The Skorpion Directive

March 1, 2010
Bestseller Stone's entertaining fourth thriller featuring Micah Dalton (after The Venetian Judgment
) takes the CIA “cleaner” (an operative who cleans up the mess after an agency mission has gone awry) to Vienna, where Micah finds himself being followed by a team of agents of unknown origin. In short order, Micah captures one of his pursuers, Veronika Miklas; beds her; fights off an attack by two killers; and goes on the lam, with Veronika voluntarily joining him. Soon everyone wants Micah dead, including his own CIA handlers. An old buddy, Ray Fyke, who's “exactly what Micah Dalton needs” despite Ray's reputation as a crazed killer and a drunk, joins Micah and Veronika on a body-strewn rampage through Europe in an effort to learn why Micah has become a marked man. While the nearly nonstop action and the consistently interesting lead character will keep readers turning the pages, a limp ending disappoints.

April 1, 2010
This fourth work in Stone's espionage thriller series (after "The Echelon Vendetta, The Orpheus Deception", and "The Venetian Judgment") begins comparatively slowlyCIA "cleaner" Micah Dalton is, once again, in bad odor with agency higher-ups. But a hideously disfigured enemy is out to destroy Micah for no immediately discernible reason, and the Company also seems complicit in Micah's destruction, so he must outwit and outfight a variety of enemies, foreign and domestic. Fortunately, he is superendowed with martial talents and has contacts in a variety of well-described locations all over the world who have just the right expertise to help. The storyline is extraordinarily complex; there is no shortage of characters; the plenteous bloodshed is described in graphic detail, some of which is literally gut-wrenching; the sex is casual; and the unexpected plot twists are typical of a Stone thriller. Micah's final victory offers a splendid release of tension and the hint of more sequels. VERDICT Enjoyable by faithful Stone spy fans who are able to maintain their suspension of disbelief. [See Prepub Alert, "LJ" 1/10.]Jonathan Pearce, California State Univ. at Stanislaus, Stockton

Copyright 2010 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

April 1, 2010
Readers will welcome the return of Micah Dalton, the CIA fixer (when things go wrong on the operational side, I come in and try to fix them). This time Dalton is in Vienna to meet with a former Mossad agent. But Micah, no slouch when it comes to self-preservation, gets the feeling something isnt on the level, and when he takes steps to neutralize some unwanted surveillance, hes propelled into a dark and dangerous chain of events involving shadowy foreign nationals, a ruthless assassin, and a conspiracy that seems to reach into his own government. The author, a former intelligence officer (David Stone is a pseudonym), packs the novel with the kind of detail that makes the story feel like it was written by an insider, someone whos been there, done that. A winning story combined with solid, readable prose: a sure-fire hit.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2010, American Library Association.)