The Courier-Andrew Britton

The Courier Andrew Britton Pinnacle, Dec 31 2013, $9.99 ISBN: 9780786032174 Though he sort of quit while still breathing, a rarity for a long time CIA operative, Ryan Kealey concludes that once an espionage agent always an espionage agent until you’re dead. However, the world he survived no longer exists as the suits and techies run the “cooperating” espionage alphabets with their data mining and electronic surveillance superseding on the ground human Intel. As Kealey muses over being a dinosaur; US Naval Space Command detect Plutonium 239 in the Arctic Circle; at the same time Islamic Republic of Iran Navy Captain Elham breaks radio silence to announce his vessel the Jamaran picked up a special find. Kealey is assigned the field operation of neutralizing the nuke before the Iranians deploy it. Out in the cold, Kealey teams up with nuclear physicist Rayhan Jafari, but their home office support handicaps them as the pair struggles to prevent the setting off a weapon of mass destruction. The latest Ryan Kealey thriller (see The Exile, The Operative, The Invisible, The Assassin and The American) is a taut action-packed entry that leaves readers pondering what happens to all the weapons (not just nukes) compiled in a world in which annual Global Arms Sales reach billions. Adding a wonderful spin to the tale is Ryan’s dad Captain Largo Kealey’s actions in sinking a Nazi transporter of nukes in 1944 that leads to his chip off the old block son’s activity in 2013. Readers will appreciate this exciting cautionary tale. Harriet Klausner