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THE BRICKLAYER
by Noah Boyd
William Morrow, January 2010
400 pages
$24.99
ISBN: 0061827010


Buy in the UK | Buy in Canada

Kate Bannon is a newly appointed Deputy Assistant Director at the FBI. She's very young to have attained this post, particularly in the still testosterone- laden bureaucracy of this particular federal agency. Her job right now is to get Steve Vail to work for the FBI again. He's worked for them in the past, but his attitude about authority, and his reactions to bad management practices led to his leaving the Bureau. He's now a bricklayer.

Vail is very good at what he does, which means basically that whatever the job is, he gets it done.

Perhaps he doesn't play by the rules. Actually, one can bet he doesn't. Right now, the FBI has a problem. Someone is extorting enormous sums of money from them AND killing the delivery agents AND threatening to go very public about all of this if the money doesn't keep coming. The FBI is supposed to think that an agent gone rogue is the person behind all this.

Bannon persuades Vail to take up the challenge. THE BRICKLAYER is the fast-paced story of Vail doing what he does best. There are plot twists and turns enough for the most devious mind, the pace is unrelenting, and Vail is believable - even though the basic premise involves that willing suspension of disbelief required for any good thriller.

THE BRICKLAYER is well written. For readers who enjoy the PREY books of John Sandford or the RAIN books of Barry Eisler, Vail will probably be another addition to your list of go-to guys. Vail is a man of principle, a man with standards. He does what he believes needs to be done, and damn the cost to himself. It's a pleasure to read about guys like that, especially when the writer is as good as Boyd is. It's also a pleasure to watch Boyd grow the relationship between Vail and Bannon. Not all writers of thrillers can do that well. Boyd can. And does.

Reviewed by P.J. Coldren, December 2010

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Contact: Yvonne Klein (ymk@reviewingtheevidence.com)


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