Author:David Stone
A highly original and chillingly suspenseful journey through the darkest alleys of international espionage.
Micah Dalton isn't paid to ask questions. He's a "cleaner," a CIA fixer sent in to mop up the mess when an agent or situation goes bad. But when his close friend and colleague Porter Naumann turns up dead in an idyllic hill town in Tuscany, victim of an apparent suicide, Dalton's curiosity gets the best of him.
Other hard-nosed ex-CIA field men are found butchered across the globe and Dalton soon finds himself on the trail of a sadistic killer, who has a penchant for intricate knifework and Native American mysticism. The murders appear to be acts of retribution, but for what? The only link between the victims seems to be a global surveillance operation called Echelon.
Dalton's search for answers takes him from the fog-shrouded mazes of Venice to the beautiful big-sky country of the American West. At every turn he comes one step closer to discovering the truth behind the truth, a conspiracy so closely guarded that even suspecting it exists could prove fatal.
Fast-moving, smart, sexy and alarming. Everything you want in a thriller
—— KirkusLike other young Irish writers, O'Connor brings into view a sharp and harsh image of contemporary Ireland. But this carries with it a feeling of emotional credibility not found in more traditional and stereotypical images of Irish life. It also brings a deeply ironic black humour of which the novel is full
—— ScotsmanVery near perfection. You’ll be on the edge of your seat.
—— The Literary Review'Heyer's characters and dialogue are an abiding delight to me ... I have seldom met people to whom I have taken so violent a fancy from the word "Go"'
—— Dorothy L. Sayers'The wittiest of detective writers'
—— Daily MailPatterson's Boxers are not pants.
—— Bournemouth EchoChristophe Dufossé fuses the suspense of Stephen King with the irony and ambition of Houellebecq. A truly successful debut
—— Les InrockuptiblesDufosse's first novel is a well-paced, gripping thriller...not for the faint-hearted
—— Big IssueA writer of wit and style
—— Scotland on SundayA powerful debut
—— ArenaBruen's tightly coiled prose strikes like a piss-soaked rattler.
—— CapitalSharp, punch and unsettling, Priest is a masterpiece.
—— Peterborough Evening Telegraph... An intensely dark maelstrom ... excellent.
—— www.marymartin.com.auBruen should be valued as one of the most challenging and memorable writers in the genre at the moment.
—— www.reviewingtheevidence.com