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The Agency #1
The Cain File
The Quito op was meant to be a milk run for Agent Maggie de la Cruz: just hand over the two-million-dollar payoff and nail Commerce Oil for drilling in the Amazon. But that’s not quite how things play out. The sting is sabotaged. Bullets fly. And Maggie has to run.
Then an eco-terrorist group headed up by the notorious Comrade Cain kidnaps a corrupt oil minister and the Agency needs to send Maggie back to clean up Washington’s mess. Another milk run? Maybe—if no one has a secret agenda. Events continue to go off-kilter: the suspicious detainment of a field agent at Bogotá International, leaving Maggie on her own; terrorists who seem more interested in the payoff money than the cause; case handlers with shadowy links that can’t be easily explained; and worse. But Agent de la Cruz will deal with it. Any way she can.
- GenresThriller
349 pages, Kindle Edition
Published February 24, 2020
50 people are currently reading
63 people want to read
About the author
Max Tomlinson
13 books197 followersBorn in the wilds of San Francisco, with its rich literary history and public transport system teeming with potential characters suitable for crime novels, it was inevitable that Max Tomlinson would become a writer.
He is also kindred spirits with a dog named Floyd, a shelter-mix who stops and stares at headlights as they pass by at night. There's a story there, too. If only Floyd could talk. Then again, maybe not.
His work to date includes SENDERO (listed as one of the top 100 Indie novels of 2012 by Kirkus), WHO SINGS TO THE DEAD, LETHAL DISPATCH, THE CAIN FILE (selected by Amazon’s Kindle Scout program) and the follow-up – THE DARKNET FILE. A new three-book mystery series set in 1970s San Francisco debuted in 2019 with Oceanview Publishing. The first book, VANISHING IN THE HAIGHT, features ex-con Colleen Hayes, on the hunt for her long-lost daughter. TIE DIE, book #2, releases August 2020.
Max also writes under the pen name “Max Radin” when he’s not being purely mysterious or suspenseful. Check out ROCK 'N' ROLL VAMPIRE for his comedy debut.
He is also kindred spirits with a dog named Floyd, a shelter-mix who stops and stares at headlights as they pass by at night. There's a story there, too. If only Floyd could talk. Then again, maybe not.
His work to date includes SENDERO (listed as one of the top 100 Indie novels of 2012 by Kirkus), WHO SINGS TO THE DEAD, LETHAL DISPATCH, THE CAIN FILE (selected by Amazon’s Kindle Scout program) and the follow-up – THE DARKNET FILE. A new three-book mystery series set in 1970s San Francisco debuted in 2019 with Oceanview Publishing. The first book, VANISHING IN THE HAIGHT, features ex-con Colleen Hayes, on the hunt for her long-lost daughter. TIE DIE, book #2, releases August 2020.
Max also writes under the pen name “Max Radin” when he’s not being purely mysterious or suspenseful. Check out ROCK 'N' ROLL VAMPIRE for his comedy debut.
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
September 7, 2017
The Cain File (The Agency #1) by Max Tomlinson is a high intrigue, suspense, action packed, and a must read book. This book was very intense. This thriller starts out with a bang and just keeps up the power. I like it also that it has a strong female lead. The plot is great, some sneaky twists, and great characters that are well developed. The suspense is held high, it is fast paced, and the pages fly by. It really is a good book.
February 9, 2016
Max Tomlinson’s The Cain File is a major page-turner. It had all the elements that kept me reading: great characters, intriguing plot, and a fascinating location. Maggie, the main character, is a financial analyst who finds herself in the thick of a complicated deal gone bad. Before you can say Quito, Ecuador, she’s hurled into the position of active agent with bad guys trying to capture her for a two million dollar prize. There are a lot of underhanded machinations to the story, and an ecological disaster in the making with a big oil company raping the jungle for financial profit that will make anyone who cares about the environment angry because you know it’s happening. At times, the lines blur between the good guys and the bad guys, and Maggie’s not sure who she can trust. No more giving away the plot. If you like excitement, sharp plot twists, and a colorful setting, you’ll love this book. Highly recommended. I got this book because I nominated it for a Kindle Scout win, and it won.
March 6, 2018
This is a book that kept my interest from start to finish. There's plenty that can go wrong for Maggie when she travels in South America as part of an operation set out to arrest government officials set on destroying the rain forests so they can pump out oil. I especially liked the various aspects of South American life that peppered the story. Plenty of action and suspense to keep the reader flipping pages.
January 9, 2018
Good spy type thriller. Easy read. I'll definitely read more when I'm in the mood for easy entertainment.
