The Night Agent

by Matthew Quirk, Chris Andrew Ciulla (Narrator)

To find a Russian mole in the White House, an FBI agent must question everything. . . and trust no one

To save America from a catastrophic betrayal, an idealistic young FBI agent must stop a Russian mole in the White House in this exhilarating political thriller reminiscent of the early novels of John Grisham and David Baldacci.

No one was more surprised than FBI Agent Peter Sutherland when he’s tapped to work in the White House Situation Room. From his earliest days as a surveillance specialist, Peter has scrupulously done everything by the book, hoping his record will help him escape the taint of his past. When Peter was a boy, his father, a section chief in FBI counterintelligence, was suspected of selling secrets to the Russians—a catastrophic breach that had cost him his career, his reputation, and eventually his life.

Peter knows intimately how one broken rule can cost lives. Nowhere is he more vigilant than in this room, the sanctum of America’s secrets. Staffing the night action desk, his job is monitoring an emergency line for a call that has not—and might never—come.

Until tonight.

At 1:05 a.m. the phone rings. A terrified young woman named Rose tells Peter that her aunt and uncle have just been murdered and that the killer is still in the house with her. Before their deaths, they gave her this phone number with urgent instructions: “Tell them OSPREY was right. It’s happening. . . “

The call thrusts Peter into the heart of a conspiracy years in the making, involving a Russian mole at the highest levels of the government. Anyone in the White House could be the traitor. Anyone could be corrupted. To save the nation, Peter must take the rules into his own hands and do the right thing, no matter the cost. He plunges into a desperate hunt for the traitor—a treacherous odyssey that pits him and Rose against some of Russia’s most skilled and ruthless operatives and the full force of the FBI itself.

Peter knows that the wider a secret is broadcast, the more dangerous it gets for the people at the center. With the fate of the country on the line, he and Rose must evade seasoned assassins and maneuver past jolting betrayals to find the shocking truth—and stop the threat from inside before it’s too late.

Genres: Thriller, Fiction, Mystery, Mystery Thriller, Espionage, Audiobook, Suspense

11 pages, Audible Audio

First published January 15, 2019

About the author

Matthew Quirk studied history and literature at Harvard College. After graduation, he spent five years at The Atlantic reporting on crime, private military contractors, terrorism prosecutions, and international gangs. He lives in San Diego.

Reviews

[Kay · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5⭐

Traitor, corruption, and lots of action.

I read after watching the series on Netflix, and I think this time I prefer the adaptation slightly more. This is a good political thriller and well-written that perhaps I would've enjoyed it more if I read it before watching.

The plot follows FBI Agent Peter Sutherland who's assigned to the emergency phone line at the white house. He works the night shift and is the night agent.

[Mark · Rating 5 out of 5]

A bit of ‘24’, a dash of ‘Designated Survivor’ and a dollop of ‘West Wing’ all expertly made into 1 superb, tense thriller
Peter mans the ‘secret phone line’ in the Whitehouse operations room ( the one we see in the films where when there is a crisis they all sit round and scary looking people appear on video screens ) waiting for a call from anyone who has the secret access codes and needs immediate help, he waits, and waits and ( of course ) one night it rings, and when it does it sets of a game of cat and mouse that he, against everyone’s advice, get’s himself involved with
Friends become enemies, allies turn to traitors, folk cross, double and even triple cross and soon he is facing a deception so big it will, if comes out, shock the world
The story continues as he fights against this with Rose, also dragged into this not for want but for an event she witnessed and its no exaggeration to say it doesn’t let up right until the last word
Simply put it was brilliant
10/10
5 Stars

[myo ⋆｡˚ ❀ * · Rating 3 out of 5]

honestly peter is so boring in this book, im currently watching the show and i think his personality translates better on screen?

[Tracy P. · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 stars.

[Kathi Defranc · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Russians Controlling High-Placed People In the White House!?!

What an enthralling thriller this is!! Excitement follows Agent Peter Sutherland, now at work nights in the Situation Room, watching a phone that never seems to ring...His job is to answer if a call comes in and contact only the Chief of Staff and a trusted agent.
Peter's father had been an agent, and was labelled as a traitor, a fact never confirmed before he died in a suspicious accident. So Peter has always followed every rule tightly, never giving anyone a chance to shun him even as so many knew his Dad.
When the 'phone' rings this time it is a young lady, very fearful, with things happening right in front of her! Peter can't forget about her, and tries to keep himself involved with her. For the first time ever he goes against rules to keep her safe. And the adventure they end up on is amazing!!
What an exceptional story that has down to earth,believable characters that you feel right next to as they struggle to find exactly Who is against them and Who is with them!! A definite 5 STAR story that grabs you at the start and never lets you go....
I received a copy of the story from Thrillerfix, and I wholeheartedly thank them for introducing me to this author! I give you my honest and true feelings in this review, and urge you to read this story and travel a remarkable adventure yourself!!!

