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There are currently 23 member reviews
for Agent X
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Ruth O. (Downingtown, PA)
Fast-paced thriller!
‘Agent X’ was a fast-paced thriller which I thoroughly enjoyed. This was the second book in a series, and I would have had a slightly easier read if I knew more of the backstory, but it was ok as a stand-alone book. The action never stopped—I’d think it was over with the villains identified, but some other twist in the story would occur to keep the book moving along. Sometimes it was hard to keep up with all of the characters! Most of the book took place in one locale, the Washington, DC area, which made it easier to follow than some thrillers which hop around the globe. The author writes in a concise manner with little embellishment, so there was not full character development but it served the story well. I think I’ll have to go back and read the first book in the series now!
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Kris
Agent X
I really enjoyed this book. It is one of the better FBI-CIA intrigue books that I've read over the past couple of years. I found the book to be similar to Nelson DeMille's - John Corry character. In fact, I had to remind myself a couple of times that it was not indeed the same character. I enjoyed the constant turns and could not put the book down once I hit the second half of the book.
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Priscilla B. (Marietta, GA)
Twists and Turns
An entertaining action thriller/mystery. Many twists and turns to keep you guessing. If you enjoy Dan Brown and Lee Child type books, you will like this one. Noah Boyd seems to have great potential as an author. I look forward to reading more of his work.
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Vivian H. (Winchester, VA)
A Real Page Turner
Agent X is a real page turner. I debated between rating this a 4 or 5 and lean towards 4.5. I love a good thriller. And this story is engrossing, albeit improbable - a 21st Century spy thriller involving the Americans and Russians and moles. The narrative is extremely well written. I found the dialogue flat -somewhat stilted. That is why I rated this a 4. Steve Vail is an engaging hero, a talented, complicated man who disdains the authority and red tape laden, political maneuvering of his former employer, the highly bureaucratic FBI and prefers to work as a bricklayer in Chicago. I like Vail, who has similar characteristics of Lee Child's Jack Reacher, and will now go back and read The Bricklayer.
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Portia A. (Mount Laurel, NJ)
A Good Read
There are different kinds of books...instructional, spiritual, intellectual and then there is the "good read". Agent X is in the last category..the characters are implausible, the plot hard to believe, but the story is full of action and it's hard to put the book down. I enjoyed this book. If you love spy thrillers you will too.
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Darlene C. (Woodstock, il)
Nothing New Here
Another cold war, Russia vs. U.S., novel with a mole high up in one of the U.S. spy agencies. Although this has been done many times, I was hoping for a a fresh perspective. Unfortunately, I found this book to be tiresome and, frankly, boring much of the time. The plot was implausible to the point of being difficult to follow. I had to keep reminding myself what the point was of all the chasing around and dead bodies. I enjoy books where the plot is complex and challenging but the clues are there. However, I am not an Agatha Christie fan because the clues are available only to one of the characters - no chance to figure it our for your self. This book follows that formula.
I have not read the first book in this series so perhaps I was at a disadvantage in terms of character development. My belief is that books should generally stand on their own, providing enough character development to flesh out the characters so they become real people that you have some feeling about - either liking or disliking them. In my opinion, this book failed to accomplish that. Both of the main characters, Steve Vail and Kate Bannon, seemed very one dimensional. In particular, Steve Vail would make a great romance novel hero. He is perfect, never does anything wrong and is the only one capable of figuring out and finding the bad guys. If you enjoy those types of heroes, this will be a good read for you. It might make a good airplane or beach book but would not be high on my list of recommendations.
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Sharon W. (Columbia, SC)
Agent X Needs Help!
Noah Boyd, pen name for Paul Lindsay, needs to focus. Is he using Dan Brown's plot construction model? Perhaps Lee Child's? The tedious plotting through way too many puzzles suggests Brown. The rogue main character suggests Childs. I suggest Boyd/Lindsay find his own legs.
His main character's attitude about management-level agents in the Bureau, while somewhat over-stated, are nevertheless quite accurate.
The writing mechanics are careful for the most part, but awkward and amateurish in many places.
I plodded through this book. I wanted to skip.
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