Public Enemy

W. Cooper #2

by Will Staeger

W. Cooper didn't choose the British Virgin Islands as his CIA post because he hoped it would help further his career in espionage—he chose it for an opportunity to "live slow." So Cooper is not entirely pleased when his routine of debauchery is interrupted by a request from the local chief of police asking for Cooper's unique expertise to help him sell what appears to be millions of dollars in gold artifacts his men have seized from a smuggler. Cooper doesn't see a significant downside—until everyone connected to the artifacts begins dying from causes decidedly unnatural. In Langley, Virginia, brilliant but abrasive CIA analyst Julie Laramie is pulled from her normal duties to attend a clandestine meeting with a legend in the intelligence game. Investigators have discovered the first case of a suicide bombing by an American citizen within the continental United States. The bombing was augmented by the dispersal of a highly contagious bioengineered pathogen, something the government has concealed in an effort to prevent a nationwide panic. Laramie is dispatched to the site of the attack by her mysterious new employers as a "special investigator," but begins to suspect that the "suicide sleeper" isn't merely an isolated incident but a premature attack by one of a legion of similar soldiers. With little time to spare, Laramie is allowed to form her "counterterror unit" working outside the normal channels. For the role of an experienced operations asset Laramie finds she has little choice but to approach her old pal—none other than Cooper. As the suicide sleeper detonation approaches T minus zero, it becomes horrifyingly clear that Amer-ica's newest enemy will be all but impossible to stop—unless, that is, Laramie's puzzle-solving acumen and the aging beach bum of an operative she's recruited to the cause can turn the tables on the "king of the sleepers" and spare America its worst disaster in history.

Genres: Thriller, Espionage

400 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2006

About the author

William H. Staeger, Jr. is the author of Painkiller, a gritty spy thriller featuring W. Cooper, an irascible, quasi-retired CIA operative stationed in the British Virgin Islands, and his sometime partner Julie Laramie, a sharp-tongued satellite intelligence analyst. An International Thriller Writers Best First Novel nominee.

Reviews

[Mark · Rating 4 out of 5]

My 1st Will Staeger novel and the 2nd in a series featuring semi-retired Cooper and the brilliant CIA female analyst Laramie...I love the juxtaposition of Cooper's "Live Slow" island philosophy and the frenetic pace of the story...while not Robert K. Parkerish, the dialogue is sparkly and fun...a fun read...I will read the 1st, Painkiller

[Sbajak82 · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very good read. Suspenseful and enjoyable.

[Lee · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cooper is back with his humor, and with Staeger's suspenseful tale....it's pulled of really well. Kinda like Carl Hiaason meets James Bond. This was a timely story when it came out (2006), and too bad the author didn't continue with some more W. Cooper adventures.

[Jameson]

Great Follow Up Book

Great characters and story, driven by the likeable anti hero W Cooper. Fans of the first book will find more of the same kind of intense mystery as the first book. Only wish Staeger was able to write more with these characters, but the pair of books will have to do.

[Shira · Rating 4 out of 5]

Oooh, so much fun! Make sure you have Red Stripe on hand to get in the mood. If you're a bit tired of the (yawn) big, bad, Middle Eastern terrorist bad guys in most spy novels post-9/11 enjoy the imaginative bad guys in this one.

[Jessica · Rating 3 out of 5]

The plot is superfluous and easily ignored - instead, pick this one up for the characters and the razor-sharp dialogue.

[Orion · Rating 3 out of 5]

Plenty of action. Loved the way he combined the 2 story lines.