Eye for an Eye by Ben Coes

When they talk about fast-paced, adrenaline-filled nonstop action, Eye for an Eye by Ben Coes is the type of book they are talking about.  It’s a little (ok a lot) over the top, but man is it fun.

Dewey Andreas is a great action hero.  He’s impossibly handsome and incredibly good at his job.  When his fiance is accidentally killed by Chinese agents during an attempt on Dewey’s  life, a fiance who happens to be the US National Security Advisor, it sets Dewey on a mission to kill the head of Chinese intelligence.  A mission that will take him back and forth across the globe leaving a trail of destruction behind him.

This is the kind of book where you check your critical thinking at the door and just relax and have fun.  A lot of the action strains believability, as well as the laws of physics, but you are so invested in the characters and story, you don’t really care.  The bad guys are ruthless and evil, the good guys are determined and on the side of angels, but they are not one-dimensional.

Coes does an incredible job of fleshing out his characters and making them three dimensional, while also delivering an incredible page-turning action filled book.  This book starts fast and stays fast.  When you get used to the pace, Coes kicks it up another notch.  There is a car chase scene on the highways of Portugal that has the pages turning so fast they almost catch fire.  Coes’ style of short passages and alternating perspectives really works to ratchet the action and the tension up.

The story uses China’s dominance in both the financial market as well as electronic surveillance and hacking as key parts of the plot, which gives an anchor of believability to the story.  Coes is a talented writer and Dewey Andreas is a great action hero.  I look forward to more entries in this series.  A great summer read and a top-notch thriller.  Highly recommended.

I was fortunate to receive an advance copy of this book.