coolreads# The Night Agent

The Night Agent

Author: Matthew Quirk

Publisher: Head of Zeus

ISBN: 9781800243477

The non-stop action of this thriller is similar to an earlier thriller published many years ago - The Pelican Brief by John Grisham - which has been made into a movie starring Julia Roberts and Denzel Washington, of the same title. In both stories, ordinary citizens are on the run from the authorities after stumbling upon some dark secrets that lead directly to the White House. 

This time, it starts with the Russians, who after meddling with America, decide to place a mole in the White House. And FBI surveillance specialist Peter Sutherland is the man caught in the middle of this political intrigue, and he is the only one who can stop them.

As the son of a wrongly disgraced FBI spy chief whose alleged treachery has tainted his own career, Peter is surprised to find himself with a job in the White House situation room. His assignment is simply to sit by a special phone throughout the night, in the rare event that someone calls with an urgent coded message. 

After almost a year of phone-sitting, he finally gets such a call from Rose Larkin, a panicked young woman who has just escaped the bullet-riddled home of her aunt and uncle, Henry and Paulette Campbell, who are counterintelligence agents. The Campbells possess a red ledger containing damaging evidence of meetings between a high-placed US government official and Russian intelligence officers. And a Russian operative, with direct link to the Kremlin, is prepared to kill for it. 

Rose is drawn to Peter for his caring nature. Not trusting the FBI for protection, she asks for Peter’s help instead and he has agreed to do so, even if that means lying to his superiors. 

Eventually, Peter finds that the people whom he thought he could trust - especially his boss, Chief of Staff Diane Farr - prove untrustworthy. Can he even turn to President Michael Travers, his basketball buddy for help? 

Matthew Quirk keeps things moving at a rapid pace. The suspense and excitement will keep readers glued to the pages, even when Matthew does not provide the main protagonists, Peter and Rose with much depth, character-wise.

Taking a leaf from the current political situation in the world today, the author reimagines the Russians taking control of Washington, with such possibilities as owning a sitting US president. However, the twist at the end is a nice surprise.