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The Rat Machine
KENT HARRINGTON, master storyteller, author of The Good Physician, Red Jungle, Dia De Los Muertos and other classic thrillers, tells an explosive tale in his latest work, THE RAT MACHINE. Set in 1980, The Rat Machine travels to Los Angeles, Palermo, London and Mexico with Alex Law and Butch Nickels (The Good Physician, The American Boys) in their first assignment as newly-minted CIA officers and partners. The two are sent into the Los Angeles underworld to pose as heroin dealers for reasons that are, at first, unclear to them. What they discover is a highly organized criminal enterprise spanning the globe with long-standing connections to Western Intelligence agencies-and some very nasty characters. The two friends must fight, not only to stay alive, but to keep from being corrupted themselves. The Rat Machine, based on historical facts, weaves a complex story of the International Heroin Trade, the Sicilian Mafia, and the use of ex-Nazi spy rings by Western Intelligence services during the Cold War-this story cuts deep. The novel is the first book in a planned three-part Rat Machine series.
- GenresThriller
821 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 2001
8 people are currently reading
154 people want to read
About the author
Kent Harrington
25 books7 followersLibrarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.
Kent Harrington is a 4th generation San Franciscan, born to an Irish-Jewish father and Guatemalan mother. His early education was spent at the Palo Alto Military Academy, where he was sent at an early age. He attended San Francisco State University and received a degree in Spanish Literature. After living both in Spain and Latin America, he returned to the Bay Area and began his career as a novelist supporting himself as a teacher, carpenter, factory worker and life insurance salesman.
His first published work was the well-received noir thriller Dark Ride published in 1997. Booklist’s review wrote: “This is as noir as it gets.” His follow-up noir thriller Dia De Los Muertos is now considered a modern crime classic. Amazon’s editorial review says: “If "American noir" were in the dictionary, you might find Kent Harrington's picture in place of the definition.”
Other works include Red Jungle, set in Guatemala, and The Good Physician. Both novels were compared to Graham Greene and John le Carré’s work. Red Jungle was selected as one of the “10 best crime novels” of the year by Booklist.
Kent Harrington is the author of seven novels, the latest, The Rat Machine, will be published by Market Street Books in 2013. He lives in Northern California with his wife.
Kent Harrington is a 4th generation San Franciscan, born to an Irish-Jewish father and Guatemalan mother. His early education was spent at the Palo Alto Military Academy, where he was sent at an early age. He attended San Francisco State University and received a degree in Spanish Literature. After living both in Spain and Latin America, he returned to the Bay Area and began his career as a novelist supporting himself as a teacher, carpenter, factory worker and life insurance salesman.
His first published work was the well-received noir thriller Dark Ride published in 1997. Booklist’s review wrote: “This is as noir as it gets.” His follow-up noir thriller Dia De Los Muertos is now considered a modern crime classic. Amazon’s editorial review says: “If "American noir" were in the dictionary, you might find Kent Harrington's picture in place of the definition.”
Other works include Red Jungle, set in Guatemala, and The Good Physician. Both novels were compared to Graham Greene and John le Carré’s work. Red Jungle was selected as one of the “10 best crime novels” of the year by Booklist.
Kent Harrington is the author of seven novels, the latest, The Rat Machine, will be published by Market Street Books in 2013. He lives in Northern California with his wife.
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
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April 30, 2016This copy is signed by the author Kent Harrington.
November 29, 2014
The rat Machine by Kent Harrington is a first reads win and I'm giving my honest opinion. This is an excellent voice but it goes all over the place. It starts after World War II when the Germans with their Nazis are being picked over at the trials. Some Nazis and Germans knew too much info to waste away in prison. They were dispursed from Germany to the US, GB, and the Soviets. One such German was Hauphman. He warned OSofficer Malcolm Law of a conspiracy. The soviets got Hauphman. He sent word to CIA Malcolm Law he had info and wanted to come to the US. Law needed the information because he feared the CIA and KGB ans MS16 have been compromised. Law doesn't know who to trust. He chooses his son Alex and another Vietnam Veteran. He gives them bricks of heroin and to blend in cause mischief in the drug trafficking with the idea when they made a name for themselves they will meet with the Sicilian Sonny. Alex and Butch are wild. Butch is crazy. They make a name for themselves killing crooked cops stealing from the dealers going after a motorcycle club, so much so a hit is placed on them. This is while they are still in California before they even got sent over seas.
June 3, 2013
Someone needs to make an HBO or Showtime or AMC TV series out of this book! This is one book that screams for such treatment.
Kent Harrington's previous novel DÍA DE LOS MUERTOS is one of my top five or ten favorite novels ever. Nonetheless, I approached his new book THE RAT MACHINE with some trepidation, because I'm not really accustomed to genre crime/spy thrillers running nearly 600 pages. But the only length problem I ended up having with this book was that it was too short. It's not on a par with the masterpiece of hardboiled crime fiction Harrington created in DÍA DE LOS MUERTOS, but it's genuinely exciting, wildly colorful, convolutedly but (generally) believably plotted, and never less than addicting.
