Matthew QuirkRecensioni

While the premise of the story was very good, I felt this was basically a man's book which could have been seriaized in those Men's Magazines they published in the 60's and 70's (and maybe still do). The hero engages in a fight to the death while dealing with a serious injury to himself all the while shepherding two women one of whom is severly compromised with a gun shot wound and a dose of a sedative. It becomes an exercise in suspending disbelief until the end.½

The Night Agent is a suspenseful political thriller with non-stop action. Peter Sutherland is a new agent working in the White House, but his career with the FBI has been slow since his father, a convicted Russian spy, left a cloud of distrust over his son. One night, Peter's loyalty to his country is put to the ultimate test when he receives a distressed call for help over the hotline. What follows is a cat-and-mouse game of deadly betrayal and murder. I was a little disappointed at the end but still enjoyed this book immensely.

I love this book! It reminds me a lot of Philip Kerr's Bernie Gunther. "neck rolls like a pack of hot dogs"

Wow, I am happy I received this copy as and ARC. Inside Threat is a captivating thriller that sends the president and his top aides underground, only to locked inside with them. I am a devoted reader, paticulary of this genre. I must say Inside Threat was well written and moved along at a great pace.

Mike Ford was following his father into a life of crime, when he chose to go straight and instead worked his way through Harvard Law School. Now he's landed the ultimate job with the Davies Group, a powerful political consulting firm run by the charismatic Henry Davies. But he's about to discover that power comes with a price.

Mike Ford soon finds out that there’s serious corruption going on at his new job and he decides to secretly investigate. This gets him into a lot of trouble throughout the rest of the book. His con man tricks and other criminal skills learned in his early life were interesting and came in very handy. He was a likeable character but many of his decisions were detrimental to himself. The story was over the top but there was a lot of action and it was entertaining.½

Mike Ford iba siguiendo los pasos del fracasado de su padre hasta que consiguió darle la vuelta a su vida. Sus esfuerzos tuvieron como recompensa la entrada en la prestigiosa facultad de derecho de Harvard. Una vez acabados sus estudios ha conseguido lo que muy pocos de sus compañeros se atreven siquiera a soñar: un trabajo en el Davies Group, el grupo de influencia más importante de los que operan en Washington. La especialidad de la empresa consiste en manejar los hilos de la política, influenciar a las quinientas personas más poderosas de la ciudad, los hombres y mujeres que la dirigen, aunque a veces resulten desconocidos; que consiguen que las leyes lleguen a aprobarse, aunque pueden o no ser congresistas; que le dan forma a los tratados económicos aunque no sean diplomáticos.
Henry Davies, el jefe de Mike conoce a todo aquel que hay que conocer, y también conoce todos sus secretos. Mike se convierte en su protegido, en el delfín que va a tomar las riendas de esta red de poder, pero no se da cuenta de que está entrando en un nido de víboras corruptas del que no resulta nada fácil salir.
Después de todo ¿cómo vas a salvar tu alma si se la has vendido al diablo?

I'm not sure why I didn't enjoy this more: it moved quickly and there was no gory torture. I assume the plot was coherent, but I started skimming at too early a point to be sure. The ending seemed a little unlikely to me, and I found the hero and heroine likeable, but not sufficiently deeply characterized for me to be fully drawn in.

Dangerous people and those who hunt them down

“Red Warning” is the saga of working in “the real game,” being in “intelligence work,” operating under “nonofficial cover.” The players have individual stories, Individual training, and diverse backgrounds; however, their mission is the same. They are on their own, in “deep cover” with no diplomatic immunity, and no backup. All does not go well, and these people might not actually know what they have gotten themselves into.

This game of international deception is dangerously complex and at the same time exceedingly mundane. The search for sleeper agents, potential targets, and prospective sources is more of a waiting game than a fast-action thriller. Step after step must be slow and precise to lessen the risk; however peril is hiding around every corner. Some dangers have been intricately hidden, concealed for decades, just waiting for an opportunity, a gathering, a chance. Tick-tock, tick-tock; things build.

