The Contractor
By Colin MacKinnon
(St. Martin's Griffin, Paperback, 9780312355791, 320pp.)
Publication Date: January 19, 2010
Other Editions of This Title: Google eBook, Hardcover
Categories: Espionage/Intrigue
 |     |
Rick Behringer is an outside contractor working for the Central Intelligence Agency. He owns a small company that, in the light of day, provides communications security for government offices, including the CIA. In the shadows, though, Rick’s a spy. He runs overseas agents for the CIA and, through his firm, buys foreign-military technology that the Agency wants to inspect but can’t be seen purchasing.
The divorced father of two little girls, Rick carries on a cold war with his ex, Liz, and a hot romance with his sexy girlfriend, Frannie. He still broods over the mysterious death of his father, a high-level CIA officer during the Vietnam War, who committed suicide when Rick was thirteen.
Through contacts in what he calls the “Black World,” Rick hears of a mysterious Pakistani Islamist, a rogue nuclear physicist who is trying to acquire highly enriched uranium in order to construct an “Islamic bomb”—a scheme that is all too credible. In tracking him down, Rick encounters a host of characters, some willing to help, many more willing to take his life. And in the explosive conclusion, he struggles in a deadly game of wits with Russian gangsters and the terrorist who is plotting nuclear mass murder in America.
In The Contractor, Colin MacKinnon once again shows his rare ability to turn real-world fact into riveting spy fiction. The Contractor could happen . . . could be happening now.
Colin MacKinnon is former chief editor of Middle East Executive Reports. He is the author of the well-received novels Finding Hoseyn and Morning Spy, Evening Spy. He lives in Chevy Chase, Maryland, with his wife, Diane.
“Middle East expert MacKinnon puts a fresh twist on the stolen suitcase-nuke plot in this smart thriller. . . . This fine espionage procedural should please spy and adventure fans alike.” —Publishers Weekly
“[A] fast-moving, nail-biting thriller.” —Tucson Citizen
“A grabby and gutsy thriller . . . with in-depth characters and finely tooled writing.” —St. Louis Post-Dispatch
“A truly compelling contemporary spy thriller.” —Booklist
Praise for Morning Spy, Evening Spy
“MacKinnon . . . shows great insight into the inner workings of U.S. intelligence. His clipped prose style, descriptive discipline, and tone-perfect dialogue elevate this thriller above the pack.” —Publishers Weekly
“This CIA procedural . . . pays off in a gut punch of an ending.” —Booklist.
“A richly drawn, splendidly written novel. . . . If you’re a thriller reader, snatch this one up. It’s the best of the year, by far.” —St. Louis Post-Dispatch
“MacKinnon has a quiet, spare style and a knack for nailing down just the right details. . . . A nicely written thriller.” —Kirkus Reviews
 |
1Q84 Haruki Murakami Knopf |
 |
The Marriage Plot Jeffrey Eugenides Farrar, Straus, and Giroux |
 |
The Sense of an Ending Julian Barnes Knopf |
 |
Death Comes to Pemberley PD James Knopf |
