BRYCE ATTEWELLE

Bryce Attewelle is an agent with the WEB.

That acronym stands for the World Espionage Bureau while there is an amazingly in any of the recorded adventures about it, the little I can gleam tells me it is, well, world-wide. I figure this because of the name, the fact that offices in other countries are mentioned, and the nationality of Attewelle is Australian.

Beyond that, I know that it is not a hush-hush organization because Attewelle on numerous occasions identifies himself as a Special Agent with that department and no one expresses any confusion. To the contrary, those in authority tend to step aside and give him clearance which tells me the agency has some clout. In one adventure, a cop at the police station front desk, seeing Attewelle's badge, was especially impressed prompting Attewelle to muse that "people see WEB credentials and go nuts with the whole spook angle." He further explains, "I'm a spy, sure, but ... what I do is more like working an assembly line; I'm tasked with taking care of one piece of something, but rarely know the big picture". Interestingly, he concludes that thought with "I like it that wyat. If I knew what was really going on up the chain, I'd probably quit".

Back on the WEB, whether it has arresting powers like the FBI or is just pretty powerful like the CIA is largely immaterial, especially where Attewelle is concerned. That gentleman tends to play by his own rules.

Though he hails from Down Under, Attewelle has made the city of Las Vegas his turf and he not only feels very comfortable in that area, he fits in very well with a lot of the shadier denizens of the casinos, bars, and gritty streets. Attewelle survives quite well in this world but it is easy to imagine him doing far better 60-70 years earlier when Sam Spade and Philip Marlowe operated.

As expected by the first name of the agency, the area that Attewelle might have to work in is global but Vegas is where he does most of his cases and he has no shortage of assignments from finding terrorists among the tourists to guarding beautiful women that bad men want to kill.

Speaking of women, there are always a lot of them. Some want to bed him. Some want to kill him. A couple want to do both.

I was attracted to this series a few years ago by the covers. I admit it. Sexy women wearing little or nothing catch my eye. And hold it. For a long time. Now, I am "mature" enough to know the covers are meant to appeal to the prurient interests of possible readers and it works. They also let those readers, like me, know that there is a very good chance naked ladies are going to be involved in hanky-panky so be warned. I was duly warned. I went inside anyways. I am intrepid that way.

What I found was a very enjoyable romp (pun intended) with a hard-boiled detective working for a spy organization who plays things the way he feels best and if that goes against the rules, such is life. The writing is very, very fast paced and the action is solid and heavy. The characters are fun and the dialogue a hoot. Attewelle has a terrific wit and a glib tongue.

To me these books are a cross between pulp and old-style detective and are a definite fun to read.