“Red Warning” is filled with secrets; people who are enigmas and those who search them out. Dangers from without and dangers from within are hidden on every page. The narrative pushes readers right to the edge, just waiting for “IT” to happen, and even when it seems done and over, it is not.

I received a review copy of “Red Warning” from Matthew Quirk and William Morrow. “Red Warning” is now available in print, as an e-book, and on audio from independent bookstores, online booksellers, retail stores, public libraries, and anywhere you get your books.

Be sure to look for the nice shout out to T Jefferson Parker in chapter eight.

#BookReview #RedWarning #MatthewQuirk #DeepCover

Formalistic and frequently improbable.½

Peter and Rose are on the run from traitors in the US government. Peter’s dad was a Russian Agent and Peter is living that down. The ending is open so there may be a sequel. This would be a good beach read

Good but not great domestic/Russian espionage/political thriller novel.½

"The Night Agent" is about Peter Sutherland, an FBI agent tasked with sitting near the Situation Room in the White House and manning a phone. Only people who are in real trouble call that phone, and Peter is simply to verify they're legitimate, then pass them off to his superiors.

The phone rarely rings, but on this one occasion, a young woman calls and is very distraught. Peter's not supposed to converse with the callers, but for this call, he does so, finding out her aunt and uncle have just been killed. This begins a series of events in which Peter ignores the orders of his superiors and bends, then breaks, the rules—something he swore he'd never do. This is because Peter's father, also an FBI agent, died under a cloud of suspicion that he was spying for Russia.

This is a decent book. The protagonists' characterization was good; the antagonists, pretty cookie-cutter. There were a few nice twists and turns. I'd read more of Matthew Quirk's books.½

Good, flowing story that keeps you in there. Not too much sustenance, though, but maybe it means less because I'm not American...

Oooh I really like this thriller! Ex secret service agent, now a security consultant was framed for murder and on the run. The whole book was him escaping a team of professional killers while trying to uncover old dark secrets. It was fast paced with action throughout the book. Twists are great as well but the bad guy wasn't a real surprise. I would be happier with a slightly different ending.
4.5 stars

"Hour of the Assassin" was a fast-paced, political thriller which I found very entertaining. After being framed for a murder he didn't commit, Nick Averose is out to set the story straight and find the true killer. There weren't many twists in the plot but the action and short chapters kept you wanting more. The author also gives an interesting (sad) insight into the corruption, lies and deals that are involved in a presidential campaign, which is timely considering the 2020 US election is only days away.

There is definitely room for a series starring Nick Averose which I would happily pick up and read, if they have the same suspense and excitement as this novel.½

This was a well-written, action-packed tale of former Secret Service agent Nick Averose who now uses his talents to test other people's security teams. He finds himself involved in the death of a former head of the CIA and in an effort to prove his innocence, finds himself involved in much more and much worse. Averose is an extremely likable character, there are some major twists in this tale and it moves quickly. I hope this is a repeat character as I would read more about him and any other books written by this author.

I enjoyed this but really didn't love it. I kind of feel that way about all of it. The characters, plot and writing were good, just not great. I do love a good con man story and this is a good con man story so maybe I'm just being harsh. I see there is another Mike Ford already out. I will likely give that one a go.

The Night Agent from Matthew Quirk is an interesting story, one that at first glance I would have expected to be drawn into. But it never gripped me, and I can't say for sure why.

The plot is not something that is especially new or unusual. That is not as big of a negative as one might think, espionage, political thrillers tend to revolve around a handful of basic plots with variations thrown in to make each distinct. Such is the nature of any genre. That said, even familiar plots can be engrossing because of the characters or some other element. In this case, I think the protagonist was supposed to be that variation and while it worked it didn't work as well as I would have liked.

