RICHARD CHASE

Richard Chase is an agent with the CIA.

His daughter, Alexandria, is not.

It is important to know the distinction from the beginning of this exciting trilogy because Chase's actions in the performance of his job will have a direct and personal impact on his adult daughter and what in turn happens to her will very much change the life of the father. It will all center around the actions, illegal and dangerous to the country, of Thomas Greer, "a man of refined tasts and substantial means, mostly stolen of course".

"In his twenty eight years of service one thing had been made clear; there was no one better at extraction than Richard and the CIA knew it. Some called it luck, others called it instinct, whatever it was Richard had it in spades. Combine that with his five foot-ten, meticulously toned figure, vast knowledge of hand to hand combat, and his quick thinking mind, he was a definite force to be reckoned with. There was a reason why he had earned the nick name '007' which even in the CIA was not as common as one might think. He even looked a little like the Daniel Craig version of the character, though with darker hair and slightly broader shoulders. It was all in the eyes, the eyes that could see everything and miss nothing."

Alexandria, 'Lexie' to just her father, is an advertising expert working in Seattle. She is likely in her mid-to-late 20's and she has not desire whatsoever to be in the espionage game like her father, a man she has not seen or talked with in the past decade. That is how long ago it was that her father's work had come home with him, so to speak, and her mother lost her life as a result. Alexandria could not forgive him for that. He had not done anything himself to cause the death of the mother of his child but his work had caused it and she chose to have nothing to do with him again.

Unfortunately, in what amounts to a three-part adventure both will unwillingly be forced to endure, his actions will again bring trouble into her life.

Interesting comment:

"In real life, the hero doesn't always win because villains are smart, too."

As mentioned above, this is a three-part adventure. It's really a trilogy, of course, and there are gaps between each novel but like most trilogies, it revolves around one central theme and in this case, it is a darn good one. Traitors in the CIA. Dealings with a foreign power that has no good thoughts about the West. A family once torn apart by tragedy brought back together by adversity.

The author does an excellent job letting us get to know the main characters well enough to see them in our heads as we watch some very unpleasant things happen to them, and she does a lot of it in a few short sentences, which is impressive.