Friday 30 September 2011

Book Review: Rogue Agent: A Thriller (Jaclyn Johnson, code name Snapshot series) by Sean Sweeney

Rogue Agent: A Thriller (Jaclyn Johnson, code name Snapshot series)Jaclyn Johnson is a character I first encountered in Model Agent, and to understand why I like her so much you might want to take a look at my review for that book. In brief though she is a kick-ass CIA agent with great gadgets, model looks and a visual impairment.

In this book, despite heightened security, the world largely watches on in horror as terrorists attack the USA v UK football match at Wembley during the 2012 Olympics. After the death of thousands of US citizens Jaclyn is sent to London to assist MI5's investigation. However as events pick up pace it becomes personal and Jaclyn finds herself going rogue to try and stop the terrorist.

You can tell Sean is a sports enthusiast, and particularly an Arsenal fan, from the careful details relating to the football within the book. The Olympics does seem like an obvious target for terrorist attacks and the author has come up with the sort of scenario that is no doubt worrying British intelligence services at present. The plot is worryingly plausible, and I found the parts written from the terrorist's point of view an interesting study in fanaticism. This book also provides a good tour of parts of London which suggest the author has really done his homework.

The story is told from a range of viewpoints which gives the reader a good overview of how events are received by Jaclyn, the terrorist, and senior figures in the US administration among other. Using the viewpoint of a number of characters can be problematic, but that certainly wasn't the case here.

This isn't your average spy series, it definitely takes things a little less seriously than most, and I loved Jaclyn's kit which once again would give Bond a run for his money. Again the tag line probably gives a good flavour of how serious this book is -  "The double O's have nothing on her double A's". However I thought the tone at the end of the book wasn't quite right considering what was meant to have happened. Without giving the end away it's hard to explain! I also thought that in parts Jaclyn was a bit antagonistic, which made me like her just a little less.

This installment has action, strong ladies, love and loss, and cool gadgets. I think I enjoyed the first book more, perhaps because the plot of this one is that much closer to home, but this was still an enjoyable read and I'm glad to hear book 3 is in hand!

Format: Kindle, bought by me
My Rating: 3*

No comments: