Flint

Grace Flint #1

by Paul Eddy

Nearly killed in an undercover sting operation, talented policewoman Grace Flint undertakes a mission of personal revenge and unleashes a terrifying chain of events that will result in treachery, murder, and extortion. A first novel. Reprint.

Genres: Thriller, Fiction, Mystery, Crime, Mystery Thriller, Thriller Suspense, Adventure

Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 2000

Reviews

[fleurette · Rating 3 out of 5]

My feelings about this book are very complicated. Judging by the number of notes and reviews, this is not an exceedingly popular book. And it's a pity because it is quite a story told in a very unusual way.

The main character is Grace Flit, a Scotland Yard agent whose face was completely massacred during one of the secret operations. Her face has been reconstructed, but Grace is no longer like the old one and even before she had many problems resulting from her complicated past. Now she has a chance to find a man responsible for her tragedy.

The story itself does not seem overly innovative but it is told in a remarkably interesting way. Although the main character is Grace, we only partially follow her actions through her eyes. Very often, we learn about her actions from other people's stories or from what Harry Cohen (whose task is to find the missing Grace) knows. This is a very interesting idea that I had to get used to. Especially since the book begins with a description that makes us feel like we are watching the footage of a failed intelligence action, and the narrative in present tense is not one of my favorites. However, over time, I was able to appreciate an interesting narration that makes the book more entertaining and stands out from other similar novels.

When I started this book, I did not plan to read the next book in this series, but now I think I will probably do it someday. This book really worth reading because it's definitely different from the others.

[Maria João Fernandes · Rating 2 out of 5]

Antes de mais quero dizer que estou verdadeiramente feliz por finalmente ter acabado de ler este livro.Foi uma leitura cansativa e demorada. Estava à espera de gostar, uma vez que a sinopse é prometedora. Esta diz que tem para nos oferecer um thriller emocionante, que tem como personagem principal Grace Flint.
Logo no início da história, a agente secreta vê a sua vida por um fio. No entanto, consegue recuperar e aqui começa o verdadeiro enredo: a sua busca solitária e desenfreada pela vingança.Durante a perseguição pelo seu atacante somos ainda confrontados com os seguintes temas: lavagem de dinheiro, traição, extorsão, conspiração e ainda espionagem.
O livro tem dois fios condutores principais. Um deles retrata as acções de Flint e o outro mantém-nos a par do que várias pessoas estão a fazer para a encontrar.
Na minha opinião, o livro é muito confuso. São mencionadas tantas personagens, acontecimentos e conexões que a determinada altura eu já não sabia quem fez o quê e quando e porque razão. Tornou-se muito complicado acompanhar o seguimento e não consegui estabelecer uma ligação com a história.
Para mim, a parte mais interessante do livro, foi a narrativa respeitante ao caminho, pensamento e acções de Flint. De qualquer forma, esta pequena parte que gostei acabou por não ter o mínimo impacto em mim quando o final se relevou previsível e decepcionante.
A narrativa, tal como a história, também se tornou saturante. O autor coloca à nossa disposição várias perspectivas. Estamos a ler a acção no momento em que está acontecer e, de um momento para o outro, é-nos descrita uma situação, num futuro próximo, onde as personagens estão a analisar o que aconteceu na acção presente. Não sei se me expliquei muito bem, mas é como eu digo, o livro é bastante confuso e quer-me parecer que não o entendi na sua integridade. De qualquer forma, recomendo este livro. Gostava de ler a vossa opinião. Se calhar apenas escolhi a altura errada para o ler. Espero que gostem :)

[Barbara Elsborg · Rating 4 out of 5]

An exciting suspense- thriller-rollercoaster with an intriguing lead - Grace - who's an undercover cop whose face is stamped on. It says it on the back - so not giving anything away. She's remade into an icy beauty and on the track on the man who almost killed her. I like the relationships in the story though I did struggle to keep up of all of the characters at times. But I liked it enough to buy the next two in the series and this is the second time I've read them. I adore Grace as a heroine - plucky, clever and yet vulnerable too. Her relationship with her father is just great. I definitely want her on my side!

[L.K. Merideth · Rating 1 out of 5]

I didn't like this book. The action moves back and forth through time - which I found a little unpleasant, disjointed and hard to follow. The main character is a (really pretty) female undercover British police officer. The book chronicles her traumatic childhood and childhood psychological abuse. I belive she is involved in three or four failed undercover operations in which she is brutalized or tortured. Her support crew and partners never seem to get it together - or purposefully put her at risk. Grace Flint keeps going back for more - in fact a lot of the plot and action (entertainment)in this book seems to revolve around chronicaling the abuse she takes. I did not find it particularly entertaining. She goes rogue and becomes involved in uncovering money laundering, extortion and systemic corrupton in 3 or 4 British spy agencies. I am not sure why a "copper" would pursue this. I found it a little hard to believe - even though I know this is fiction and one must suspend disbelief - that the various spy agencies would not have been able to stay a few steps ahead of Grace Flint and follow the paper trail to where she was headed. In fact there are a couple of male characters who never leave their office and become aware of the corruption as it is unraveling - without being beaten or tortured. I didn't really emphathize with any of the characters. I found the book dour and gloomy.

[Becky · Rating 2 out of 5]

Flint revolves around undercover cop Grace Flint. She was involved in a sting that went very wrong and she was beaten so badly that she needed reconstructive surgery on her face. After her recovery, Grace make it her mission to find one of the men responsible for the death of a fellow officer and her beating. She is a brave and daring officer who discovers that she's not sure who she can trust. She figures out that there are corrupt organizations and isn't sure where to turn for help, so she ventures out alone.

I experienced this book via in audio format. I wanted to like this book. I didn't. I cannot fully explain what things I didn't like, but I found myself totally confused about all the people in this story. There were so many different characters but I couldn't keep them all straight. The other problem I had in following this was the way that the story jumped from the action that was taking place, and a viewpoint from the outside of others watching those actions and reviewing them after-the-fact. I found it very hard to follow. I was backing up the audio over and over again. I think that Eddy is probably a great author, so I won't say that I didn't like his work, just not this story and how it was laid out.

[Kathy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Flint was a book club choice that this month's moderator heard about (in a roundabout fashion) via NPR. The hope was to select a book with a strong heroine.

Grace Flint filled the bill. This is a cop/spy story and Flint goes underground to track down a really bad dude from her past. Trying to track her down and save her (the cops don't know for sure why she's missing) are a collection of British and U.S. secret service types.

Flint's a flawed character with a horrific past who survived a brutal beating while being undercover. She has to fight her inner demons while not being able to trust nearly everyone around her. Being a spy story, of course there are bad guys working in the government out to get her so she decides to go on her own.

I found it interesting that several people in my group were truly disturbed by the violence in this book. I read so many of these stories that it didn't seem that bad to me. I'd take this violence over something like what was in The Kite Runner, for example, any day. Probably because it seems less real.

[Győző · Rating 3 out of 5]

Too many people, too many stuff, hazy descriptions of actual things happening, and inconsistent characters (superdumb/supersmart with no hint which one is going to be in the particular sceen)
it was OK, but don't want to read the next 2 books

[Sparisen]

book lust action heroines

[Bob · Rating 3 out of 5]

Grace Flint is a British under cover cop who is almost killed in an operation gone bad. She is determined to get the person involved while going up against a group of criminals with leaders in the highest levels of the British and American Government. Lots of action as the group gets uncovered and Flint has more close calls. Its a pretty readable book all in all. I see there are more books featuring her and will look then up when my TBR stack gets a bit smaller.

[David Brown · Rating 3 out of 5]

There were so many characters that I found it difficult to remember who were the good guys and who were the bad guys. I was very disappointed by the ending. To me it was a cop out. "Gee, I am bored with this book. How can I finish it quickly"?

[Susan Castor · Rating 2 out of 5]

Unbelievable. A 5'10" 130 lb skinny woman has Wonder Woman agility and strength?
The plot was good, but the main character, Grace, was so over blown, and unreal, I could not make the fiction jump.
Tinkerbell is more powerful a fictional waif with a revenging agenda.

[Elisabeth White · Rating 4 out of 5]

I had low expectations for this book as I hadn't heard of Eddy but I was pleasantly surprised. A decent plot, characters you warm to, others you love to hate. Not a lot of surprises but well written and I hope to read the other 2 books in the series. Glad I found Grace Flint.

[Jim Mcmanus · Rating 4 out of 5]

excellent thriller

[Anke · Rating 2 out of 5]

Wat rommelig, het is goed opletten met wie je leest. Niet handig dat dochter en vader Flint genoemd worden.

[Morgan · Rating 5 out of 5]

One broken agent, One conspiracy, One last chance for revenge���

Story:

Grace Flint used be the best undercover agent that her department had. If you needed a tough street walker she was there. If you needed a high class woman of intrigue to plant a bug on a wheeling and dealing international business man she was who you called in. All that came to end one night on a case that should have been by the book, except somebody changed the rules and Grace Flint was caught on the receiving end of a takedown gone terribly wrong.
She survives, but the attack shatters more than just her face. The doctors put her back together but everyone knows that she has lost that instinct that made her the best at what she did. Finally after being shuffled from assignment to assignment she is sent to the U.S. to be a consulting agent on a money laundering case being run by her new boss, Paul Cutter. In a bold move Cutter assigns Flint to go undercover in the upcoming takedown of the man leading the money laundering operation.
Here in the most unrelated of cases Grace will find a lead on the man who shattered her life. Here she will start a journey of revenge that will take her from the banking havens of the wealthy to one of the most dangerous countries in the world. Here is where she will leave behind family, friends, and associates to find out if she still has what it takes to bring the guilty to justice

