The Contractor

by Colin MacKinnon

Rick Behringer is an outside contractor working for the Central Intelligence Agency. He owns a small company that, in the light of day, provides communications security for government offices, including the CIA. In the shadows, though, Rick’s a spy. He runs overseas agents for the CIA and, through his firm, buys foreign military technology that the Agency wants to inspect but can’t be seen purchasing. The divorced father of two little girls, Rick carries on a cold war with his ex, Liz, and a hot romance with his sexy girlfriend, Frannie. He still broods over the mysterious death of his father, a high-level CIA officer during the Vietnam War, who committed suicide when Rick was thirteen. Through contacts in what he calls the “Black World,” Rick hears of a mysterious Pakistani Islamist, a rogue nuclear physicist, who is trying to acquire highly-enriched uranium in order to construct “an Islamic bomb” - a scheme that is all too credible. In tracking him down, Rick encounters a host of characters, some willing to help, many more willing to take his life. And in the explosive conclusion, he struggles in a deadly game of wits with Russian gangsters and the terrorist who is plotting nuclear mass murder in America. In The Contractor , Colin MacKinnon shows once again his rare ability to turn real-world facts into riveting spy fiction. The Contractor could happen...could be happening now.

Genres: Fiction

320 pages, Hardcover

First published February 3, 2009

Reviews

[John Parker · Rating 3 out of 5]

In the days of a collapsed Soviet Union and the springing up of rogue elements around the world Colin Mackinnon has unleashed a novel that might be more hypothetical than fiction. A rogue nuclear physicist and others who are determined to acquire the material necessary for building weapons provide the impetus for the adventure.

There are not many surprises in the story and it is rather predictable in most parts. What is not predictable is the back-story of a CIA communications contactor, his family, and the sequence of events that is finally resolved.

Not all of the book provides page gripping action that cannot be left alone. The pace of the story’s many elements provides that at times, but not on a consistent basis. Therefore, those readers who enjoy thrillers of international intrigue may be left in a lurch wishing there was more to whet their appetite.

The book is not a must read, even for a niche audience. It is a book that can be picked up and put down without much anguish. At points, it shines as a comment on the state of the world we live in and those who are working off the official books of the intelligence community.

3 of 5

John Parker
Media Coordinator
Andrews High School
50 HS Drive
Andrews, NC 28901

www.slamguy.wordpress.com

[Mark Pool · Rating 5 out of 5]

I like Colin MacKinnon’s writing style in The Contractor. There are so many threads that he weaves, but somehow they all come together. Even the threads about Rick Behringer's personal life–-his ex-wife and children, his girlfriend–-seemingly have no bearing on his professional life, but they define who he is. On the back of the book jacket, Publishers Weekly is quoted, "His [MacKinnon's] clipped prose style, descriptive discipline, and tone-perfect dialogue elevate this thriller above the pack." Amen to that!

[Ryan Mac]

Couldn't finish it--the writing style was really annoying

[Seth Richards · Rating 1 out of 5]

Took me FOREVER to get through. Just couldn't get into it.

[Meggie Kornelsen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Different writing style, hard to get into the story at first, but once I got past the first 50 pages or so, the suspense wouldn't allow me to put the book down.

[Ron · Rating 3 out of 5]

A decent read.

[Frank · Rating 3 out of 5]

Predictable and hard to follow, could have use a re-write or two.

[Ariel Miranda · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not as good as Body Of Lies. A bit unfocussed, divergent, at times.

[Anderson · Rating 3 out of 5]

nothing compred to the first. not even in the back of my mind would i try to find this read pleasurable in any sens of the word. 3/5