May 21, 2016
Sometimes when I am asked to review a book, I find that I have to work hard to get through it and even harder to find something positive to say about it. It was a delight, therefore, when I took up The Cain File, to discover that I couldn’t put it down. The opening was explosive and the rest of the book thundered towards its climax like an express train. This is an imaginative and exciting story, told by a gifted writer. It made me feel the way I do when I become engrossed in a good Lee Child or a Robert Ludlum. The writing is pacy, mature, and controlled; the characters are real and believable; and the plot is satisfyingly convoluted. Here you have covert ops within covert ops within covert ops. Enough complexity to satisfy the most demanding thriller fan
The main protagonist, Maggie, is feisty, determined and courageous, and despite all sorts of setbacks from her support team in Washington, she allows herself to travel alone into the Equadorian forests to meet with the shadowy and merciless revolutionary, Comrade Cain, and his gang of brutal terrorists.
There is an undercurrent of ecological concern throughout the story but it is carefully muted and does not spoil the reader’s enjoyment in any way. In fact, the reader tends to sympathise with those who would reject the attempts of unfeeling exploration companies to rip and gut the natural forests and landscapes with their huge bulldozers and heavy machinery.
The locations in the story are utterly convincing and the writer seems to have a deep personal acquaintance with the area. Indeed, from time to time, his descriptions are pure poetry. Many passages will catch the eye of the discerning reader, especially this one: “Night fell quickly in the jungle. The buzz of katydids replaced the sticky silence of the waning day while howler monkeys settled in the canopies booming out the boundaries of their territory for the night.” Writing doesn’t get any better than that.
There are one or two typos, the odd dangling participle here and there, but they are so few that they are irrelevant. This is a great story and I have no hesitation in recommending it to anyone who loves a good thriller.
The main protagonist, Maggie, is feisty, determined and courageous, and despite all sorts of setbacks from her support team in Washington, she allows herself to travel alone into the Equadorian forests to meet with the shadowy and merciless revolutionary, Comrade Cain, and his gang of brutal terrorists.
There is an undercurrent of ecological concern throughout the story but it is carefully muted and does not spoil the reader’s enjoyment in any way. In fact, the reader tends to sympathise with those who would reject the attempts of unfeeling exploration companies to rip and gut the natural forests and landscapes with their huge bulldozers and heavy machinery.
The locations in the story are utterly convincing and the writer seems to have a deep personal acquaintance with the area. Indeed, from time to time, his descriptions are pure poetry. Many passages will catch the eye of the discerning reader, especially this one: “Night fell quickly in the jungle. The buzz of katydids replaced the sticky silence of the waning day while howler monkeys settled in the canopies booming out the boundaries of their territory for the night.” Writing doesn’t get any better than that.
There are one or two typos, the odd dangling participle here and there, but they are so few that they are irrelevant. This is a great story and I have no hesitation in recommending it to anyone who loves a good thriller.
Read
May 17, 2016The Cain File is a fast-action story with lots of twists that will keep you reading. The cast is mostly mercenaries and government agents, pitted against Big Oil, greedy South American politicians, eco-terrorists and themselves. The book is unusual in that the main character is a woman, and though she is often rash and oblivious to potential danger, she’s easy to like and to believe in. There’s a lot of great detail that gives insight into the native Indian culture of the Amazon region, and the living conditions in the slums of Ecuador and Chile, as well as unforgettable peeks at the destruction of the last pristine rain forest. There are also some images that are both whimsical and realistic, such as a contract mercenary killing time by playing war games on his cell phone. This is not a book I’d recommend to anyone snobbish about grammar. Tomlinson takes a lot of liberties with sentence structure, and an uneven juxtaposition of phrases often results in confusion. Overall the writing style is oddly arrhythmic and takes some getting used to. It’s worth it, though. This book is a fun read.
This review is based on a copy of the book provided by the author.
This review is based on a copy of the book provided by the author.
March 5, 2016
The Amazon, the Oil Companies, and Corruption
In Maggie De la Cruz Max Tomlinson has created the perfect thriller heroine – smart, brave, and willing to disobey orders if it gets the job done. Maggie is a forensic accountant with the CIA. In her first field operation, she’s part of a team trying to arrest the Ecuadorian oil minister for taking bribes from oil companies. The op goes south when the police don’t show up, and Maggie has to jump through a bay window into a swimming pool below. With her computer. Shortly afterwards, the minister is kidnapped by a group of eco-terrorists led by Cain. Maggie goes with the team to ransom him, and the result is a series of complexities, problems, and blunders. Tomlinson provides us with an authentic portrait of Latin America and of a terrorist group. A first-rate read.
