She Treads Softly: Night Owl

Saturday, October 7, 2023

Night Owl

Night Owl by Andrew Mayne
12/1/23, 315 pages
Thomas & Mercer
Trasker #1

Night Owl by Andrew Mayne is a very highly recommended thriller and the first book in an exciting new series featuring Brad Trasker, a retired counterintelligence spy.

Brad Trasker is retired after three decades in counterintelligence and trying to heal after a devastating personal loss when aerospace CEO Kylie Connor invites him to attend the launch of the Sparrow, an experimental hydrogen-powered aircraft. Trasker once met her when she helped him change a flat tire, so the invitation surprises him. When the aircraft explodes before the flight, Kylie miraculously escapes harm, but it now becomes clear to Trasker why he was invited. He begins to look into the act of sabotage and the conspiracy behind it.

Trasker is a great new character. His background and experience assists him now along with his unique mnemonic device/system to remember people, places, and things involved with the case. His logical, perceptive approach to uncovering more information and clues to follow makes the pages fly by.

In Night Owl, Mayne has given readers the first installment in an impressive, sophisticated new series. The opening prologue introduces two contract killers, so readers will know to expect to be immersed into a shadowy world. The fast-paced narrative continues to present a compelling, intricate plot that features memorable characters, advanced technology, and complicated international intrigue. I was completely immersed in the plot from start to finish and am excited to be in on the start of this series. I can't wait for the next novel!

Disclosure: My review copy was courtesy of Thomas & Mercer via NetGalley.

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John Updike's six rules for reviewing:

1. Try to understand what the author wished to do, and do not blame him for not achieving what he did not attempt.

2. Give him enough direct quotation--at least one extended passage--of the book's prose so the review's reader can form his own impression, can get his own taste.

3. Confirm your description of the book with quotation from the book, if only phrase-long, rather than proceeding by fuzzy precis.

4. Go easy on plot summary, and do not give away the ending.

5. If the book is judged deficient, cite a successful example along the same lines, from the author's oeuvre or elsewhere. Try to understand the failure. Sure it's his and not yours?

To these concrete five might be added a vaguer sixth, having to do with maintaining a chemical purity in the reaction between product and appraiser.....Review the book, not the reputation.... Better to praise and share than blame and ban. The communion between reviewer and his public is based upon the presumption of certain possible joys in reading, and all our discriminations should curve toward that end.