[Patricia Williams · Rating 5 out of 5]

A really good book by an author I haven't read before but I will definitely read again. The Night Agent is about a young man who has a job in the White House answering an "emergency" phone line that hardly ever rings but one night it does and everything changes for him. Because people are murdered and he wants to find out what happened and why. While looking into this he finds that some of the people he works for in the White house are involved with the Russians and then people start trying to kill him but, of course, someone comes to his rescue. Good story and my favorite thing about any book, short chapters! Definitely recommend.

[Rich · Rating 1 out of 5]

This was the first book by this author that I have read. I had high hopes for this book but they crashed and burned with this one lol. On the bright side I think the author might have some talent but I have no desire to read any other books by him. I had several problems and the first big one was I did not care about the main good guy at all lol . I just thought he was very plain, boring which for this type of book is bad, you have to have an investment with the main character or the story will sink he is no Jack Ryan. I really could care less about the bad guys, and I thought the story was meh. This book it takes for ever for something to happen hundreds of pages. The book was meh to me. I say do not take a spin with this one.

[Laura · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a political thriller packed with action and intrigue. The main characters captivate and elevate the simple story.

[Mogsy · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 of 5 stars at The BiblioSanctum https://bibliosanctum.com/2019/02/09/...

A perfectly serviceable political thriller, The Night Agent by Matthew Quirk introduces Peter Sutherland, a junior FBI agent who, despite being something of a pariah in security circles, has been given a second chance to prove himself. After all, his circumstances were through no fault of his own. Peter was just a boy when his father, an FBI counterintelligence chief, was accused of spying for the Russians, a mark on his record that that tormented the elder Sutherland for the rest of his life even after it ruined his reputation and career.

Inevitably, the suspicions also fell on Peter, despite his efforts to play everything straight and do everything by the rules. He has followed in his father’s footsteps, becoming a surveillance specialist even knowing his chances of advancement are slim. However, all his hard work finally paid off the day Peter was offered a job in the Situation Room by the White House chief of staff. His role: to be the agent manning the night desk, monitoring any calls that might come in through the emergency phone lines during the graveyard shift. Even though none ever come, it’s still an important job, and Peter is also thankful enough just to have a position in the heart of the capital.

Then one night, on a night like any other, the phone finally rings. Peter picks up the receiver to a terrified sounding woman on the other end. “Night Action,” she says. “They told me to tell you that. That you would know what to do. My name is Rose Larkin. He’s here. He’s inside. He’s going to kill me.”

What follows next is a whirlwind of action and suspense as Peter is thrust into the middle of a conspiracy that implicates the possibility of a mole hidden in the highest levels of the government. While our protagonist is no Jack Bauer (because, let’s face it, who is?) The Night Agent does have the tone, pacing, and feel of something like 24. This story admittedly requires quite a bit of setup, resulting in erratic pacing for the first handful of chapters as the author bounces between multiple perspectives in order to introduce all the characters and the plot’s background elements as quickly as possible. Things smooth out soon after that.

Granted, I haven’t read too many political thrillers, but I imagine The Night Agent is pretty standard as far as the genre goes. The main focus is on the plot, ensuring that something interesting happens in every chapter with plenty of turning points and major reveals. Quirk isn’t one to waste his words and pretty much everything he’s written down is relevant to the main thrust of the story. This kept the momentum strong throughout and the narrative constantly driving forward so that I never found myself bored.

Similar to my experience with most thrillers though, I also found characterization to be on the weaker side as more emphasis is placed on the thriller and action elements. But given the wild ride the author takes us on, it’s a trade-off I didn’t mind too much. Our protagonists also felt genuine enough, and easy to relate to despite the crazy situation in which they’ve found themselves. Peter is an unassuming figure, at least in the political arena that is Washington DC. He may work close to the president and his trusted staff, but at the end of the day is he a low-level FBI agent, unremarkable except for his father’s history. Rose, on the other hand, has a more vivacious personality. She has come to the city to stay with her uncle and aunt, who turn out to be couple of former spies. Both Peter and Rose are just ordinary individuals caught up in extraordinary circumstances trying their best to survive with the limited resources they have, which makes readers sympathetic to their struggle.

All told, I found The Night Agent to be an entertaining read. I doubt it would change the world or blow any minds, but it certainly deserves a look if you’re into high-drama political thrillers. And while I confess this isn’t a genre I’m all that familiar with, after reading this novel I definitely wouldn’t mind reading more just like it.

[kathryn]

Full disclaimer, I read this after binge watching the entirety of the show on Netflix and then watching it again because I liked it so much. Then I decided I wanted to read the source material.