In Maggie De la Cruz Max Tomlinson has created the perfect thriller heroine – smart, brave, and willing to disobey orders if it gets the job done. Maggie is a forensic accountant with the CIA. In her first field operation, she’s part of a team trying to arrest the Ecuadorian oil minister for taking bribes from oil companies. The op goes south when the police don’t show up, and Maggie has to jump through a bay window into a swimming pool below. With her computer. Shortly afterwards, the minister is kidnapped by a group of eco-terrorists led by Cain. Maggie goes with the team to ransom him, and the result is a series of complexities, problems, and blunders. Tomlinson provides us with an authentic portrait of Latin America and of a terrorist group. A first-rate read.
June 5, 2016
I received a free e-copy of this book in the Kindle Scout program when nominating the book and it was selected for publication. Maggie de la Cruz a forensic accountant who wants to do right by saving the tribal land of her mother's family stops the transfer of funds of an oil company trying to take over the land for its own gains. Maggie ends up stopping the transaction and fleeing under gunfire as an inpromptu field operative. Loved it!! The story was so fast paced and exciting, couldn't put it down. Lots of twists and turns trying to figure out if the agency had a mole or not. Maggie just needs to get some field op training on defending herself, but the lady surely knows how to think out of the box, get out of life threatening situations. Definitely want to see more the "The Agency Series" with Maggie, John Rae and Enzo.
March 13, 2016
I'm a sucker for financial crimes novels and Max Tomlinson’s The Cain File is fits the bill within the international thriller category. The reader doesn't have to remember how to add two plus two to enjoy interesting characters, an intriguing plot, and a new-to-me location.
Quito, Ecuador and its surrounding jungles play host to much of the action. As with any good international spy thriller, one is never quite sure who are the good guys and who are the bad guys, and just when you think you might have figured it out, the sand shifts once again.
I have the feeling we have not heard the last of Maggie, our intrepid geek spy-wannabe, and that's a good thing. I received this book because I nominated it in the Kindle Scout program, and it won.
Quito, Ecuador and its surrounding jungles play host to much of the action. As with any good international spy thriller, one is never quite sure who are the good guys and who are the bad guys, and just when you think you might have figured it out, the sand shifts once again.
I have the feeling we have not heard the last of Maggie, our intrepid geek spy-wannabe, and that's a good thing. I received this book because I nominated it in the Kindle Scout program, and it won.
May 28, 2016
Great read!
The Cain File is a great story centered in South America. Max Tomlinson is a relatively new author showing great promise to become one of the leaders in this genre.
The story follows CIA agents in Ecuador and Peru as they take many devious turns dealing with a terrorist group known as Grim Harvest and a corrupt government. You're never sure who to trust as a forensic accountant steps out of a quiet desk job into the shady realm of field ops.
I enjoyed this book and found it hard to put down. I'm looking forward to reading Max Tomlinson's follow up to The Cain File.
Do yourself a favor and read this book. I'm sure you'll enjoy it. My thanks to Max Tomlinson for contacting me and asking me to read this book.
The Cain File is a great story centered in South America. Max Tomlinson is a relatively new author showing great promise to become one of the leaders in this genre.
The story follows CIA agents in Ecuador and Peru as they take many devious turns dealing with a terrorist group known as Grim Harvest and a corrupt government. You're never sure who to trust as a forensic accountant steps out of a quiet desk job into the shady realm of field ops.
I enjoyed this book and found it hard to put down. I'm looking forward to reading Max Tomlinson's follow up to The Cain File.
Do yourself a favor and read this book. I'm sure you'll enjoy it. My thanks to Max Tomlinson for contacting me and asking me to read this book.
March 26, 2016
Very suspenseful. Kept me guessing til the end. Hard to put this down. Looking forward to more from author, Max Tomlinson!
April 25, 2016
Good story
I enjoyed Max Tomlinson's book. The store has one hoping that right will take away the wrong and that we still have people that will fight for the truth.
I enjoyed Max Tomlinson's book. The store has one hoping that right will take away the wrong and that we still have people that will fight for the truth.
March 22, 2016
The Cain File
I really liked this fast- paced, action book with it's interesting characters. I also enjoyed learning about these natives and the plight of the Rain Forest. So sad but I do like that fact that Maggie got some of the money to help with stopping the oil company. It also makes you realize how poor these people are and the conditions they live under. So very sad. Can't wait to read the next one!
I really liked this fast- paced, action book with it's interesting characters. I also enjoyed learning about these natives and the plight of the Rain Forest. So sad but I do like that fact that Maggie got some of the money to help with stopping the oil company. It also makes you realize how poor these people are and the conditions they live under. So very sad. Can't wait to read the next one!
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews