He was a career field agent for the CIA. Russia was his specialty. Fluent. Familiar with Russian business and politics. Transferred back to the mother ship in Langley. He had an almost live-in girlfriend Vanessa. People wanted his counsel. Life was pretty good.
Then Vanessa gets posted to Australia. But soon comes Claudia.
DC lawyer sort of on loan to the CIA. She and Max hit it off. But in an
exchange of emails on the Company server, Max says some derogatory things about President Walldrum. Max should know that no conversation on a CIA
email server is private or protected. Max’s boss learns about the email and
summarily fires Max. Goodbye CIA. Hello afternoon scotch.Yeah, Max is pissed off. And everyone around him has to endure his attitude.
Into the bar saunters Bowen. A fixer of sorts. People want things done, he finds the right talent to do the job. A client wants the file on the President. The file, dossier if you prefer, was prepared by an outgoing MI6 agent. When a new President is coming in, most countries prepare their own dossier for info on how to deal with a new administration. The Brit’s file is pretty salacious. Lots of Russia connections. Like, photos and hooker diaries of a younger version of the president way back when in a hotel while doing business in Russia. Statements from the Russian underground saying that Walldrum was told by Kremlin reps those pics will stay hidden if Walldrum permits the Russians to launder money through his hotel construction business. Bowen’s client doesn’t just want the file. He wants its contents verified at the source. And the client is willing to pay handsomely - $10 million.
Geller will have to go to London to track down the file (to which Bowen inserts Jill Rucker to work with Geller, who ain’t happy about a partner or minder or babysitter – you choose), then Russia to talk to the sources, then Panama to see how construction laundering works, to DC to set up an exchange of information for cash, to Geneva for the actual exchange. Having once had a career in Europe, Max has friends at most every stop. Along the way, he gets the help he needs and maybe a bad guy or three meet their maker. As the story develops, poor Max becomes a target of the CIA, MI6 and the Kremlin.
The question here isn’t so much whether Max find the dossier. He will. We all know that. The real question is who profits by having possession of the dossier. And that’s the slippery slope we have to navigate. And I’ll have to say, when all is revealed, I didn’t see it coming. The last 25+ pages of the book is almost as surprising as the last 2 minutes of The Usual Suspects.
Scott's other titles are historical thrillers and he has lived all over the world. Also a vet of the 101st Airborne, was on the Army Staff, and is a graduate of the General Staff College and the National Defense University. Write about what you know? I think this guy knows it. An early 2020 release, this book was honored at the best thriller/adventure book of 2020 by AmericaBookFest.com. Fast paced, loaded with twists, double and triple crosses and other similar pastimes. Once you’ve started reading, don’t’ pick it up to read a few pages before nodding off to sleep. Not gonna happen. Those few pages will easily turn into 2+ hours of lost sleep.
East Coast Don
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