Espionage – Baskerville Book Reviews

Review: The Seal of Confession

The Seal of Confession is the latest breathtaking espionage thriller from the author of Selling St. Christopher.

Clemmie, a life-worn shadow operator for the British Secret Service, is accompanied by her team of young misfits, as they investigate the murder of a Russian Orthodox priest in London. However, their mission is anything but routine, and they are soon contending with a riddle, wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma. Combining insider knowledge, with a flair for dynamic storytelling, The Seal of Confession is a startling insight into the sinister world of psychological operations, and the grey zone war that is currently being fought along Russia’s southwestern border. It has been described as, “a masterpiece” and, “absolutely brilliant” by journalists and readers alike. But be prepared, you will never trust the news again.

Review: The Lost Power

Da Vinci Code meets Tomb Raider in this award-winning thriller that number one NYT bestselling author James Rollins called, “Full of action and suspense”.

Spain 1057: During a thunderous battle, the first King of Aragon wrestles Alexander the Great’s priceless Egyptian weapon from the Moors, but finds it holds a terrifying and mysterious power.

A thousand years later, on a hushed, fog-shrouded, Napa morning, gunshots and the sound of breaking glass rip through the silence. Maddy Marshall, an app designer and aikido instructor, and her twin brother Will Argones, an engineer, quickly run toward the sound. Horrified, they discover a sniper’s bullet has found its human target.

Before the pool of blood on the living room floor is dry, the twins are sent on an arcane quest to recover Alexander’s ancient weapon. Joined by a VanOps covert agent, they soon discover the rifle’s sights are now set on them. No place is safe, a wrong move means death, and even a simple phone call is off limits if they are to survive.

From a medieval Spanish castle, they follow a time-worn trail, starting at a secret warren under the streets of Jerusalem. But if the killer finds the weapon first, it will be used to cripple the United States’ eye-in-the-sky early warning systems, allowing the Russians to swoop in and prey on the vulnerable nation.

Can Maddy learn to wield the power of the dangerous weapon in time to stop the Russian scheme? Failure means fragile world peace will be forever shattered…

Review: Net Impact

Dick Thornby is not Hollywood’s idea of a spy. In his rough and tumble job there are no tailored Italian suits, no bimbos eager to please, and no massive underground fortresses built by evil overlords seeking world domination – just an endless series of sinister threats to the safety and security of the billions of mundane citizens of the planet. Sure, Dick’s tough and he knows a few tricks to help him get out of a tight spot, even if his boss accuses him of over-reliance on an abundance of explosives.

But he’s also got a mortgage, a wife upset by his frequent absences on “business” trips, and an increasingly alienated teen-age son who spends way too much time playing in gaming worlds on the computer.

When a young computer expert back at the Philadelphia headquarters for The Subsidiary, an international espionage agency created in the aftermath of 9/11, discovers that bad guys are involved in a vast conspiracy, Dick is forced to partner with the espionage neophyte to battle evil on multiple fronts, leading to a final confrontation that incorporates real-world conspiracy theories and cutting-edge technology.

In the end, Dick can save his partner, save his marriage, save his son, or save the world, but he can’t do it all.

Review: The Names of the Dead

They locked him up. Now he’s out–for revenge.

Former CIA officer James ‘Wes’ Wesley paid the ultimate price for his patriotism when he was locked up in a French jail for an anti-terror operation gone wrong–abandoned by the Agency he served, shunned by his colleagues and friends, cut off from his family.

Now he is shattered by the news that his ex-wife, Rachel, a State Department analyst, has been killed in a terrorist attack in Spain. He also discovers that his young son, Ethan, is missing. But Wes didn’t know he had a son–until now.

Why was Rachel in Spain? And why did she keep his son secret from him?

Granted early release, Wes takes flight across Europe to search for the truth and exact his revenge. But can he catch the spies who betrayed him before they track him down? In order to find the answers and save his son, Wes realises he must confront the dark secrets in his own past–before it’s too late.

Review: Blue Madagascar

A candidate’s suicide. A death on the French Riviera. And a secret men will kill for.

A candidate for U.S. President, ahead in the polls and about to win the election, suddenly commits suicide. No one knows why. A mysterious woman the media has dubbed “the Invisible Woman” may hold the key.

During a botched jewel heist on the French Riviera, an American bystander is killed. This death triggers a worldwide hunt by intelligence agencies for something the dead American left behind – a secret so explosive they will let nothing get in their way.

U.S. Homeland Security Special Agent Casey Ramirez is a young woman with a troubled past. On the trail of a human trafficking ring, she uncovers a clue involving the dead American in France. The discovery catapults her into a deadly cat-and-mouse chase across Europe to find the dead man’s secret before it’s too late.