The Silent Man
"Wells is a modern day James Bond with more than a hint of Jack Bauer thrown in for good measure."
Synopsis:
After 2 extremely dangerous missions, John Wells the CIA special agent is living on the edge, under guard. He knows though, that he has made far too many enemies to relax and when his girlfriend Jennifer Exley is injured in an attack and left for dead he embarks on a personal mission to revenge the attempt on their lives.
His quest leads him to Moscow and Europe where he discovers a psychotic arms dealer was behind the attack and - much more terrifying - he also stumbles across a plot to detonate a nuclear device on America soil.
The nuclear weapon is one of two stolen from a Russian arms depot...
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Review:
This is Berenson's third book and is the forerunner to The Midnight House which was released earlier this year. As ever, the pace of the story is carried steadily along by events and while not the paciest of writers, Berenson is by no means a slouch. The plot is tightly wound around Wells' desire to wreak revenge on those behind the attempt on his life and the stolen Russian Warheads. Each gives excellent value for money as they allow both reader and writer to explore their personal opinions on vengeance, patriotism and love. Wells is a little bit stereotyped as the tough maverick agent who deals with things his own way and to hell with the consequences, yet the author's penmanship is more the good enough to get away with this. Exley is deftly depicted as the woman who has won his heart but cannot control his head. Ellis Shafer and all the other character's draw the correct responses from the reader and of particular note is the way the terrorist's reasons for joining the fight are told. Each has a short back story which makes complete sense. I found The Silent Man thoroughly enjoyable and look forward to reading more of John Wells' escapades in the future. Wells is a modern day James Bond with more than a hint of Jack Bauer thrown in for good measure.