Die Twice

March 29, 2010
Lt. Cdr. David Trevellyan continues to operate on U.S. soil in Grant's testosterone-fueled second adventure to feature the British naval intelligence officer (after Even
). After leaving behind seven dead bodies in New York City, Trevellyan reports to veteran liaison officer Richard Fothergill in Chicago, where a rogue British operative, Tony McIntyre, is planning to sell a secret and deadly gas to the tiny West African nation of Equatorial Myene. With Fothergill providing intel, Trevellyan attempts to locate McIntyre with orders to effect a “hard arrest,” i.e., kill him, and to recover the gas canisters from either McIntyre or the Africans. The stakes rise as more than one bidder has his sights set on the gas, and Trevellyan and Fothergill have only each other to rely on. Trevellyan is macho enough and deadly enough to satisfy the most jaded thriller fan, though he's slower than most readers will be to figure out what's going on.

May 1, 2010
British superspy Trevellyan, who, in his debut (Even, 2009) outsmarted the NYPD, the FBI, his own Royal Navy intelligence service and bottom-feeders on both sides of the pond, is back again toiling and foiling.

Ordered to report to the British consulate in Chicago, Lieutenant Commander David Trevellyan leaves New York—scene of his most recent sorties against the iniquitous—hoping to be posted back to London. Not on. What does happen is the sort of doleful assignment that all honest and true intelligence agents must hate like poison. Actually, it concerns poison. Also, an unmitigated traitor, a fellow intelligence officer who, it turns out, is smart, resourceful and as adept at homicide as Trevellyan himself. With a career somewhat on the wane, Trevellyan had been hoping for a more conventional assignment, one that might help him regain favor from jaundiced admiralsgrown weary of mavericks. Instead, he's lumbered with a"hard arrest"—"the kind that involves body bags rather than handcuffs." Still, as he listens to Richard Fothergill, the liaison officer, make the case against Tony McIntyre, the reprobate in question, he begins warming to the task. Things like the stolen canisters of gas are persuasive. Lethal enough to poison by the thousands, they were lifted by Macintyre for the sole purpose of making him rich, in aid of which the killer gas is now being offered on the open market—genocidal perps with deep pockets please apply. But to secure a hard arrest, one needs proximity to a more or less cooperative body, and cunning MacIntyre is proving endlessly elusive. So, the cat-and-mouse game's afoot with the cat and mouse changing places at murderous intervals. The part about the body bags? No worries there.

Skimpy plot, shallow characters, sophomore jinx. Wait for the next.

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Starred review from May 1, 2010
David Trevellyan returns shortly after the events that ended Grant's debut novel, "Even". Exiled from New York and at loose ends, Trevellyan comes to the aid of a legendary member of the British Royal Navy Intelligence Service trying to recover a canister of lethal gas. Grant's first-person narration puts the reader in the front seat of heart-pounding action scenes with a hard man who has no compunction about killing. The tension is relieved by Trevellyan's wry, understated sense of humor but never long enough to make the story lose momentum. VERDICT A solid adrenaline rush from start to finish from the brother of Lee Child. [Library marketing; national tour.]

Copyright 2010 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

May 1, 2010
British agent David Trevellyan left a bit of a mess in New York after his last assignment, and its time to get out of Dodge. He heads for Chicago, where he will he be assigned to his next mission and where his contact is Richard Fothergill, a former field agent who has evolved into a well-dressed bureaucrat more concerned with the appearance of competence than its real-world application. A rogue agent accused of stealing a deadly biological weapon has come to Fothergill to broker a deal. Negotiations have broken down, and Fothergill needs Trevellyan to find the agent. Trevellyan isnt sure if hes working for the agency or Fothergill, but he believes the threat is real. What ensues is a series of violent confrontations in which Trevellyan stabs, shoots, and bludgeons his way ever closer to the prize. The second Trevellyan thrilleron the heels of the well-received Even (2009)is a compelling mix of espionage, counterterrorism thriller, and kick-butt urban noir. Author Grant is the brother of Lee Child, and although there are some vague stylistic parallels, the most striking similarity is the breakneck, page-turning pace.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2010, American Library Association.)