Accidental Spy: Jackson Guild #1

by Jeff Shear

Senate investigator Jackson Guild discovers that Wall Street War Lord Manny Granov has crossed the threshold from wealth to power. CIA uses him for off-the-books operations, and together they try to cut a deal to buy a massive Soviet era nuclear weapon, keeping it from the Middle East's arms bazaar. The collaboration sets off chaos and the bomb falls into the wrong hands, threatening the capital. As time runs down toward detonation, Guild is hung out for bait, because he holds a secret that could ruin Wall Street, expose CIA, and keep the worst terrorist plot in history from ticking down to zero. Guild becomes the enemy who holds the key to salvation.

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330 pages, Kindle Edition

First published September 15, 2013

About the author

Jeff Shear is the author of The Keys to the Kingdom, which was an investigation into a weapons deal between the US and Japan (the FSX), published by Doubleday. He’s been a Fellow at The Center for Public Integrity, in Washington, where he contributed to the book The Buying of the Congress, published by Avon. Before that he served as staff correspondent for National Journal, covering fiscal policy, with regular venues at the White House, Congress and Treasury. His magazine writing has appeared in The New York Times Magazine, Esquire, The Los Angeles Times Magazine, Rolling Stone and other national publications. He writes TV narrations for the National Geographic Channel, Discovery, and The History Channel. Currently, he's working on the Jackson Guild Books, a hybrid espionage series, about a Senate investigator Jackson Guild, who uncovers a terrorist plot to set off a nuclear weapon in the beating heart of Washington. But there's a twist. If Guild exposes the conspirators, he sets off a nuclear blow-by-blow. That plunges Guild into a lose-lose situation, and he’s got to dance along the razor’s edge between the Truth and its Consequences. When he has the nerve, Shear continues work about an American woman who spied for the British during World War II, which is being (occasionally) serialized on the History News Network, a project of the Ron Rosenzweig Center for History and the New Media at George Mason University.

Reviews

[Cindy B. · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lots of twists, stand-alone, violence, sexual situations (some graphic), & profanity, ‘the end of the world as we know’ post 9-11 tale. I used tts so don’t know about spelling but he knows his grammar and how to involve you with characters and plot. Recommended taking into account the preceding alerts.

[Bob Geller · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is no accident... Well written for Thinkers

An alcoholic-oriented US Senate committee PR guy puts himself -or gets put- in the middle of a could-be-plausible international nuclear terror scheme. This is not the usual terrorist bad guys get caught by good guys story. I suspect Mr Shear wrote the story for the epilogue. The writing is worth the read, if no other reason than the rhythm and flow of the lyrical sometimes funny, oft times sarcastic banter between an eclectic array of characters, some of whom you'd want to meet some day. The digital version of this book I read via Amazon is rife with typos and high school grammar errors. They interrupt an otherwise great story, so ignore them. But do read this for the intellect behind the plotline and the dialogues. Now I have to read Mr. Shear's other published works. He tends to say something.

[Susan Decker · Rating 3 out of 5]

In Search of an Editor

It was so difficult to read this novel to the end, and not finishing a novel is something I never do. There is not a single character in this book that I liked, perhaps with the exception of three-year-old Olive. Awful human beings one and all, the only difference being in the degree of despicability.
To not read to the end is a lack of respect for the author and his efforts. Then I realized that the miserable editing of this volume showed an even greater show of disrespect for the reader.

Although Shear did spin one check of a yarn, I cannot with good conscience recommend this book to anyone. Can I get my six hours back?

[Denise · Rating 3 out of 5]

There are a lot of interesting elements at play in this book which should have made it a very intriguing read, but somehow it just never really grabbed me. The pace dragged at times, and I frequently found both characters and dialogue rather irritating. The ending sure comes with one hell of a bang, but since the lead-up to it didn't hook me, I just wasn't all that interested anymore by that time.

[Phil · Rating 5 out of 5]

Unexpected Ending

The book was well thought out and held my attention throughout. Except for a giveaway near the end the stories conclusion caught me by surprise.