Patriot

August 3, 2015
A secret mission in Cuba goes awry in the prologue of bestseller Bell’s fast-paced ninth Alexander Hawke thriller (after 2014’s Warriors), but the MI6 agent (and sixth richest man in England) and his pal Stokely Jones, a former Navy SEAL, manage to fight their way to safety. Soon Hawke is back in his Bermuda home, Teakettle Cottage, enjoying his favorite libation, Gosling’s rum. Meanwhile, Brett “Beau” Beauregard, a retired U.S. Army colonel who runs a private security company, orders his minions to target agents he believes have wronged him in the past. One of Beauregard’s men goes after Hawke in Bermuda, and the ensuing battle nearly destroys Teakettle Cottage. Vladimir Putin, who saved Hawke’s life in an earlier book, plays a role that ricochets back and forth between friend and foe. The villain who runs down the CIA director’s pet dog gets her just reward. Better than any writer in the thriller genre, Bell mashes up old-fashioned boys’ adventure with modern military action. Agent: Peter Lampack, Peter Lampack Agency.

April 1, 2015

Even as spies are being assassinated worldwide, from London to Maine to the Cote d'Azur, NATO and Russia are squaring off over the fate of Ukraine, Poland, and Estonia, and everyone west of Moscow is worrying that the Russians will haul out some game-changing new weapons that Kremlin scientists have reportedly developed. Thank goodness legendary MI6 officer Lord Alexander Hawke is on the case. A follow-up to Warriors.

Copyright 2015 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

August 1, 2015
The latest in Bell's series featuring MI6 intelligence officer Alex Hawke quickly gets personal. Someone has targeted spies and former allies and friends of Hawke for extermination. Hawke quickly realizes that the deadly assassin is someone he should have eliminated a long time ago. Getting rid of the man known in the business as Spider, however, is only the tip of the iceberg that threatens Hawke and everyone he loves. The conspiracy set against him, he realizes, reaches all the way to Russian president Vladimir Putin, making the odds of survival quite slim. Multiple killers and plots, mixed with the personal ramifications for our intrepid hero, make this a compelling thriller. Some may find the narrative a bit overlong, but, finally, the power of the story holds up just fine, even over 544 pages. Readers who enjoy their spy fiction in which the world seems to be teetering on its axis have another author to add to their reading lists.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2015, American Library Association.)