Self-exiled and working as a bricklayer, former FBI agent
Steve Vail never fit the confining mold the agency expected
of an agent. But his unorthodox ways have earned him a
reputation as the guy to go to when special cases come
along the FBI can't handle on their own -- even though they
hate to admit it.
A group calling themselves the Rubaco Pentad will continue
to kill human targets until the FBI comes up with millions
in cash. The agency officers are working to meet the
demands, but something always goes wrong during the money
drop. At the end of their patience, terrified of how many
more people will die and fearing there's a corrupt agent in
their ranks, they have no choice but to contact Steve Vail.
With so many inconsistencies in the case, logic is not
working, so Vail has to go with his instincts to uncover
the truth. It's fortuitous this highly principled man also
has the uncanny ability to work his way through the
twisting maze of clues and evidence others aren't even
aware exist.
The intricate and detailed plot continually picks up speed
toward a thrilling (and surprising) resolution. Steve
Vail's irreverent outlook on life lends itself to witty
repartee between him and the other characters, which is
further supported with very clever, intriguing narrative.
Noah Boyd has a sure-fire winner in this exemplary
start to a new series.
Someone gives you a dangerous puzzle to solve, one that
may kill you or someone else, and you're about to
fail. . . . And there is no other option. No one who can
help. No one but the Bricklayer. The Bricklayer is the
pulse-pounding novel introducing Steve Vail, one of the
most charismatic new heroes to come along in thriller
fiction in many years. He's an ex–FBI agent who's been
fired for insubordination but is lured back to the Bureau
to work a case that has become more unsolvable—and more
deadly—by the hour. A woman steps out of the shower in her
Los Angeles home and is startled by an intruder sitting
calmly in her bedroom holding a gun. But she is frozen
with fear by what he has to say about the FBI—and what he
says he must do. . . . A young agent slips into the night
water off a rocky beach. He's been instructed to swim to a
nearby island to deposit a million dollars demanded by a
blackmailer. But his mission is riddled with hazardous
tests, as if someone wanted to destroy him rather than
collect the money. . . . Vail has resigned himself to his
dismissal and is content with his life as a bricklayer.
But the FBI, especially Deputy Assistant Director Kate
Bannon, needs help with a shadowy group that has initiated
a brilliant extortion plot. The group will keep killing
their targets until the agency pays them off, the amount
and number of bodies escalating each time the FBI fails.
One thing is clear: someone who knows a little too much
about the inner workings of the Bureau is very clever —and
very angry—and will kill and kill again if it means he can
disgrace the FBI. Steve Vail's options —and his time to
find answers—are swiftly running out. Noah Boyd's The
Bricklayer is written with the bracing authenticity only
someone who has been a crack FBI investigator can provide.
And in this masterful debut Boyd has created a mind-
bending maze of clues and traps inside a nonstop thrill
ride that is sure to leave readers exhilarated and
enthralled.
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