Hagberg’s alpha male Kirk McGarvey is vacationing with his main squeeze 'Pete' Boylan in Paris. The French don’t like him all that much cuz every time he visits, bodies just seem to pile up. They are lunching at the Jules Verne Restaurant on the first level of the Eiffel Tower.

Situational awareness is the mantra of a field agent, even when planning a proposal. An unlikely couple seated near a stairway. Far too young delivery boys. A casual challenge. Hugely fat suicide vests. Delivery bins filled to the brim with C-4. McGarvey and Boylan shift from romantics to spoilers. The bombers are taken out, but the unlikely couple walk away.

Walk away with Pete Boylan, that is. This sets McGarvey off and will not rest until he frees Pete, whom he was set to propose to, and make the culprits behind this most audacious act pay. Who could even think that bringing down the Eiffel Tower would work in anyone's favor?

McGarvey tracks Pete’s captors to a small chapel where he lays waste to about a half dozen hired thugs. Then follows her wounded body to Istanbul, offering himself as trade bait. All while taking out another bunch of militants. His offer  is accepted. Now his captors offer him to the Russians to buy their favor. Who wouldn’t want the former DCI?

Not Russia. Nothing good can come from keeping or killing him. Putin wants to see him and, of all things, wants McGarvey’s help.

You see, this attack on the Eiffel Tower was planned as a distraction because it looks like the Russians have lost a suitcase nuke. The problem is, no one really knows who is behind the theft or the attack on the Tower, but more and more clues lead to either a couple Americans (with a political motive) or the Saudis (with a geopolitical motive).

Either way, bad guys (and girls) will be going down. Not all by McGarvey’s hand.

I wonder if anyone has tried to add up the body counts in the McGarvey series?

I’ve been out of Kirk McGarvey’s orbit for a while. Think I’ve missed 4-6 books. In the interim, his romance with CIA interrogator ‘Pete’ Boylan has really heated up. He was the DCI of the CIA for a couple years (I knew he got that position, just didn’t know how well he did it, and hated it). He’s had something to do with Julian Assange and Wikileaks. And for goodness sake, he’s got a prosthetic leg from a below the knee amputation. When did all this happen?

In the espionage thriller field, you have McGarvey, Scot Harvath (Brad Thor), Mitch Rapp (Vince Flynn), and a few others. All are worthy bearers of the torch for good ol’ USA. But I’ve found that I missed McGarvey. Will I go back to pick up where I’ve left off? Maybe not all, but I thought the Wikileaks thing sounded intriguing.Great thing about his books is that they are a very fast read. Very fast.

ECD