THOMAS GUNN

       Thomas Gunn is the CEO of Gunn Group Industries.
       That alliteratively titled organization is a vast conglomerate spanning much of the world, put together over several decades by his father, Sir Ivan Gunn. In doing so his influence has stretched along with the expanse of the company and his wealth has more than made a solid member of the top 1%. Money was not an issue for the Gunns but that meant different things to father and son.
       To the junior Gunn, at the time of the first recorded adventure 30 years old, still young looking with "long fair hair", it was not something he longed for nor flaunted. He certainly knew he was lucky in his lineage but he never allowed it to make him full of himself. To him money and power were something his father had, not him. Thomas Gunn wanted to be his own man and that meant heading out on his own. When told, Dad barked that he would get nothing from him and the son
       That heading took him out of college to the British military's Parachute Regiment, part of the Special Forces Support Group. Father Gunn was less than pleased when his son told him he had enlisted, expecting the junior to learn the ins and outs of the huge business to some day take the helm. Thomas Gunn, however, was looking to making a difference to the world his own way.
       In Iraq he found a considerable amount of danger, not something he particularly wanted but it came with his service and he never shirked. Then even more excitement and even greater trouble in Afghanistan. Eight years of service and nearly dying. Then came the injury that nearly claimed his life and a long stint in the hospital and even longer recuperation. Father and son mended their rift.
       A year and a half later, the elder Gunn would be murdered and Thomas Gunn suddenly majority share holding in the empire his father had created. He knew he was now forced to assume the mantle of leadership but a greater priority was finding out who killed his father and why.

       Joining Gunn on his journey is Julie Sutton, a much-in-demand model who graced the covers of all the major fashion magazines and a woman who could feel at home in all the bright glamor spots of the world because she likely was photographed there or hiking alone along a deserted trail because she also enjoyed simplicity. A very smart woman who had inherited smarts as well as looks from her father, a computer engineering professor. Sutton was not used to the kinds of dangers Gunn would encounter when he looked into his father's murder but she was never ran from them either.

       The Thomas Gunn adventures are not spy-fiction per se as he is an unexpected CEO and must deal with running a huge company. Luckily, the author is kind enough to spare us the minutiae of such a job and lets us enjoy when Gunn goes after the bad guys. Having years of experience in the Special Forces helps him survive and having control of a multi-billionaire conglomerate definitely opens doors that might otherwise stay shut.
       Fortunately for the tension needed in a good adventure, bureaucrats like to lord it over everyone, even rich guys so Gunn does not have it all rose-petal-strewn frolic. People done killed his dad and when he tries to find out why, they try and kill him. That is bad enough, of course, but they also try to kill his lady friend, Julie, well, that is a bit much.
       I hope Gunn is not done with his escapades. I like a good rich-guy-bad-ass.