An aside here for people who make complaints about how some events in a book like this are "unrealistic" or "hard to believe." Seriously? The bad guys almost always have numbers, firepower, and other advantages, yet the underdog protagonist manages to win out. If you like this genre you know many instances will be a bit of a stretch. To make it sound like those things are what makes the book less appealing to you is asinine. You disliked something else and fell lazily back into sophomoric genre criticism rather than think about what you actually didn't like. If a scene here seems unlikely but you buy into Bourne or Reacher situations, maybe your issue isn't the situation but the character simply didn't connect with you. But unrealistic situations? In this genre that is the norm and criticism of it is disingenuous.

Also, if you happen to read a review from the people who always claim every writer they don't like "doesn't know how to write" and "should take a course," well, ignore them. They offer no concrete stylistic criticism, they just think because they didn't like it then the writer, no matter how many decades they have made a living as a writer, can't write. And in these "reviewer's" infinite wisdom they can spot all of these bad writers. This is far below nonsense, it borders on Trumpian overblown self-worth and ignorant projection of one's own obvious shortcomings.

While I would recommend this book, I would probably do so primarily to readers who read enough books that they don't expect each one to be a masterpiece. Fans of the genre will be able to enjoy this even with its weaknesses while casual readers will be able to zip through the book fairly quickly.

Reviewed from a copy made available through Goodreads First Reads.½

The book is taut, and I read it for two days with a tight breath. There is no clever plot here, but the realism and the connection to events taking place in the United States, France, and other sites where campaigns of influence and intervention in democratic processes took place by various elements. The plot develops, and the mystery solved to a very high level.

Peter Sutherland, an idealistic FBI agent, is surprised at his selection to work in the White House Situation Room. He’s a surveillance specialist, an agent who works by the book, an agent determined not to break the rules. He’s seen the repercussions of a choice such as that: when he was a boy, he watched his own father’s downfall as he came under suspicion of selling secrets to the Russians. The aftermath of the accusation was catastrophic for the FBI counterintelligence section chief . . . and Peter never forgot it.

Now, vigilance is his watchword as he monitors a silent emergency phone.

And then it rings.

A young woman named Rose says her murdered aunt and uncle gave her the number and a message: “OSPREY was right. It’s happening . . . .”

Interesting, believable characters people this tense political thriller that keeps ramping up the suspense. Peter and Rose, caught up in the treachery reaching far into the government, aren’t certain who can be trusted. The reader is in the same quandary. It’s a pulse-pounding, suspense-filled, timely narrative that readers will find difficult to set aside before turning the final page.

Recommended.

FBI agent Peter Sutherland has the overnight shift in the White House Situation Room where he waits night after night for any important phone call to come in. Nothing generally happens until one night when everything changes. He takes a call describing the murder of two people that leads to a national conspiracy involving Russia and its attempts to take over the USA and the world. There are twists everywhere as Peter struggles to find the evidence of an international plot where he never is sure who to trust. This is a very timely and entertaining read!

An FBI agent assigned to night phone duty goes a little rogue when he decides to become personally involved in a case rather than passing it up the chain. The tip is that there is a Russian mole in the White House, appropriate considering the current political environment. The book is fast paced and suspenseful, thoroughly enjoyable.

Un vol à très grande échelle

I had high hopes for this book following my reading of "Cold Barrel Zero" early last year.

https://www.amazon.com/review/R1QP2F1P26RU9K/ref=cm_cr_rdp_perm

Unfortunately, instead of being something new, "Dead Man Switch" is interchangeable with loads of other "kill off the spies" stories. Here the bad guys track the good guys to their homes and kill them and their families. Gruesome and not very believable, as the good guys blithely attend their buddies' funerals and then drive straight home, leading the bad guys to them. The attempt to build a strong female character is admirable but she does not carry the weight of the story.

I received a review copy of "Dead Man Switch" by Matthew Quirk (Mulholland) through NetGalley.com.

Pretty good - I liked the way being a lobbyist s like being a con artist.