This is one of the better thriller books that I have read in a long time. The action starts off a little slow but that doesn’t last long once Grace finds out that she has a chance to find the man that derailed her life. If I have any complaint it’s that sometimes the book bounces around a little too much and there is a certain side plot involving Harry Cohen and one of the main bad guys that seemed…. kinda stretched. I guess it was just used to illustrate the bag of worms that Grace opens when she starts to unravel the conspiracy. Other than that the plot moves fast and so do the pages. If you looking for a thriller that keeps you guessing and hero that doesn’t quite fit the mold, then pick this book up for a entertaining read. I would recommend this to anyone who likes mysteries, thrillers and action books that don’t rely on explosions to carry the story. M.a.c

[Paul · Rating 5 out of 5]

Grace Flint is a veteran undercover officer on London's Metropolitan Police Force when a sting operation goes badly wrong. She is beaten nearly to death at the order of her target, Frank Harling, in the stairwell of a parking garage, and a fellow officer is killed. Fifteen months later, after extensive reconstructive surgery, the physical scars are mostly healed, but the same can't be said for Flint's state of mind, even after over a year of recovery.

On loan to an American financial crimes task force in Miami, Flint allows herself to be pushed into another undercover role, every bit as dangerous as the one that nearly got her killed, and when she pulls it off, she begins to regain her footing. Then, when evidence from the arrest she makes points to not only the whereabouts of Frank Harling, but the existence of an international conspiracy to keep him from being apprehended, Grace Flint's rage brings all her skills and bravery back into laser focus.

Now, she's hot on Harling's trail, but also only one step ahead of government agencies from both Britain and the U.S. She has only her meager personal resources, a handful of trusted friends, and a deepening fear that she is being set up to fail. Or worse.

Award-winning investigative journalist Paul Eddy wrote a number of non-fiction books, along with three novels, before his untimely death. Flint is his first work of fiction, but no reader would ever guess, given the level of skill on display in this well-written, tautly constructed, character-driven thriller. Grace Flint and the supporting characters are compellingly drawn, the story is rich with originality, and the plot is propulsive. Smart, challenging, and top-notch.

[Jp · Rating 4 out of 5]

Paul Eddy's debut novel, Flint is a page turner. Paul Eddy brought years of investigative reporting into creating the world of Grace Flint, shattered ex-Detective Inspector in this world spanning tale of intrigue and revenge.

I can't recommend it highly enough.

[Larry · Rating 4 out of 5]

Revenge novels are a special niche. Flint is a female undercover cop who was brutally beaten by a criminal acting on behalf of another one. Surgically put back together, Flint seeks to get even with the person ultimately responsible. Her employers suspect her of having a double motive--to be a good agent while getting revenge. She's too good not to use, though, and she's able to conceal the full strength of her need for vengeance. This first novel in a series (there are at least two others) is well written and fairly well plotted.

[BookeryBliss · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book starts out slow but builds up to a page turning plot with strong characters and unforeseen twists. I especially liked the strong and spunky heroine; who is not only the hunter, but also the hunted in this international spy/cop mystery thriller. The shifting narrations were difficult to follow sometimes and the writing fell flat in some parts, but overall the book offered a change of pace to the typical genre selection.

[Gretchen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Wish Goodreads had half stars.

This book was well written, but the structure -- back and forth through time -- was just a distraction. Anyway, you have to love a hard-bitten, battered, tough/tender female cop named Grace Flint, don't you?

[Joe · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting thriller novel with plenty of violence, little bit of slow beginning but once got going quite good, 1st in a trilogy so would be interested to see what follow-up is like..

[Jason · Rating 2 out of 5]

Didn't care much for this book. I found it hard to follow and the plot was not that engaging for me.

[Robert · Rating 4 out of 5]

Engrossing and believable. very good

[Laura Bell · Rating 4 out of 5]

[Kaylol · Rating 1 out of 5]

The story seemed good but the way it's written made it kind of confusing. I did not even manage to read more than half.

[Frodo · Rating 3 out of 5]

Eddy is another new author to me. I enjoyed this work of international intrigue.

[Vic · Rating 4 out of 5]

After 6 months of waking up at three or four in the morning and reading 3 or 4 pages to lull myself back to sleep has finally paid off. Done.

[Abdul Wahab]

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[Kristy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Grace Flint kicks ass. I will say that the first part of the book drags a little, but it definitely picked up.

[Kristel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Action heroine. Woman as protagonist. It is a complicated thriller.
A good suspense. Not hard to read for an English novel.