Monday, June 26, 2017

Stiletto #2: The Fairmont Maneuver - Brian Drake


CIA agent Scott Stiletto is back in Brian Drake’s latest novel THE FAIRMONT MANEUVER, and as usual, it’s a fast-paced espionage thriller with plenty of action. In this one, Scott rescues a Swiss scientist who’s being blackmailed by the Iranians into building triggers for nuclear bombs. That’s just the beginning, though, as Scott then answers a call for help from an ex-CIA colleague and former lover whose father has been murdered by mobsters trying to pressure her into selling her fashion design business. Why would mobsters want to take over a fashion design business, you ask? Well, in a clever plot twist from Drake, the reason doesn’t turn out to be what you’d expect.

I’m really enjoying this series for a couple of reasons. There’s a lot of all-out action, and Drake is very good at writing it in a style reminiscent of the classic men’s adventure novels. Also, Scott Stiletto is a very likable protagonist, human but not weighed down with angst or some cliched back-story. He’s one of the good guys and is very competent at what he does. Nor does Drake burden the tale he wants to tell with page after page of padding, as so many bloated contemporary thrillers do. THE FAIRMONT MANEUVER is lean and swift and very enjoyable.


2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Who's the model on the front cover? Yowza!

Brian Drake said...

Thank you for the write-up, James!

For Anonymous...I wish I knew who the model was, but it's a stock photo and I don't have that information.