coolreads# Rogue Asset

Rogue Asset
Author: Andy McDermott
Publisher: Headline
ISBN: 9781472263841

As a former special ops soldier as well as operative of the secretive SC9 - an elite security service of the British government given the remit to neutralise the country’s enemies - Alex Reeve now finds himself with the Fox Red label. It is the SC9 code for an internal threat, given to a rogue asset.

The code is issued by the agency’s head, Sir Simon Scott. Actually, Reeve, who is Operative 66, has been framed and while he is being hunted by his colleagues, he uses his skill to uncover the reason why he’s given the Fox Red tag. He finds out that another operative, Craig Parker, had framed him to cover his own treachery.

Angered against the British state after his mother died due to neglect, Parker wanted to take revenge by exposing SC9’s secrets to the world’s media. 

Reeve had stopped Parker and killed him in the process. Unfortunately, his own death sentence has not been cancelled, so Reeve is on the run and hiding. His former mentor, Tony Maxwell gave him a way out to escape capture 18 months ago. And that was when he decided to leave London.

Living the life of Angelo Moretti in Italy with Connie, a nurse who had taken care of him when he was injured in a London hospital, Reeve’s dream of a quiet life is shattered when SC9 gets wind of his location. The agency then sends in operatives to hunt him down, again.

From then onwards, it’s an endless cat-and-mouse game all the way till the very end, with both Reeves’ and Connie’s lives always on the line of fire. They not only have to avoid the SC9 operatives but also the Russian agents who are after the phone that Reeves took from Parker. Apparently, Parker was planning to pass the phone with all the files on SC9’s agents and their dealings, to the Russians.

It’s amazing how much a human body can withstand the torture and bullet wounds like in the case when Reeves is shot, captured and abused. Yet, he still manages to escape from his captives and survives numerous times.

Meanwhile, Reeves’ father, who is in jail for killing his mother based on Reeves’ testimony, is being released by SC9 to bait Reeves out from his hiding. It works when Reeves, after reading the news, decides to return to London to seek him out.

Forced to hide in the shadows as the brutal assassins he once trained alongside come after him, Reeves is dragged into a lethal conspiracy involving British SC9, shadowy Russian agents and his own father, who is back in his drug trade after his release.

Will he succeed in getting the SC9 and the Russian agents off his back and live to tell his side of the story?

Andy McDermott offers an exciting thriller with Rogue Asset except that he gets carried away by making Reeves a superhuman who keeps taking all the punishments coming his way and this can get irritating at times. Otherwise, it’s a commendable effort.