January 11, 2016
Ike Hammer, the majority owner of a corporate intelligence firm in London who usually plays a secondary role to colleague Ben Webster, takes center stage in Jones’s fascinating third thriller (after 2013’s The Jackal’s Share). Webster has vanished somewhere in the former Soviet republic of Georgia while attending the funeral of a friend. At the panicked urging of Webster’s wife, Hammer, typically not a field operative, heads to Georgia, aware of but not fully prepared for the amoral, unpredictable nature of the country and its corrupt power centers. Criminal oligarchs seem to run every facet of society, and it is through them that Hammer must seek help in a search that takes him far into the lawless mountain regions outside the capital of Tbilisi. Hammer proves to be as good a leading man as Webster—smart, instinctive, nobody’s fool. More captivating, however, is Jones’s sensory portrait of Georgia, where human behavior is brutish and unfeeling one moment, big-hearted and gentle the next. Agent: Melanie Jackson, Melanie Jackson Agency.
Starred review from January 15, 2016
When his estranged friend and fellow corporate spy for hire Ben Webster disappears in the republic of Georgia, Ike Hammer puts his life at risk searching for him in the treacherous mountains bordering Russia. It's been 10 years since the 58-year-old Hammer was in the field. He heads back out with great reluctance, furious at his morally crusading partner for putting their company at risk. In the capital city of Tbilisi, amid riots, bombings, and madness, Hammer is in way over his head. He's a wealthy and resourceful man, but this is one place where neither his money nor his promises can buy off the cops, government officials, and mobsters who threaten to imprison or kill him for sniffing around. He finds an oasis of humanity in the person of Natela, the widow of the murdered journalist whose funeral Webster went to Georgia to attend. Not until Hammer forges deep into the mountains and is helped by other kind souls does he discover both the real heart of Georgia and missing pieces of himself. Jones is in complete control with this, his third novel featuring Webster and Hammer. In the previous two, The Silent Oligarch (2012) and The Jackal's Share (2013), Hammer played a supporting role. Here, he proves himself a lead player of great appeal, combining deep intelligence with just the right amount of dash. Suspenseful from start to finish, with plenty of regional color informing the narrative, Jones' third spy thriller is a flawless piece of storytelling.
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