Book Banter -- The Deceived

Title: The Deceived

Author: Brett Battles

Genre: Thriller

Length: 358 pages

Where Word Nerd's Copy Came From: Indianapolis-Marion County Public Library

Plot Basics: Cleaner Jonathon Quinn is called on a job to dispose of a dead body in a shipping container. Only when he arrives on the scene, he knows who the dead man is, a former intelligence officer who helped Quinn out of jam in the past. Quinn wants to know what's happened to his friend, so he investigates, starting on the trail of the officer's girlfriend. As he pursues her, the trail leads him across the US and overseas. Her trail is tangled with a rising political star and Quinn will have to figure out which side is lying.

Banter Points: Word Nerd read the first Quinn book back in October and then forgot about him until she wanted something to break up an urban fantasy jag she'd been on and the Lee Child book she wanted wasn't on the shelves. She thinks that says alot that she'd pick this one right after Lee Child. And it didn't disappoint. Fast-paced, good characters, page-turning plot that's reminiscent of the Bourne book.

Bummer Points: Wow, the ending. It's always a good/bad thing to Word Nerd when an author truly puts a character in peril and has them suffer some kind of permanent consequences. To avoid spoilers, she won't say more, but she's interested and sad to see what happens to one of the characters in the next book.

Word Nerd Recommendation: If you're looking for a good action book, Battles' series delivers. And, so far, at least, while the characters cross books, the plots are relatively insular so you could start in the middle of the series.