Boyd Noah

Ex-­FBI agent Steve Vail navigates a maze of hidden codes and brain-­teasing puzzles to stay hot on the trail of a band of Russian spies in this breathtaking follow-­up to his New York Times bestselling debut, The BricklayerFBI-­agent-­turned-­bricklayer Steve Vail once helped the FBI solve a brilliant extortion plot. It was supposed to be a one-­and-­done deal. But when he's in Washington, D.­C., to see Kate Bannon—an FBI assistant director—on what he thinks will be a romantic New Year's Eve date, suddenly things get complicated. The FBI has another unsolvable problem, and it has Vail's name written all over it. A man known as Calculus, an officer at the Russian embassy, has approached the FBI claiming that he has a list of Americans who are selling confidential information to the Russian SVR. In exchange for the list, he is asking for a quarter of a million dollars for each traitor the FBI apprehends. But then Calculus informs the FBI that he has been swiftly recalled to Moscow, and the Bureau suspects the worst: the Russians have discovered what Calculus is up to, probably have access to his list, and will be hunting the traitors to kill them unless the FBI can find them first.­The FBI realizes that it has to keep the operation quiet. Once again, Vail is the perfect man, along with Kate Bannon, who would be anyone's first pick for help on an impossibly dangerous case. But finding the traitors isn't going to be easy. In fact, it's going to be downright deadly. And if the Bricklayer survives, he will have to come up with a few tricks of his own.­Agent X is a heart-­pounding thrill ride with an authenticity only a writer who's an FBI veteran can provide, and Steve Vail—a man Patricia Cornwell calls a "new American hero"—is one of the smartest, toughest, and most compelling new characters to come along in many years.

*People are dying* . . . Each victim has been a thorn in the side of the FBI, and, inexplicably, domestic terrorists who claim to be anti-­Bureau are claiming responsibility—and threatening more murders if their huge financial demands aren't met. The trap has been set. The Bureau's best agents attempt to follow the detailed demands of the blackmailers, only to be drawn into intricate mazes which are ingeniously riddled with hazards, ensuring that no one will emerge alive. The FBI has used every technological secret at their disposal to beat the killers at their game—and they have failed. The clock is ticking. Deputy Assistant Director Kate Bannon knows that the solution will not be found by following the rules. It's time to call in someone from her past, someone who has routinely handled the impossible—a loose cannon ex-­agent fired for insubordination but still the very best she has ever seen. It's time to call in Steve Vail . . . *The Bricklayer*.