β Scribed by Staeger, Will
No coin nor oath required. For personal study only.
After a slow start, Staeger's solid second novel to feature semiretired CIA agent W. Cooper (after 2005's Painkiller) turns into a riveting and timely story revolving around a biological weapons threat. While Cooper explores a botched smuggling job involving stolen Mayan gold artifacts in the Virgin Islands that results in many deaths, Benjamin Achar, a package deliveryβcompany driver, deliberately blows himself up in his garage near Fort Myers, Fla. The explosion releases a deadly virus that kills more than 100 people within two weeks. Enter CIA agent Julie Laramie to investigate the explosion and develop a team to track down other possible sleeper cells. Laramie recruits a reluctant Cooper, her former lover and partner, to assist, even as he continues to look into the killings related to the stolen Mayan artifacts. Superior characterization, in particular the relationship between Laramie and Cooper, which never stops the action, and clear, crisp writing make for a well-above-average thriller. (July)
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This sequel to the author's debut novel, Painkiller (2004), brings back its two protagonists, Cooper (the mostly retired CIA agent living in the British Virgin Island of Tortolo) and Julie Laramie (a CIA analyst who, with Cooper's assistance, busted up a Chinese plot to attack the U.S.). Laramie is assigned to work the case of a terrorist who apparently set off a bio-bomb prematurely: Was this an isolated incident or the tip of an iceberg? Laramie eventually joins up with Cooper, and together they again risk everything to keep America safe. This novel is an improvement on Painkiller , which reads a little too much like a screenplay in prose form (Staeger comes from the film business). The narrative is more fleshed out this time, and the two leads don't seem so much like stand-ins for the actors who might play them in the movie. For avid fans of the first book, this one's a must-read, and those who skipped the first should give it a shot, too. David Pitt
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