Explore our new BookBrowse Community Forum!

Book Summary and Reviews of Agent X by Noah Boyd

Agent X by Noah Boyd

Agent X

A Novel

by Noah Boyd

  • Critics' Consensus:
  • Readers' Rating:
  • Published:
  • Feb 2011, 400 pages
  • Rate this book

  • Buy This Book

About this book

Book Summary

Ex-FBI Steve Vail is visiting Kate Bannon, the Assistant Director at the FBI, for what he thinks is a well-earned and romantic New Year's Eve in Washington, D.C., when he quickly finds himself knee-deep in a very complicated and unusual case.

A man known simply as Calculus, an intelligence officer at the Russian embassy, has approached the FBI claiming he has a list naming several Americans who are supplying confidential information to the Russian secret service. All he asks in exchange for the list is a quarter of a million dollars for each traitor the FBI nabs. But then Calculus informs the FBI that he's been suddenly recalled to Moscow, and the Bureau suspects the worst: the Russians are onto Calculus, probably have access to his list, and will be targeting the traitors soon unless the FBI can find them first.

The FBI knows they have to find Calculus and everyone on the list before the Russians do, but, without knowing exactly who is on the list, they also have to keep the operation quiet. Only one man can do the job: rogue, ex-agent Steve Vail. But finding Calculus and his list of turncoats isn't going to be easy. In fact, it's going to be downright deadly.

Membership Advantages
  • Reviews
  • "Beyond the Book" articles
  • Free books to read and review (US only)
  • Find books by time period, setting & theme
  • Read-alike suggestions by book and author
  • Book club discussions
  • and much more!
  • Just $45 for 12 months or $15 for 3 months.
  • More about membership!

Reviews

Media Reviews

"In the course of a long and convoluted plot, Boyd, a former FBI agent, offers little about the inner workings of the agency or its investigative techniques." - Publishers Weekly

"Not as strong as The Bricklayer, but fans won’t want to give up on the series yet." - Booklist

"A three-ring carnival of counter-espionage, game-playing and summary justice whose many beautifully choreographed action sequences will make you forget how obvious its premise is, and how absurd its details" - Kirkus Reviews

This information about Agent X was first featured in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.

Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.

Reader Reviews

Write your own reviewwrite your own review

fred carr

agent x
A brilliant follow up to the bricklayer, can't wait for next book.

Sarah H. (Belford, NJ)

Steve Vail could rescue me anytime...
Agent X is an action packed thriller filled with twists and turns on every page. Boyd's writing really keeps you guessing right up until the very end. Action, mystery, and a smidgen of a love story; who wouldn't love this book?

Mary D. (Claremont, CA)

Agent X
A very exciting read, always fast-paced and moving. The protagonists are complicated people but very likable. What I particularly enjoy with these characters is that the friendships ring true, the personal commitments are honored and the sense of right vs. wrong is strong. The intrigue within the government is exciting and the good guy/bad guy lines are not always clearly drawn. A good, exciting read from beginning to end!

Patricia D. (Woodland Hills, CA)

My hero - the Bricklayer aka Steve Vail
In Boyd's first book Steve Vail, the bricklayer, was established as a real-life super hero. In Agent X, Steve again performs all the impossible spy and counter-conspiracy theory dances like he was born into the job. He's a little shy in the romance department, but that makes his character seem even more sincere and realistic. Steven Vail is again cornered in this book by the FBI, CIA, police, detectives and any one else who can't figure out a problem. Give it to Steve and he has the problem solved in no time. The reader is sent through a whirl-wind of government and terrorist plots which keeps the pages turning. The action is superb and the story line is one to keep you awake until the book is done. Be sure to give yourself plenty of time because you won't want to put this book down. Does he get the girl this time? Your turn to find out!

Laureen S. (Aurora, IL)

Plenty of twists & turns
This is a great read with plenty of action, twists & turns. Don't expect a vacation read as you will have to keep track of what's going on and the level of reading is not beach material, but more than worth your time. I did not read the first Bricklayer novel, but this book stands alone just fine. However, after reading Agent X, I will definitely go back and read Noah Boyd's first book. I hope for more in this series.

Barbara C. (Riverside, CA)

Redeeming Social Value -- not so much!
But a good read, oh yeah! The comparison with Reacher is apt, and the book has a fast paced plot and lots of action. Suspend reality for a while and enjoy. You may want to read the first book, the Bricklayer, before this one, but it does stand alone. I read many mystery-suspense novels, and this one is definitely a five for the genre.

...19 more reader reviews

Membership Advantages
  • Reviews
  • "Beyond the Book" articles
  • Free books to read and review (US only)
  • Find books by time period, setting & theme
  • Read-alike suggestions by book and author
  • Book club discussions
  • and much more!
  • Just $45 for 12 months or $15 for 3 months.
  • More about membership!

Author Information

Noah Boyd Author Biography

Noah Boyd is the pseudonym of former FBI agent, Paul Lindsay, who worked on cold cases when he was not writing. He was a Marine Corps platoon commander in Vietnam, where he was awarded two Purple Hearts and the Silver Star for Bravery. He went on to be a successful FBI agent in Detroit with over 20 years experience hunting some of the country's most prolific serial killers, including the Green River Killer and the Highland Park Strangler.

The first book in his Steve Vail series, The Bricklayer, was published in 2010. The second, Agent X (aka Last Chance to Die) was published in February 2011. Boyd's intimate knowledge of the Bureau's inner workings, including its weaknesses, and his "in the trenches" experience lends unusual authenticity to Vail's character and the novel’s ...

... Full Biography

Other books by Noah Boyd at BookBrowse
  • The Bricklayer jacket
Membership Advantages
  • Reviews
  • "Beyond the Book" articles
  • Free books to read and review (US only)
  • Find books by time period, setting & theme
  • Read-alike suggestions by book and author
  • Book club discussions
  • and much more!
  • Just $45 for 12 months or $15 for 3 months.
  • More about membership!

More Recommendations

Readers Also Browsed . . .

more thrillers...

Membership Advantages
  • Reviews
  • "Beyond the Book" articles
  • Free books to read and review (US only)
  • Find books by time period, setting & theme
  • Read-alike suggestions by book and author
  • Book club discussions
  • and much more!
  • Just $45 for 12 months or $15 for 3 months.
  • More about membership!

Top Picks

  • Book Jacket: Graveyard Shift
    Graveyard Shift
    by M. L. Rio
    Following the success of her debut novel, If We Were Villains, M. L. Rio's latest book is the quasi-...
  • Book Jacket: The Sisters K
    The Sisters K
    by Maureen Sun
    The Kim sisters—Minah, Sarah, and Esther—have just learned their father is dying of ...
  • Book Jacket: Linguaphile
    Linguaphile
    by Julie Sedivy
    From an infant's first attempts to connect with the world around them to the final words shared with...
  • Book Jacket
    The Rest of You
    by Maame Blue
    At the start of Maame Blue's The Rest of You, Whitney Appiah, a Ghanaian Londoner, is ringing in her...

Members Recommend

  • Book Jacket

    Pony Confidential
    by Christina Lynch

    In this whimsical mystery, a grumpy pony must clear his beloved human's name from a murder accusation.

Who Said...

Censorship, like charity, should begin at home: but unlike charity, it should end there.

Click Here to find out who said this, as well as discovering other famous literary quotes!

Wordplay

Solve this clue:

F the M

and be entered to win..

Your guide toexceptional          books

BookBrowse seeks out and recommends the best in contemporary fiction and nonfiction—books that not only engage and entertain but also deepen our understanding of ourselves and the world around us.