Fiction

The American

Name: The American
Author: Andrew Britton
ISBN: 9780786018000

by Andrew Britton

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Overview

At thirty-three, Ryan Kealey has achieved more in his military and CIA career than most men can dream of in a lifetime. He’s also seen the worst life has to offer and is lucky to have survived it. But being left alone with his demons is no longer an option. The CIA needs him badly, because the enemy they’re facing is former U.S. soldier Jason March. Ryan knows all about March – he trained him. He knows they’re dealing with one of the most ruthless assassins in the world, a master of many languages, an explosives expert, a superb sharpshooter who can disappear like a shadow and who is capable of crimes they cannot begin to imagine. And now, March has resurfaced on the global stage, aligning himself with a powerful Middle East terror network whose goal is nothing less than the total destruction of the United States.

Teaming up with beautiful and tenacious British-born agent Naomi Kharmai, Ryan intends to break every rule in order to hunt down his former pupil, whatever the cost to himself. As Ryan puts together the pieces of a terrifying puzzle, and as the elusive March taunts him, always staying one step ahead, he discovers the madman’s crusade is personal as well as political – and Ryan himself is an unwitting pawn. With the clock ticking down and the fate of the country resting uneasily on his shoulders, Ryan is caught in a desperate game of cat-and-mouse with the most cunning opponent he’s ever faced, one who will never stop until he’s committed the ultimate act of evil – a man who is all the more deadly for being one of our own.

Synopsis

At thirty-three, Ryan Kealey has achieved more in his military and CIA career than most men can dream of in a lifetime. He’s also seen the worst life has to offer and is lucky to have survived it. But being left alone with his demons is no longer an option. The CIA needs him badly, because the enemy they’re facing is former U.S. soldier Jason March. Ryan knows all about March he trained him. He knows they’re dealing with one of the most ruthless assassins in the world, a master of many languages, an explosives expert, a superb sharpshooter who can disappear like a shadow and who is capable of crimes they cannot begin to imagine. And now, March has resurfaced on the global stage, aligning himself with a powerful Middle East terror network whose goal is nothing less than the total destruction of the United States.

Teaming up with beautiful and tenacious British-born agent Naomi Kharmai, Ryan intends to break every rule in order to hunt down his former pupil, whatever the cost to himself. As Ryan puts together the pieces of a terrifying puzzle, and as the elusive March taunts him, always staying one step ahead, he discovers the madman’s crusade is personal as well as political and Ryan himself is an unwitting pawn. With the clock ticking down and the fate of the country resting uneasily on his shoulders, Ryan is caught in a desperate game of cat-and-mouse with the most cunning opponent he’s ever faced, one who will never stop until he’s committed the ultimate act of evil a man who is all the more deadly for being one of our own.

Publishers Weekly

The titular character of 24-year-old Britton's debut thriller is no patriot. Jason March, a blond al-Qaeda operative with a ferocious grudge against the U.S.A., kicks off an orgy of revenge by blowing up Senate Majority Leader Daniel Levy's motorcade, slaughtering the senator, his aide and assorted Secret Service personnel. Assigned to hunt down this killer is ex-CIA agent Ryan Kealey, March's former commanding officer when they were both Special Forces soldiers in the U.S. Army. While on a secret mission years before, March wounded Kealey and murdered everyone else on the team. Now, Langley sends the uniquely qualified Kealey-along with CIA counterterrorism expert Naomi Kharmai-after the unstoppable killing machine. Other than the mildly interesting March, there's little original material. The evil characters are numbingly familiar-al-Zarqawi and bin Laden loom large-and the usual Arab minions and murderers play out their predictable fictional roles. The writing never rises above the pedestrian: "The sands of the endless desert south of Kabul burned beneath the fiery orb above." Readers open to another formulaic Arab terrorist story may enjoy this one, but anyone looking for something new will find it ordinary and tedious. (Mar. 7) Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.

About the Author, Andrew Britton

Born in England, Andrew Britton moved with his family to the United States when he was seven, settling in Michigan, then North Carolina. After serving in the Army as a combat engineer, Andrew entered the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and received his degree just before his death in 2008, at the age of 27.

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Editorials

Publishers Weekly

Library Journal

During a secret Middle East mission, Jason March, a South African-born American soldier, traitorously kills the other men in his squad and shoots their leader, Special Forces and CIA veteran Ryan Kealey. Kealey shoots back and survives. When an unknown assassin later kills a U.S. senator and scores of bystanders, Kealey discovers that March, too, has survived. Through direct contact with the director of al Qaeda plus Iranian funding, March now plans to kill the U.S. President, and Kealey is likely to use any means to stop him. Britton, just 24, offers an impressive first novel. His army background explains his skilled use of military and weapons terminology, but it is his considerable writing talent that brings this rip-roaring plot to life. Like Tom Clancy, he has produced a thriller that makes current terrorist threats all too real, in part by graphically depicting the behind-the-scenes world of spies, clandestine agencies, and everyday terrorists. Highly recommended for all suspense collections. [The American is the first of three thrillers to feature Ryan Kealey.-Ed.]-Roland Person, formerly with Southern Illinois Univ. Lib., Carbondale Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.

Kirkus Reviews

A debut thriller about a vengeful terrorist who proposes to destroy the United States. He begins by assassinating a U.S. senator. Next, he proposes to take out the president, plus whatever dignitaries happen to be in the vicinity when his bomb explodes, and go on from there, murdering en masse. He is-it need hardly be said-your basic archfiend, brilliant, remorseless, the kind the genre battens on (see The Day of the Jackal, etc.). Which is to say he's amoral as a lab rat, a genius at explosives, a wiz of a sniper and a tactician who might have impressed even Clausewitz. Nor will it come as a surprise that he has ties to al-Qaeda. He blames the U.S. for betrayals that led to the ignominious collapse of his family fortunes and has the long, implacable memory that defines a world-class grudge-holder. "Jason March is one of the most dangerous men the U.S. military has ever produced," says CIA stud Ryan Kealey, and he ought to know, having trained him. Matched against supervillain March, then, is superhero Kealey, the protagonist of Britton's planned trilogy. He has the "penetrating gray eyes," the rugged good looks and the maverick mindset that allows him to take the law into his own hands whenever it seems to him that the fate of the nation rests there as well. Kealey also has the requisite female sidekick (brainy, leggy), useful for titillation between bouts of bloodletting. So the game's afoot, predator vs. prey, though it's not always easy to tell them apart, or even which stone-cold killer to root for. Plot and cast have that derivative feel, and while the 24-year-old debut novelist can serve up an arresting action scene, that isn't enough to counter the pervasive pall of deja vu.