The Excoms Thriller - Action-Packed Spy Novel for Mystery Lovers

Whenever I am between books because of publication dates or other issues I turn to Brett Battles. I do so for two reasons. First, he is incapable of writing a dull book; second, because he is so prolific that there are always new choices available. THE EXCOMS is the first volume in his spinoff series from the Jonathan Quinn books. The linking character is Ananke. Ananke is on an assignment, believing that her task is to introduce a virus into a drink for a politician in the Phillipines. As it turns out she has been tricked into poisoning him. This stain on her reputation EXCOMmunicates her from the shadowy world of contract espionage. Unbeknownst to her she is being tracked by another organization, one that is willing to both exonerate her and employ her. This unnamed group is presided over by an individual called the Administrator. He is unlike the vast majority of those who carry such a title in that he has vast resources available to him, he is prepared to play hardball, he is fundamentally a good guy and he is devilishly expert at doing his job. Four other excoms are recruited in similar fashion. This occupies approximately 45% of the book. The remainder concerns the Excom team and their first assignment from the Administrator.That task concerns the freeing of a number of kidnapped Bay Area children. Half are poor; half are the progeny of high tech multimillionaire/billionaire types. The ransom is $60,000,000. The excoms, of course, include individuals with different skills, including state-of-the-art electronic tracking techniques. They determine that the children are being held somewhere in the outer-outer boondocks of Nevada. Needless to say they acquit themselves well. The team is interesting enough; one (the ‘hunter’) is a wisecracker who was familiar with one of his teammates in the past. He provides comic relief, of a sort.This is a solid debut for a new series (volume 2 is now available, which I will be reviewing in the not too distant future). As with all Brett Battles books we have nonstop action, exotic locales, high tech exploits, an international ensemble cast, slick writing and expert plotting. He really is one of the most reliable writers in today’s mystery/suspense field.Highly recommended.