I have finally discovered Simon Gervais. For a long time there wasn’t a real successor to Robert Ludlum, but Simon Gervais maybe able to fill that gap.
The Elias Network is the first book of his that I have read and it’s a thriller that keeps you on the edge. I got so engrossed in reading the last chapter that Krishnan was worried I will miss stepping off the train at Jammu Tawi yesterday. 😆
The Elias Network – Summary
Caspian Anderson, a US government assassin code-named Elias, “assumes” he is working for a black ops program called Onyx within the Department of Homeland Security. The book starts with his latest mission that takes place in Zermatt, Switzerland.
After neutralizing the target Leonard Aldrich, a banker involved in human trafficking, he stumbles into the middle of an attempt to kidnap Aldrich’s family. Caspian helps thwart that attempt but gets shot. While thwarting the kidnapping attempt he gets connected to Aldrich’s eldest daughter who later helps him uncover something more sinister – organ harvesting.
For ten plus years, Caspian has been keeping his cover intact as a translator for the United Nations. No one suspects that mild-mannered Caspian, with his un-stylish clothes and a sensible Toyota as his car, is actually an elite assassin for the US government.
The only hint, if at all is the fact that Caspian is a Krav Maga teacher and that’s where he meets his long standing girlfriend Liesel Bergmann. Caspian doesn’t know that Liesel is also a spy for German intelligence and that “he” was just a mark. But chemistry finds its way into even the most hardened spies – Liesel and Caspian fall in love.
Liesel is also investigating a company that is allegedly is a front for the Chinese but a high ranking German politician is involved. She works as an accountant at an auditing company that is retained by Leonard Aldrich. Without knowing it, both Caspian and Liesel were actually working on the same problem from two different ends.
There are some mercenaries involved as well and several “brokers”.
The ending is almost poetic justice…. Caspian finally knows the truth about Onyx and Liesel and he work together to make the world a little more safer by eliminating some “mercenaries” posing as patriots.
I have already downloaded the 3 book series of Clayton White, written by Gervais. So expect the reviews to come fast and furious. Absolutely love Gervais’ writing style and a good thriller is always fun to read.
My rating 5/5. For armchair thrill seekers, this is a good one !
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