Bigot List: A Reckoning

by J. Sydney Jones

Would you rather be the hunter or the hunted?

That is the choice ex-CIA operative Jake Jacobs, now a comfortable history professor, must make after he discovers his name on an online hitlist. And his choice draws him back into the old game and to a former lover as he fights to stay alive.

Jake Jacobs happily put the wasted years of his CIA service behind him two decades ago. Now a history professor in Oregon, he is at work on a book about a possible mole in the Agency who was never outed. Suddenly, he finds himself pulled back into the secret world when his name and photo, along with those of four others, appears on a revenge site, Reckoning. The site promises vengeance for an op that went sideways in Vienna during the final days of the Cold War.
Ancient history to Jake, who figures someone is trolling him. Until a couple of the online photos are suddenly X-ed out, and he discovers those two, who were also involved in the disastrous op, have been killed. Left on this insider list are Jake; his one-time superior at CIA, Laurence Armitage; and his former adversary, KGB officer Yuri Vosenko.

Jake would rather be the hunter than the hunted and ultimately teams up with his old nemesis, Vosenko, to track down the Reckoning site and whoever is behind it. This takes Jake from the West Coast of the U.S. to the moors of Ireland, to the arms of Tania in Vienna, and to the Alpine passes of Austria in an explosive and emotional journey into an all too real wilderness of mirrors.

301 pages, Kindle Edition

Published June 25, 2024

About the author

J. Sydney Jones is the author of twenty books, including the six installments of the critically acclaimed Viennese Mystery series, as well as stand-alone mysteries and thrillers, including TIME OF THE WOLF, THE GERMAN AGENT, RUIN VALUE, BASIC LAW, THE EDIT, THE CRY OF CICADAS, and others. His books have been translated into eight languages.

A long-time resident of Vienna, he has also lived and worked in Florence, Paris, Molyvos, and Donegal. Jones currently lives on the central coast of California.

Visit the author at his homepage and at his blog, Scene of the Crime.

Reviews

[Katie · Rating 2 out of 5]

A former CIA agent. A former KGB agent. A revenge website from an operation gone wrong. Is it better to be hunted or to be a hunter?

Jake Jacobs is a former CIA agent, turned community college history professor. His students inform him that his name has been found on a revenge website where other names have been crossed out, like they are dead. As Jacobs uses his skills from the CIA as well as former agents to help him stay alive, Jacobs learns the truth about his former friends, allies and enemies.

This book was a slow burn. It started off slow but around 40% of the way through the book, it picked up quickly. The story itself was phenomenal. I am not one who typically likes slow burning books and I like to be thrown into the story right away. However, once the plot started moving faster, I began enjoying the book more.

That being said, I really struggled with the organization of the book. The chapters were not organized easily, making the story hard to understand and keep track of. Had the chapters been shortened or split up by character, I think the readability and clarity of the story would be impacted for the better. The story was great; the execution could have been better.

I received this book as an advanced copy from Hidden Gems and am leaving my review freely.

[Sally · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rounded up to a 4. It took me a while to get into the book-slow start. Once Vosenko was introduced, it got more interesting. I liked him the most and I was sorry he died.

I thought Jake acted more like a professor than someone who had been in action during the Cold War. He was rather naive and slow figuring out what was going on. Lots of bodies. I had a few unanswered questions at the end of the book, but all in all I enjoyed it.

[Tanya · Rating 5 out of 5]

He had been in the CIA but now he has retired and is now a professor but trouble is coming. He find out he is on a hit list and now he has a decision to make. Will he be the hunted or the hunter? His choice will shape the next part of his life. How will he get on? What will he become? See how he gets on
I received an advance copy from hidden gems and I want to review

[Alyce · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was a surprise for me; it’s not the genre I typically go for but the writing was really good and the story was interesting (though parts of it felt a bit slow). It was actually pretty twisty and I was never able to guess exactly what was going to happen next. Could easily see something like this being turned into a limited series.

Received in a giveaway—thanks to the author!

[Martha Allen godin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent. Very suspenseful.