This book follows Peter Sutherland, who answers a distress call from Rose Larkin, whose aunt and uncle have just been murdered. It all boils down to this: there's some kind of conspiracy in the White House, and Peter and Rose's lives are at risk until they can get to the bottom of it.

Overall, I liked the book, but I most definitely didn't fall in love with it the way I did with the show. The plot was a bit more convoluted, and there was less chemistry between the two main characters. I liked that it was fast-paced with all of the short paragraphs and short chapters, but some scenes felt a little bare-bones. Some more description would've helped with immersion. I also didn't like that there were multiple POVs (I complain about this for almost every book with multiple POVs, so no surprise here). Dimitri's chapters were fine for building up tension, but I personally could've done without Farr's sections.

All in all, if you liked the show and you like spy thrillers, it wouldn't hurt to give this book a shot.

[Maine Colonial · Rating 4 out of 5]

I like high-class espionage books and political thrillers by writers like John le Carré, but I’m not enough of a snob to turn up my nose at what I think of as “popcorn” thrillers. And this is definitely the kind of thriller you want to sit down and read with a drink and a bowl of popcorn handy.

You’ve read the book description, so you know the plot setup. Matthew Quirk doesn’t spend a whole ton of time setting the scene, and once that’s finished, it’s just bang-bang action, chases, and tension in a mad dash to the finish.

It’s a timely novel too, with a plot line based on Russian plans to get aggressive with its neighbors and to compromise any international forces that might interfere. You will see some definite connections to the current political situation, but Quirk cleverly writes in such a way as to make the story palatable to readers who may have very different political outlooks.

I thought the wrap-up was a little clunky and left some loose ends, but still all in all this was good entertainment.

One caveat: Whatever you do, avoid the audiobook version! The narrator’s reading is way over-the-top hammy, which I could get used to, but the real killer is his voicing of the Rose character. She’s scared a lot of the time, and the narrator’s idea of how to express that is to make her voice some weird cross between a whine and a moan. It makes her sound terrible and it’s distracting. I am basing my 4-star rating of the book on the story, not taking into account the narration.

[Φίλιππος ²³ · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ίσα ίσα περνάει την τάξη... 5/10 ή αλλιώς, 2.5*

Η ιστορία πάνω κάτω χιλιοειπωμένη...ο αδιάφθορος και άτεγκτος (σε βαθμό δυσκοιλιότητας) τηλεφωνικός πράκτορας, που σπεύδει σε βοήθεια δεσποσύνης που βρίσκεται σε κίνδυνο, αγνοώντας τις εντολές των ανωτέρων του και βάζοντας σε κίνδυνο εκτός από την καριέρα του, και την ίδια του τη ζωή.
Καλοί Αμερικανοί και κακοί Ρώσοι, κατάσκοποι και προδότες, σε ένα βιβλίο που μοιάζει με κατασκοπικό ανάγνωσμα του ψυχρού πολέμου 🥴, με ολίγον από Condor και με γκεστ εμφάνιση ενός wanna be Raymond 'Red' Reddington, και με εμφανείς τις απόψεις του συγγραφέα περί Ρωσίας και Πούτιν!

Στα θετικά, έχει πολλή δράση και διαβάζεται γρήγορα, εξ ου και το τρίτο αστεράκι, αλλά σε γενικές γραμμές δεν με έπεισε.

[Zaynab · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 ☆

Forget the rules. Forget the truth. You do what you have to do to survive.

Hard hitting intense thriller that keeps the reader up all night racing through the short concise chapters. Enthralling pertinent plot engages and terrifies as unnerving secrets are laid bare that threaten all semblance of normalcy in a high stakes ruthless contest that is deeply rooted in camouflage & infiltration in governing top brass. Evocative and plausible espionage thriller.

[Alex Cantone · Rating 4 out of 5]

“Mobile pay phone. Night action. Pen. Clock. Door. Fire. I’ll tell them where I am. That I need help. That OSPREY was right. We have only six days…and that you have the red ledger.”

A one-time support role with the FBI’s Boston Field Office, Peter Sutherland now works the night shift in the Situation Room at the White House, monitoring the emergency phone line. Months have passed since it rang, a caller giving the verification code, and Sutherland is instructed to contact either Diane Farr- chief of staff to POTUS Travers (she hired him) or his boss, James Hawkins - senior advisor to the president on terrorism & counter-intelligence. Hawkins distrusts Sutherland, as his own father was suspected of spying for the Soviets.

That night the emergency phone rings, the caller a young woman named Rose Larkin, who fumbles through the coded message given to her by her aunt and uncle, from a closet in a nearby house she has broken into, insisting a man is trying to kill her. Sutherland calls in the Secret Service and when Farr and Hawkins turn up, he is told to stand down, job well done and report in the morning.

As if???

Three days later, Sutherland attends the funeral and burial service for the Campbells – retired national security figures, and afterwards the niece, Rose follows him to thank him for his help and takes his card. She is supposedly under a security detail at a hotel, but this is merely a drive-by patrol and she is feeling naturally nervous, wanting to know what is going on, what the Campbells were involved in to get themselves killed. Sutherland can’t give her any answers, but tries to give her confidence by showing her the tradecraft of how to tail someone without their suspecting, and is with her at the hotel when the killer makes a move.

Told alternatively from Sutherland’s POV and that of the assassin, Dimitri Sokokov, “The Night Agent” is a stylish political thriller, of a ledger detailing the activities of a mole deep within the White House, close to the President himself, though it emerges that Travers gained the presidency by default when the front-runner was mired in financial scandal before the election.

What follows is a 3-day adrenaline-ride across Washington DC, with people offed in a cover-up that will shake the Presidency. Billed as resembling the earlier works of John Grisham and David Baldacci (neither author among my favourites), The Night Agent held my attention throughout. Gifting Sutherland with family secrets and a support role, frees him of the pressures of a Special Agent, with gutsy performances by the main players and level of detail, particularly the well-described fight scenes.

Verdict: I will look out for other works by Matthew Quirk.

[Ryan Steck · Rating 5 out of 5]

Matthew Quirk returns to the thriller scene with a thundering bang.

Saying you work at the White House sounds sexy unless you’re FBI agent Peter Sutherland, whose entire job description requires spending eight hours a night in the Situation Room sitting at a desk that houses a single phone that never rings.

For Peter, though, the job symbolizes something much bigger than babysitting a silent hotline. The son of a disgraced FBI chief, Peter has had to work twice as hard to earn trust within the agency. Once a solid D1 basketball player, Sutherland left the NCAA behind to join the FBI in an effort to right the wrongs committed by his father. Instead, he was reassigned to a third-shift assignment in the basement, where he’s unable to do any good until one night, out of the blue, the phone finally rings.

On the other end on the line, a frantic twenty-something-year-old woman named Rose Larkin battles through a panic attack long enough to inform Peter that someone had broken into her aunt and uncle’s home and killed them both. As Peter talks to her while local police and FBI agents race to the scene, she also relays a coded message her aunt and uncle had passed on to her indicating that something big is supposed to happen in six days. The message means nothing to Peter, who kicks the info up the chain to his boss, James Hawkins, a veteran agent with the FBI’s national security division, officially ending his involvement with the entire situation.

Unofficially, Peter isn’t as quick to forget about Rose and what happened to her aunt and uncle, Paulette and Henrey Campbell. After a series of truly innocent events, where Peter tried to offer his condolences to Rose and then be there for her after sensing she needed someone to lean on, he inadvertently finds himself present when the same people who killed the Campbells tries to terminate Rose, too.

Following the would-be attack, President Michael Travers’ chief-of-staff, Diane Farr, reads Peter into what’s really going on . . . revealing a huge conspiracy that, if the FBI is correct, means that Russia has infiltrated the highest levels of the American government and is planning something massive — which may go down in only a few days’ time.

Thrilled to finally be off the bench and into the game, Peter realizes . . .

Read the rest of this review here: https://therealbookspy.com/2018/10/22...

[Andrew Langert · Rating 2 out of 5]

I received an advance reader’s edition of this book in a Goodreads Giveaway.
The protagonist, the Night Agent, works in the White House, manning a hotline. Though his job is to refer trouble called in to others with more responsibility, he gets personally involved in investigating a case when a woman calls in as her aunt and uncle are being killed. The night agent begins to suspect that a traitor involved with Russian bad guys is in his midst at the White House.
What follows are hundreds of pages of the protagonist chasing and being chased, with the author going into elaborate detail about all elements of the action. All the running around really got tedious and I struggled to finish this book.

[Lauren · Rating 4 out of 5]

More like 4.5-4.75 Stars. I binged watched The Night Agent on Netflix and was obsessed and super sad when it ended. Then I found out that it was based on a book so I was happy I could read it to still get more. The book and show are very different, but a lot of the undertones are the same. The book maybe should have been called The Night Action Man instead of The Night Agent but still good nonetheless. For those of you who watched the show first and can’t get enough of Peter & Rose just hang in there till around chapter 57 maybe? I was happy that, that plot line from the show was still there albeit different. I’m glad I watched the show first, because I think it made me appreciate the book vs being aggravated that the book and show were so different which is what normally happens when I do the reverse. Political thrillers are not normally my scene but I really enjoyed this book! Part of the reason was because I scoured the reviews first (again looking for insight on the Peter & Rose plot lines) and every review I read raved about the book. I’m very glad I gave it a chance and would recommend it to anyone, I don’t think you need to be into political thrillers or spy novels to like it.

