Thriller Night

Vanished. By Joseph Finder. St. Martin’s Press. 400 Pages. $25.99 As summer recedes, booksellers are awash in white-knuckled tales of suspense. From Joseph Finder’s “private spy” story to the conclusion of Robert Ferrigno’s Assassin trilogy, here are the best.

Vanished
by Joseph Finder

With such outstanding books as Paranoia, Company Man and Killer Instinct on his resume, Joseph Finder has built a reputation as one of the finest thriller writers working today. Vanished, his latest novel, will only bolster that reputation. It is quite possibly the year’s best thriller.

There are any number of thrillers that feature CIA agents, cops, lawyers, doctors, even scientists as their stock characters, but Vanished introduces something new: Nick Heller, a former special ops soldier, now working as a “private spy.” He works for a firm that provides intelligence consulting, security, investigation and other semi-clandestine services to corporations, private individuals, even the government.

Heller makes for an intriguing action hero, handy with his fists when he needs to be, but more likely to use his brains, along with whiz-bang technology, to get the job done. Reflecting real-world changes in the contemporary espionage landscape, he’s a new breed of spy—one who does the dirty work that businessmen and the Feds can’t do themselves. But when Heller’s brother goes missing, he becomes involved in a personal mission to find out what happened, drawing on his considerable skills to protect his family.

Finder has long been one of the best in the business at combining roller-coaster plots with well-developed characters, sharp writing and up-to-the-minute story details. With Vanished, he not only continues that tradition, but takes it to an exciting new level. Heller is a promising new hero, one of Finder’s best creations yet, and Vanished is an excellent start to a new series.

Heart of the Assassin. By Robert Ferrigno. Scribner. 368 Pages. $25.95. Heart of the Assassin
by Robert Ferrigno

Robert Ferrigno brings his “Assassin” trilogy to a close with Heart of the Assassin, the final chapter in what has become an ingenious look at what the United States might be like if it underwent an Islamic revolution. Ferrigno posits a world in which America, wracked by years of economic devastation, moral decay, and never-ending conflicts, has undergone a civil war, splitting into two very difference sections: one a conservative Christian nation based in the former American South (“The Bible Belt”), the other a moderate Islamic Republic, centered in the city of Seattle.

Against this startling backdrop, Ferrigno has cast an intriguing, fast-paced thriller that sees the Islamic Republic and the Bible Belt both threatened with attack from the expansionist Aztlán Empire (formerly Latin America). In order to find a solution to this imperialist threat, Rakkim Epps, a biologically enhanced covert operative and hero of the series, must journey into the nuclear wasteland that is Washington, D.C. in an effort to find a holy relic that can bring the two halves of the United States back together.

Heart of the Assassin differs from the first two books in the trilogy with a more heartfelt and human focus. Rakkim is now married with a son, giving him both more to care about and more to lose, yet he’s willing to risk everything to save the country he loves. Heart still has the amazing sense of imagination of Prayers of the Assassin, and the action and suspense of Sins of the Assassin, but it also has an emotional resonance that brings the series to a fitting close.

The Defector. By Daniel Silva. Putnam. 480 Pages. $26.95. The Defector
by Daniel Silva

Daniel Silva is one of the most consistent – and consistently excellent – writers in the international thriller genre, annually producing novels of both exciting adventure and thought-provoking insight into world affairs. His new blockbuster thriller, The Defector picks up six months after the conclusion of Moscow Rules, Silva’s previous book, to feature Israeli art-restorer and Mossad assassin Gabriel Allon.

Gabriel is hiding in the Umbrian hills, enjoying some private time with his new bride, when Russian spy Grigori Bulganov, the defector who saved Gabriel’s life in Moscow Rules, is captured by the ex-KGB oligarch he betrayed. Gabriel must abandon his idyllic life and put everything on the line to save his friend.

A lot of writers shy away from politics in their novels to avoid alienating potential readers. But including real-world details and events can also add verisimilitude and depth to a story, something Silva does quite well. When he explores the situation in contemporary Russia, he lays it out as it really is, the good and the bad together, and thus creates a convincing foundation for his fictional story.

Silva jumps from location to location with ease, leading Gabriel on a whirlwind adventure through the murky world of international thugs, arms dealers and spies. Gabriel is one of the truly unforgettable characters in espionage fiction, a haunted man who has sacrificed everything, including perhaps his soul, to protect the country of Israel. The Defector is another winning entry in this top-notch series.