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

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*

Book Review: Model Agent: A Thriller (Jaclyn Johnson, codename Snapshot series) by Sean Sweeney

Ok, I have to admit it, I like thrillers but what really made me take notice of this book was the strapline on the cover "If Bond had boobs..." It made me laugh and having downloaded and read the sample one-clicking the book was a no-brainer.

Jaclyn Johnson is a CIA agent who has been brought up by the State, after her Government official parents died in the September 11th attacks. When 46 people are killed in Boston after drinking poisoned water she is put on the case. She is partnered up with a senior agent and they quickly home in on the most likely suspect, a man who is trying to bring the world to war over water.

One of the things I loved about this book was the number of strong women in positions of power. It makes such a refreshing change especially within a spy thriller. Another is that Jaclyn is strong and beautiful and also happens to have a disability. Sean, I take my hat off to you, providing inspiration for kids with handicaps is something close to my heart (and if my choice of language isn't PC enough for some readers sorry, but as the parent of a disabled child semantics are the least of my daily concerns) and we need more mainstream books, films and tv shows prepared to show people with impaired sight, hearing, mobility and so on in challenging roles, rather than just there to tick diversity and equality boxes. Now off my soapbox and back to the book....

We get to understand a good bit about Jaclyn and her motivation but the other characters aren't treated in quite such depth - fair enough as she's the eponymous heroine. If I had one criticism it's that the villain of the piece, Chillings (suitably named for a man who invents a bottle that keeps liquids cooler for longer) is deranged but I don't really feel sure about what has driven him to the point he's at. It appeared to be pure and simple greed but as the story progressed I became a bit unsure whether that was his only motivation and why wealth was so important to him. Perhaps I missed a key clue to this or need to apply my imagination a little more.

This isn't a short book and I've still managed to read it in less than a day, despite spending a lot of that day in bed with the flu. It is a great, fun, pacey spy romp. I thought Jaclyn's gadgets were brilliant and although I'm not a big Bond fan could imagine her kit attracting Q's attention. It was a far lighter read than other books in the same vein but more enjoyable for it. The book is well written, and I had no issues with formatting or typos which often pop out at me in e-books. The teaser for the sequel - Rogue Agent - will have me keeping my eyes open for it's release.