[Χρύσα Βασιλείου · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ο Αμερικανός συγγραφέας Matthew Quirk συστήνεται για πρώτη φορά στο ελληνική αναγνωστικό κοινό με τον «Νυχτερινό πράκτορα», ένα κατασκοπευτικό θρίλερ που φιλοδοξεί να κερδίσει τις εντυπώσεις.

Ο Πίτερ Σάδερλαντ είναι ένας νεαρός πράκτορας του FBI, που εργάζεται στη νυχτερινή βάρδια της Αίθουσας Διαχείρισης Κρίσεων στον Λευκό Οίκο. Ουσιαστικά, περνάει τις ώρες του περιμένοντας να χτυπήσει η ειδική γραμμή έκτακτης ανάγκης, που χρησιμοποιείται σε ιδιαίτερες περιπτώσεις και από συγκεκριμένα πρόσωπα. Ο Πίτερ ονειρευόταν μια καριέρα στην ενεργό δράση, όμως γνωρίζει πως κάτι τέτοιο δεν είναι εφικτό, αφού ο πατέρας του είχε κατηγορηθεί ως κατάσκοπος που πουλούσε μυστικά στους Ρώσους, περνώντας το «στίγμα» της προδοσίας και στον γιο του.
Όταν ένα βράδυ χτυπάει η γραμμή έκτακτης ανάγκης, ο Πίτερ ακούει στην άλλη πλευρά τη φωνή μιας τρομοκρατημένης κοπέλας, η οποία του αναφέρει πως άγνωστοι εκτελεστές εισέβαλαν στο σπίτι των θείων της και άνοιξαν πυρ εναντίον τους. Εκείνοι είναι πλέον νεκροί και η κοπέλα φυγάς, που ως μάρτυρας πρέπει να βγει επίσης από τη μέση. Ο Πίτερ εκτελεί άμεσα το καθήκον του και ενημερώνει τους ανωτέρους του, αλλά νιώθει πως έχει χρέος να βοηθήσει προσωπικά την άγνωστη κοπέλα, αφού ήταν εκείνος που απάντησε στην κλήση της. Και ενάντια σε όλους τους κανονισμούς και τις προειδοποιήσεις, επιδιώκει να έρθει σε προσωπική επαφή μαζί της και να τη βοηθήσει να βρει τους δολοφόνους των θείων της.
Τότε αρχίζει ένα πραγματικά επικίνδυνο παιχνίδι, το οποίο δεν θα μπορούσε να προβλέψει ο Πίτερ ούτε στους εφιάλτες του. Το νεκρό ζευγάρι αποκαλύπτεται πως ήταν πράκτορες της αντικατασκοπείας, πληρώνοντας με τη ζωή τους το γεγονός ότι είχαν στην κατοχή τους μια κρυφή ατζέντα που έψαχναν οι Ρώσοι. Έκπληκτος, ο Πίτερ ανακαλύπτει πως ένα καλοστημένο σχέδιο οργανώνεται εδώ και πολύ καιρό, έχει μπει σε εφαρμογή και πως απομένουν μόνο έξι μέρες μέχρι την ολοκλήρωσή του. Το χειρότερο, όμως, δεν είναι η μάχη που πρέπει να δώσει με τον χρόνο, αλλά ότι υπάρχει ένας προδότης στο στρατόπεδό τους. Μέσα στον Λευκό Οίκο, μέσα στην υπηρεσία όπου εργάζεται και ο ίδιος, κάποιος παίζει σε διπλό ταμπλό. Και ο Πίτερ δεν αντέχει ακόμα μια προδοσία. Ποιον όμως μπορεί να εμπιστευτεί; Ποιος είναι φίλος και ποιος εχθρός; Και πώς θα καταφέρει να διώξει ο ίδιος από πάνω του το στίγμα του προδότη και να βρει τον πραγματικό ένοχο, πριν να είναι πολύ αργά;

Το μυθιστόρημα αυτό είναι πλασμένο από το υλικό που φτιάχνονται τα θρίλερ αυτού του είδους: καταιγιστική πλοκή, συνεχείς ανατροπές, μυστικά, ψέματα, κρυφές συμμαχίες, υπόγειες συμφωνίες, πλάγιες ματιές, καχυποψία και προδοσία. Ήρωες που βρίσκονται σε αντίπαλα στρατόπεδα -οι «καλοί» και οι «κακοί», ανάλογα με την οπτική του καθενός-, που δεν ξέρουν ποιον μπορούν πραγματικά να εμπιστευτούν και ποιος είναι εν δυνάμει προδότης και αντίπαλός τους. Που γνωρίζουν πως κάθε στιγμή ρισκάρουν την αποστολή τους, την προστασία των πολιτών ή της χώρας, αλλά και της ίδιας της ζωής τους. Η πλοκή οπωσδήποτε θυμίζει, σε γενικές γραμμές, βιβλία παρόμοιου περιεχομένου ή ακόμα και κάποια κατασκοπευτική ταινία ή σειρά. Διαθέτει όμως και την προσωπική της ταυτότητα, το ξεχωριστό στίγμα που της δίνει τη δική της θέση στο λογοτεχνικό σύμπαν.
Δεν είναι η πρώτη φορά που οι Ηνωμένες Πολιτείες, ο Λευκός Οίκος και το FBI εμπλέκονται σε μια υπόθεση κατασκοπείας. Ούτε και η πρώτη φορά που η Ρωσία έχει τον ρόλο του… συνήθους υπόπτου. Η ίδια η ιστορία ανάμεσα στα δύο κράτη έχει τροφοδοτήσει πολλάκις τη φαντασία των δημιουργών και ο Quirk το εκμεταλλεύεται με τον καλύτερο δυνατό τρόπο. Ένας κόσμος υπαρκτός, σκοτεινός και επικίνδυνος ξεδιπλώνεται με μαεστρία στις σελίδες του βιβλίου. Το περιβάλλον του Αμερικανού προέδρου και ένας μέρος των μυστικών υπηρεσιών των ΗΠΑ αποτυπώνονται με αρκετή αληθοφάνεια και πιστότητα, χρησιμεύοντας ως η καταλληλότερη βάση πάνω στην οποία στήνεται η φανταστική πλοκή του μυθιστορήματος.
Ο κεντρικός ήρωας, ο Πίτερ Σάδερλαντ, κατορθώνει να ξεχωρίσει και να κερδίσει το ενδιαφέρον, αλλά και τη συμπάθεια του αναγνώστη. Στο πρόσωπό του ενσαρκώνονται όλα τα ιδανικά και οι αξίες ενός καλού και ικανού πράκτορα: πίστη στην πατρίδα και την υπηρεσία, αλλά και ενδιαφέρον και έγνοια για τον πολίτη, τον οποίο έχει επίσης ορκιστεί να υπηρετεί και να προστατεύει. Ο Πίτερ είναι ένας άκρως ανθρώπινος χαρακτήρας, αφού δεν διστάζει να δείξει και την πιο ευαίσθητη, ευάλωτη πλευρά του. Ειδικά η προδοσία του πατέρα του και η καχυποψία που δείχνουν όλοι σ’ εκείνον τον επηρεάζουν σε μεγάλο βαθμό, παρόλο που προσπαθεί να αποδείξει τη δική του αξία και ότι δεν έχει καμία σχέση με τον πατέρα του. Αυτή η πλευρά του αναδεικνύεται και μέσα από την τρυφερή σχέση που αναπτύσσει με τη νεαρή Ρόουζ, που ίσως είναι ο άνθρωπος που περίμενε σε όλη του τη ζωή.
Το ίδιο καλοδουλεμένοι είναι και οι υπόλοιποι χαρακτήρες, καθένας από τους οποίους καλείται να παίξει μέχρι τέλους τον ρόλο του ως πιόνι στη σκακιέρα του συγγραφέα. Σε ένα επικίνδυνο, γεμάτο παγίδες παιχνίδι, όπου οι φίλοι μετατρέπονται σε εχθρούς και οι σύμμαχοι σε προδότες, όπου τα μυστικά αξιώνουν ανθρώπινες ζωές και η φιλοδοξία υπερβαίνει την ανθρωπιά, ο Πίτερ θα κληθεί να επιλέξει ανάμεσα σε λογική και συναίσθημα, αλλά και να πάρει αποφάσεις χωρίς να υπολογίσει το κόστος. Η δράση και το σασπένς δεν σταματούν μέχρι το τέλος, όπου επέρχεται τελικά η αναμενόμενη κάθαρση και η νηνεμία. Μέχρι την επόμενη φορά…

Η κριτική μου για το βιβλίο και στο site "τοβιβλίο.net" και τον παρακάτω σύνδεσμο: Νυχτερινός πράκτορας

[3 no 7 · Rating 4 out of 5]

“The Night Agent” by Matthew Quirk features Peter Sutherland, an FBI agent, and Rose Larkin, someone he meets through work. Readers gain insight into Sutherland’s public personality through his friendly banter with fellow employees. He has a deeper private side resulting from a past family impropriety that haunts him constantly. He is careful about the rules, avoiding even the slightest hint of impropriety, but no matter how faultless he is, he cannot not escape that nagging past.

“It was a long time ago, but there were moments, like now, when the past would come at him so vividly, a stab of pain. It was like stepping on a tiny piece of glass a month after you thought you’d swept up all the shards.”

Sutherland works a night agent, covering the phones, holding down the fort while everyone else sleeps. His job is important, more important than he knows, even though 284 nights have passed without a phone call. He spends his working life tied to that phone that never rings, and then, one night at 1:05 AM, it does.

“He’s here. He’s inside. He’s going to kill me. It’s happening in six days. We have the red ledger.”

Characters are genuine and sympathetic. Readers follow Rose and Peter; their everyday actions are intermixed with the out-of-the-ordinary and terrifying. Both are playing with hidden cards. There are other participants as well, and the narrative goes slightly back and forth in time to look at both spies and spy-hunters. Who are these people? What are they are doing in the time surrounding specific events? What is their function and purpose? How much do they know and what did they pass on? H how did they get to where they are without people discovering their deception? Everyone at every level has both something to hide and something that should be made public.

Little details draw reader into the setting and action. The tension is palatable.

“Two steps. The floor flexed beneath her. The shadows shifted under the door. She clamped her eyes shut. The man moved closer, and the knob rattled softly as a hand closed around it.”

“The Night Agent” is a thrilling game of international politics, espionage, and treachery that reaches into the highest levels of government. I was given a review copy of “The Night Agent” by Matthew Quirk, William Morrow, and Edelweiss. Readers will never quite know who is to be trusted and who is to be feared and will keep turning page after page to find out.

[Suzanne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Eerily prescient political thriller with a highly placed Russian mole in the West Wing. An FBI agent, with a troubled family past preventing him from rising in the ranks, finds himself in the middle of a spy caper and potential political maelstrom. Will he solve the mystery, rescue the Nation and save the girl? The tale is fast and addictive, not least because of the real life parallels. Another winner of a book from author Matthew Quirk. I received my copy from the publisher through Edelweiss.

[Abibliofob · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great book and great story. Not at all what I expected. Matthew Quirk is growing on me. There are a couple of books I haven't read but I will. So far everything has been brilliant and I can strongly recommend that you try him.

[Tim · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great thriller writer!

[Georgia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Δείτε επίσης και στο Chill and read

Πριν λίγες μέρες διάβασα το βιβλίο «Νυχτερινός πράκτορας» του Matthew Quirk που κυκλοφορεί από τις Εκδόσεις Μεταίχμιο και ήταν η κατάλληλη στιγμή πιστεύω, καθώς τις ίδιες μέρες δινόταν η μάχη για την εκλογή νέου Προέδρου στην Αμερική. Το συγκεκριμένο βιβλίο, έχει να κάνει με τη διαφθορά σε υψηλά κλιμάκια, και δη μέσα στο Λευκό Οίκο και όσο πιο κοντά γίνεται στον ίδιο τον Πρόεδρο. Ευτυχώς ο Πρόεδρος του βιβλίου ήταν μυθιστορηματικός και έτσι δε χρειάστηκε να μπω στη διαδικασία να κάνω συγκρίσεις με υπαρκτά πρόσωπα. Ή μάλλον, μπήκα, αλλά δε θα μοιραστώ αυτές τις σκέψεις μου μαζί σας, θα σας αφήσω να κάνετε τις δικές σας.

Ο νεαρός πράκτορας του FBI Πίτερ Σάδερλαντ ακολούθησε το επάγγελμα του πατέρα του, παρόλο που εκείνος κατηγορήθηκε ότι πουλούσε μυστικά στους Ρώσους, μια εξέλιξη με τραγικές συνέπειες για τον ίδιο, αλλά και για τον Πίτερ. Με τέτοιο παρελθόν και με όλους σχεδόν τους πράκτορες στο Λευκό Οίκο να τον αμφισβητούν, ο Πίτερ δεν έχει ακόμα καταλάβει για πιο λόγο επιλέχθηκε για τη συγκεκριμένη θέση. Η επίσημη αιτιολογία και αυτή που τον βοηθάει να κοιμάται τα πρωινά, γιατί δουλεύει νυχτερινή βάρδια, είναι πως τηρεί τους κανόνες κατά γράμμα, ώστε να είναι σίγουρος ότι κάνει σωστά τη δουλειά του και δεν κινδυνεύει και ο ίδιος να κατηγορηθεί όπως και ο πατέρας του.

Όταν όμως ένα βράδυ δέχεται μια κλήση από μία γυναίκα που κινδυνεύει, μια κλήση που είναι δουλειά του να περιμένει και να απαντήσει, δεν έχει ιδέα που μπορεί να οδηγήσει κάτι τόσο απλό όσο το να σηκώσει το ακουστικό ενός τηλεφώνου. Ξαφνικά μαθαίνει πως υπάρχει ένας προδότης ανάμεσά τους, κάποιος που μπορεί να βρίσκεται σε οποιαδήποτε θέση μέσα στο Λευκό Οίκο. Οι κινήσεις και οι αντιδράσεις του θα πρέπει να είναι πολύ προσεκτικές και ο ίδιος θα πρέπει να πάρει μια απόφαση που θα τον δυσκολέψει πολύ. Για να κάνει το καθήκον του και να σώσει τη χώρα του, θα πρέπει να κάνει το αντίθετο από αυτό που έκανε μια ζωή. Θα πρέπει να αγνοήσει τους κανόνες.

Η γραφή του Quirk μου θύμισε τον Τζακ Ρίτσερ του Lee Child και το Power Play του Tony Kent που διάβασα νωρίτερα μέσα στη χρονιά. Η πλοκή είναι γρήγορα με αρκετά ενδιαφέρονται στοιχεία και ενδείκνυται για ταινία περιπέτειας. Τα στοιχεία κατασκοπείας που έχει προσδίδουν μια άλλη αίσθηση, φέρνοντας την εξέλιξη του ψυχρού πολέμου στο παρόν και τη σκέψη στο τι από όλα αυτά θα μπορούσε να ισχύει και πόσο αλήθεια μπορεί να είναι ή να έχουν βασιστεί σε πραγματικά στοιχεία που με κάποιο τρόπο κατάφερε ο συγγραφέας να αποκτήσει. Θα μπορούσε πραγματικά ένα υψηλόβαθμο στέλεχος του Λευκού Οίκου να είναι μαριονέτα της Ρωσίας; Τι θα σήμαινε αυτό για τις Ηνωμένες Πολιτείες αλλά και για τον κόσμο ολόκληρο; Πόσο μακριά είμαστε από ένα πόλεμο ανάμεσα σε μεγάλες δυνάμεις;

Είναι από αυτά τα βιβλια που τα διαβάζεις λες και εξαρτάται η ζωή σου από τη συνέχεια. Κυλάει σαν νερό και οι εικόνες που δημιουργεί ο συγγραφέας αποτυπόνωνται στη φαντασία του αναγνώστη παίζοντας καρέ καρέ την εξέλιξη της πλοκής και αποκαλύπτοντας τις ανατροπές, μετατρέποντας τους φίλους σε εχθρούς. Μέσα σε τρεις μόνο μέρες ο Πίτερ Σάδερλαντ πρέπει να βρει αυτό που ψάχνουν όλοι και να αποτρέψει αυτό που πρόκειται να συμβεί, αφού πρώτα βέβαια ανακαλύψει τι είναι όλα αυτά που πρέπει να αποτρέψει. Ένας πράκτορας που μετατρέπεται σε εκτελεστής του δικαίου.

[Darlene · Rating 5 out of 5]

I had never heard of this author before reading a recommendation for the book. It sounded interesting enough for me to give it a try, and I’m so glad I did. This book was definitely filled with edge of your seat, non stop excitement.
I’m sure this was intentional by the author, but at many times the story sounded very much like our last presidential election and what is currently happening now.
I now have another author to add to my favorites list. Kudos to you, Mr Quirk for a well written, exciting book.

[Steph's Romance Book Talk · Rating 2 out of 5]

2 Stars / 0 Steam Fans

Boring!

Update (7/31/2023): I have since watched the Netflix show based off the book and I say SKIP the book WATCH the show!! Binged all 8-10 episodes in 2 days it was so good.

Video review available in Week 24: Jun 11 – Jun 17, 2023, weekly book reviews on Steph's Romance Book Talk (https://www.youtube.com/@stephsromanc...)

[Clarissa · Rating 4 out of 5]

im actually losing my mind bc wdym rose and peter end up together in this but in s2 he's telling her to forget about him, show writers go back to the source material pls and thanks <3


anyway, on a more serious note, this was probably a 3.5, but the show has made me already invested in these characters and storylines and so i'm rounding it up to a 4, because i really did LOVE the characters and loved getting inside their head. the political thriller of the book definitely held up better in the book rather than the show, but oh well.

this is definitely not my usual read, but i enjoyed it regardless.

[Stefan Bogdanski · Rating 5 out of 5]

Watched the Netflix series, read the novel. Been there, done that, multiple times. (Altered carbon, anyone?)

It's interesting - both the series as well as the novel are good thrillers on their own. But they don't have that much in common. If you've read the novel, but haven't watched the series - do it. A lot of the plot is heavily altered.

The end seemed neat, maybe a bit too neat, in that deus ex machina kind of sense. But it was an enjoyable ride getting there, and if you like thrillers, Matthew got you covered here.

And while there is no follow up novel, I really want a second season of the series. Netflix, just do it!

[Niki Dave · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book had its ebs and flows but overall a fast read. Reading about politics is just not for me tbh! Will peek at the show as it seems to be better than the book

[Amelia :) · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5⭐

[Amanda · Rating 3 out of 5]

It’s always the second person introduced into the narrative!