Adrenaline

Starred review from May 23, 2011
Edgar-finalist Abbott's outstanding tale of high intrigue set primarily in London and Amsterdam, the first in a series, introduces Sam Capra, a London-based CIA agent. When a terrorist group bombs the agency's British headquarters, killing 20 people, the authorities believe that Sam's pregnant wife, Lucy, also a U.S. spy, helped the terrorists and disappeared with them. Immediately suspected of being part of the bombing plot, Sam winds up in secret CIA custody and tortured. Refusing to believe Lucy has turned traitor, Sam finally escapes and begins his headlong search for her and his son, whom he believes has now been born. Sam offs terrorists, cracks wise, and shows a genuinely moving concern for his wife and son. Abbott (Panic), displaying a greater mastery of the genre than in previous books, hits full stride early on and never lets up. Readers who thrive on a relentless narrative pace and a straight line to the finish won't be disappointed.

July 15, 2011

In Abbott's latest (Trust Me, 2009, etc.), the spy who has everything loses all but his cloak and dagger.

Sam Capra is a CIA golden boy, a special agent in the midst of a glittering career. In addition, he has a beautiful wife; she, too, is a CIA fast tracker. He adores Lucy, she adores Sam, and they are both prepared to adore the child they have on the way. In fact, Sam lives a kind of clandestine idyll, until the day, in a puff of high explosive smoke, every atom of it vanishes. Sam is in the CIA's building in London, at a meeting, He gets a phone call from Lucy. Clearly, it's bad news. Pertaining to her? About their baby? She refuses specifics, implores him to meet her outside, begs him to leave the building at once. She sounds desperate. Ignoring the elevator, he races down six flights, catches a glimpse of Lucy seated next to a man in the front seat of a car parked some distance away. It registers with him—indelibly—that the man's face is dramatically scarred. But that's all. Moments later the building explodes. Soon enough, there's Sam undergoing intense—and enhanced—CIA grilling, being asked repeatedly, "Are you a traitor or a fool?" In other words, why is Sam Capra alive when so many good colleagues have been blown to bits? Did he collude with Lucy in some vile and traitorous conspiracy? Or was he merely her dupe? Because at this point Lucy's guilt has become a CIA given, and only Sam is willing to defend her. To do that, however, he has to track her down and learn from her what there is that's defensible. But to do that he must first find a way to escape former friends.

Begins brilliantly but diminishes to ordinary when character-driven gives way to body-count–driven.

(COPYRIGHT (2011) KIRKUS REVIEWS/NIELSEN BUSINESS MEDIA, INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.)

June 15, 2011

Undercover spy Sam Capra is the prime suspect when a bomb goes off in his London office and his pregnant wife, Lucy, disappears. After harrowing weeks spent in a secret prison trying to convince the CIA of his innocence, Sam can either resign to a staid, suffocating shell of a life in which he must constantly look over his shoulder, or escape to London to retrace his steps, find his wife, and clear his name. With aid from an unlikely source, Sam travels from New York to Amsterdam to London, uncovering clues and chasing down suspects, with the CIA hot on his trail. But the closer Sam gets to the truth, the more he realizes that he can never go back to his old life. VERDICT Abbott's (Panic) 13th thriller is the first in a series featuring Sam Capra. Fans of the thriller/spy genre will enjoy the characteristic bad guys, unexpected plot twists, requisite action sequences, and fast pace and will want to follow Sam throughout the series as he tackles the questions that remain unanswered at the novel's finale. [See Prepub Alert, 12/21/10.]--Natasha Grant, New York

Copyright 2011 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

May 1, 2011
New action-series hero Sam Capra likes to unwind with parkour, leaping from building to building, clambering up walls and hurtling through space across the urban landscape, following an invisible line of momentum that turns obstacles into opportunities. The sports a fitting metaphor for Abbotts style, tumbling from page to page with the frantic inevitability of Robert Ludlum. If a few handholds along the way crumble at the touch, theres hardly time to notice before were on the move again. Heres the setup: CIA operative Capra gets a call from his pregnant wife warning him to flee a meeting before the whole building explodes. She is last seen receding in a car with a man with a question-mark scar. Torture, flight, interference from a mysterious superspy, brainwashing, infiltration into the slimy Amsterdam underworld of human trafficking, and rumors of weaponized nanotechnology are some of the plot elements Capra hurdles searching for his wife and newborn son (aka the bundle). It all works beautifully if you dont stop and think about it, which you wont want to, anyway.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2011, American Library Association.)