The story of two young CIA agents who go rogue (and back) in an effort to prevent the murder of a former Nazi operative who may be useful to American intelligence leaps from California to Sicily to the Swiss Alps to London to Mexico with wild abandon, with a strong sense of verisimilitude in every locale. While far-fetched in places, it's constantly engaging, even though its violence occasionally reaches Grand Guignol levels. THE RAT MACHINE is a real page-turner, and I'm happy that it is said to be the first novel in a trilogy.
Harrington is such a brilliant writer, it's a shame he is (apparently) self-publishing his books now. The one area that this book suffers in is that of copy-editing. It's absolutely rife with typos. Won't some big-time publisher take Harrington on, proofread his manuscripts, publish his books, give him a ton of money, and make him the best-seller he deserves to be? This guy deserves it.
Kent Harrington's previous novel DÍA DE LOS MUERTOS is one of my top five or ten favorite novels ever. Nonetheless, I approached his new book THE RAT MACHINE with some trepidation, because I'm not really accustomed to genre crime/spy thrillers running nearly 600 pages. But the only length problem I ended up having with this book was that it was too short. It's not on a par with the masterpiece of hardboiled crime fiction Harrington created in DÍA DE LOS MUERTOS, but it's genuinely exciting, wildly colorful, convolutedly but (generally) believably plotted, and never less than addicting.
The story of two young CIA agents who go rogue (and back) in an effort to prevent the murder of a former Nazi operative who may be useful to American intelligence leaps from California to Sicily to the Swiss Alps to London to Mexico with wild abandon, with a strong sense of verisimilitude in every locale. While far-fetched in places, it's constantly engaging, even though its violence occasionally reaches Grand Guignol levels. THE RAT MACHINE is a real page-turner, and I'm happy that it is said to be the first novel in a trilogy.
Harrington is such a brilliant writer, it's a shame he is (apparently) self-publishing his books now. The one area that this book suffers in is that of copy-editing. It's absolutely rife with typos. Won't some big-time publisher take Harrington on, proofread his manuscripts, publish his books, give him a ton of money, and make him the best-seller he deserves to be? This guy deserves it.
June 13, 2013
I am an established Kent Harrington fan, going all the way back to Dark Ride. I've really enjoyed everything else I've read of his, with its hallmarks of seaminess and black humor. He keeps on getting more ambitious and setting his stories on a more epic scale...but that doesn't mean they're getting too weighty or anything. It's just plain hilarious to read about the adventures of young Butch Nickels (who is *out of control* here) and Alex Law, and extra enjoyable if you know them from other Harrington works. There are healthy lashings of sex and violence in store: this is red meat. Plus there are chills...without giving anything away, there's a scene set in a basement that for me at least outdid Pulp Fiction's cellar sequence for horror, as well as other tightly wound set pieces. Sam Peckinpah and Sergio Leone are applauding.
July 30, 2014
I received a copy of this book from a Goodreads giveaway for reviewing purposes.
Gruesome, striaght out sick and twisted. Kind of like a wreck that regardless of how disturbing it is you can't help but watch things unfold I continued reading through this book even when got overly crazy. I just couldn't stop myself from reading more. So, I must start by pointing out that this book is not for the faint of heart. Especially seeing as some of this book is supposedly based on historical facts. Which in my mind made the book more disturbing than normal because I can't just blow it off as pure fiction.
Gruesome, striaght out sick and twisted. Kind of like a wreck that regardless of how disturbing it is you can't help but watch things unfold I continued reading through this book even when got overly crazy. I just couldn't stop myself from reading more. So, I must start by pointing out that this book is not for the faint of heart. Especially seeing as some of this book is supposedly based on historical facts. Which in my mind made the book more disturbing than normal because I can't just blow it off as pure fiction.
January 17, 2014
Another exciting, no holds barred, read by Kent Harrington that brings into play the entire international drug scene participants including the CIA, FBI, DEA, KGB, MI5, MI6, the Italian Mafia, the Mexican Cartels, the U.S. Motorcycle gangs, et al. The characters are many and each is unique in themselves. This is not a short read - 561 pages and meant to be the first of a three book series. It is a page-turner all the way to the end. This novel is not for the squeamish as there is an abundant supply of brutal murders, mayhem, drugs, drinking, sex, etc to satisfy any Noir aficionado.
I've read all of Harrington's novels and have yet to be disappointed. I will anxiously look forward to the sequel
I've read all of Harrington's novels and have yet to be disappointed. I will anxiously look forward to the sequel
August 7, 2011
bon livre, très prenant !!
August 23, 2014
If this was the first of a trilogy I can't imagine where #2&3 will take Butch & Alex!
Excellent characters to be drawn into. Thanks Goodreads this was a giveaway book!
Excellent characters to be drawn into. Thanks Goodreads this was a giveaway book!
September 6, 2014
Strong beginning, then lots of violence. Does not appeal to the squeamish reader.
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April 19, 2016This book was a little hard to follow at times as it skips around in time and with the different characters but was a good.
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews