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Devolution Trilogy #2
Evolution
Two years have passed since the dramatic conclusion of Operation EXCISE. Michael Dolan has moved home to Boston to mend when once again, the Agency comes knocking. Terrorists have launched a bioweapon in the Middle East, thousands are dying of a horrifying virus with no cure, and Dolan is the key to preventing more attacks. Only this time, everything will be done on his terms…
323 pages, Paperback
Published May 13, 2021
14 people want to read
About the author
John Casey
7 books42 followersJOHN CASEY is an award-winning novelist and Pushcart Prize-nominated poet from New Hampshire. He is the author of The Devolution Trilogy (a psychological spy thriller series), Raw Thoughts: A Mindful Fusion of Poetic and Photographic Art, Meridian: A Raw Thoughts Book, and Things of Little Consequence. His poetry has been featured internationally in numerous literary journals and magazines. He is passionate about fitness, nature, and the human spirit and is inspired by the incredible spectrum of people, places and cultures he has experienced in life.
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
August 27, 2020
John Casey has accomplished the nearly impossible—to follow up his singular, thrilling, and insightful debut novel with an even more impressive sequel. Like a chess Grandmaster, he sets up the narrative and then all of a sudden, BOOM!
Evolution’s main protagonist, Michael Dolan, is one of the deepest characters I’ve seen in this type of fiction and commands an incredible array of talents as he deals with international terrorists, foreign agents, and US Government bureaucracies. His main adversary, however, and the most difficult to prevail against could very well be himself.
As someone who knows more than just a little bit about the clandestine world, I found Evolution to be a crisp, hard-hitting and realistic yarn that will leave you wanting more. The good news is, the third story in The Devolution Trilogy is just around the corner…
--U.S. AMBASSADOR LUIS G. MORENO spent a major portion of his Foreign Service career assisting in the pursuit of Pablo Escobar and leading implementation of Plan Colombia
Evolution’s main protagonist, Michael Dolan, is one of the deepest characters I’ve seen in this type of fiction and commands an incredible array of talents as he deals with international terrorists, foreign agents, and US Government bureaucracies. His main adversary, however, and the most difficult to prevail against could very well be himself.
As someone who knows more than just a little bit about the clandestine world, I found Evolution to be a crisp, hard-hitting and realistic yarn that will leave you wanting more. The good news is, the third story in The Devolution Trilogy is just around the corner…
--U.S. AMBASSADOR LUIS G. MORENO spent a major portion of his Foreign Service career assisting in the pursuit of Pablo Escobar and leading implementation of Plan Colombia
December 22, 2020
John Casey has done it again, delivering a page-turning thriller in the second installment of his trilogy. In Evolution, we meet some of the characters who were first introduced in Devolution, including "better-than-Jack Ryan-protagonist" Michael Dolan. And Dolan does evolve, his confidence and introspection growing as he faces more life and death work, after terrorists release a bioweapon with no cure.
The story picks up two years after OPERATION EXCISE in the first novel, with Dolan drawn back his previous work after settling into the quiet academic life. The pace ramps up quickly, as Dolan joins another operation, negotiating a resurfaced relationship, an assassination attempt, and an unlikely ally.
This novel once again combines spy novel with psychological thriller, giving us more of an imperfect, unique, and compelling lead; carefully-crafted storyline; and twists along the way that the reader won't see coming!
The story picks up two years after OPERATION EXCISE in the first novel, with Dolan drawn back his previous work after settling into the quiet academic life. The pace ramps up quickly, as Dolan joins another operation, negotiating a resurfaced relationship, an assassination attempt, and an unlikely ally.
This novel once again combines spy novel with psychological thriller, giving us more of an imperfect, unique, and compelling lead; carefully-crafted storyline; and twists along the way that the reader won't see coming!
August 28, 2020
This review is of draft pre-published version. A great follow-up to Devolution. The book is well paced, well researched and well written. Michael Dolan continues to develop as a talented yet conflicted protagonist trying to grow into his new career in counter-terrorism. If you like realistic thrillers relevant to today with complex characters you will enjoy this novel. I sure did.
July 21, 2021
———
In two days, I finished reading John Casey’s DEVOLUTION, the first in the Devolution trilogy.
Two days, a first for me, and no wonder—I COULD NOT PUT THIS BOOK DOWN.
The magic of this novel is in the details. Casey understands the importance of this in a spy novel, but his are details of such significance that it leaves you wondering how much actual truth is written into the story. And given Casey was a combat pilot and DIA diplomat himself---well????
The protagonist, Michael Dolan, a former special operations combat pilot with a dark and troubled past is carefully chosen by the Central Intelligence Agency to help them forestall a terrorist attack in Europe in the belief his background at the Sorbonne in Paris and the unlikely friends he made there would be valuable to their cause. As well, he was not known as an operative, another advantage to the agency.
With his photographic memory, intelligence, and rare skill set, not only is he an outstanding pupil, but an individualist who can think outside the box, often giving angst to members of his black ops team.
Casey’s fast-paced style is so apt for this type of novel, and if your heartbeat increases with each page, or you cannot catch your breath with each well-chosen phrase, if you have a heart problem, don’t read this book. You should only read it if you love to be lifted into the realm of fear, terror and the abnormally normal horror of the world of espionage. I can assure you, you will be well satisfied.
I am most keenly looking forward to the next book in the trilogy.
———
In two days, I finished reading John Casey’s DEVOLUTION, the first in the Devolution trilogy.
Two days, a first for me, and no wonder—I COULD NOT PUT THIS BOOK DOWN.
The magic of this novel is in the details. Casey understands the importance of this in a spy novel, but his are details of such significance that it leaves you wondering how much actual truth is written into the story. And given Casey was a combat pilot and DIA diplomat himself---well????
The protagonist, Michael Dolan, a former special operations combat pilot with a dark and troubled past is carefully chosen by the Central Intelligence Agency to help them forestall a terrorist attack in Europe in the belief his background at the Sorbonne in Paris and the unlikely friends he made there would be valuable to their cause. As well, he was not known as an operative, another advantage to the agency.
With his photographic memory, intelligence, and rare skill set, not only is he an outstanding pupil, but an individualist who can think outside the box, often giving angst to members of his black ops team.
Casey’s fast-paced style is so apt for this type of novel, and if your heartbeat increases with each page, or you cannot catch your breath with each well-chosen phrase, if you have a heart problem, don’t read this book. You should only read it if you love to be lifted into the realm of fear, terror and the abnormally normal horror of the world of espionage. I can assure you, you will be well satisfied.
I am most keenly looking forward to the next book in the trilogy.
———
July 31, 2021
Michael Dolan, ex-Air Force, current CIA operative, is back in the thrilling second installment of the Devolution trilogy. Two years have passed since Dolan was injured in a prior operation to capture terrorist Sharif of the AMA—a former friend who was responsible for the death of Dolan’s old girlfriend. The CIA calls on Dolan in Boston and recruits him for part two—only this time, he is read in on the full mission, trained extensively at a SEAL base in North Carolina, and given a window onto the CLEARCUT mission and black-ops unit SCALPEL. Sharif has developed a terrifying bioweapon that he intends to unleash in the water supply, a novel strain of the deadly Marburg virus. Michael goes undercover in Berlin, where the plot thickens—Russians trailing the mission on the periphery, an assassination attempt, an ingenious plot to disperse the bioweapon far and wide to catastrophic and maximum effect. Like Devolution, this volume is filled with spy craft, granular details concerning intelligence operations, and gives insight into the minds of operatives as they choreograph scenarios, manipulate targets, and make calculations regarding intelligence value. Alternating chapters from the points of view of subject and target heighten suspense as their respective missions converge.
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March 11, 2023Engrossing!!
Every fan of Clancy and Baldacci will enjoy the Devolution trilogy by John Casey. Great plot lines and thoroughly researched geopolitical inner workings of the various agencies and regions involved.
Every fan of Clancy and Baldacci will enjoy the Devolution trilogy by John Casey. Great plot lines and thoroughly researched geopolitical inner workings of the various agencies and regions involved.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews