The Invisible (Ryan Kealey, #3) in SSG: Spy/Spec-Ops Group

Jul 27, 2013 Samuel rated it liked it

ROCK BOTTOM

"Whatever may go wrong will go wrong."- Murphy's Law.

High value hostage taking. A mainstay of spy fiction since the days when leftist radicals in 1970's Germany and Italy were snatching Politicians and corporate executives for ransome and airtime. In the Post 9/11 Era, such a threat is still plausible but, with the updates in technology and money spent to train and deploy manpower, authors must be selective when finding a target. The head of state? They get the lions share of securi ROCK BOTTOM

"Whatever may go wrong will go wrong."- Murphy's Law.

High value hostage taking. A mainstay of spy fiction since the days when leftist radicals in 1970's Germany and Italy were snatching Politicians and corporate executives for ransome and airtime. In the Post 9/11 Era, such a threat is still plausible but, with the updates in technology and money spent to train and deploy manpower, authors must be selective when finding a target. The head of state? They get the lions share of security. Armoured SUVs and Luxury saloons, sniper teams and enough bodyguards to fight off a good sized terrorist cell. So sights must be set lower. In Andrew Britton's "The Invisible", the third book in the Ryan Kealey counter-terrorism series, a public servant is taken, forcing the CIA to call upon the unstable, retired CIA Special Activities Division officer for assistance. His successful re-recruitment is the catalyst for his descent into the final circle of his personal hell on earth, an operation which will crush the last vestiges of hope and happiness in his soul, along with taking the last chance of a normal life from him. Now to the review. What happens when the SecState gets taken for a ride in Pakistan?

The story begins in the mountains of North Eastern Pakistan. A tour bus is stopped by border guards who promptly kill some of the occupants and kidnap the others. We then cut to Iceland where a retired Ryan Kealey is rock climbing on a glacier. We learn that his personal life has been turned to ashes, he's been on a round-the world vacation and he's bored out of his mind. This mid-life crisis is brought to a crashing halt with newly promoted Deputy Director Of Central Intelligence John Harper materializing in the hotel bar. Despite finally catching on to the recruitment pitch, Harper works his magic by presenting Kealey's missing lover to him and drags him on board to investigate on behalf of the Agency, the upcoming plan by an escaped Algerian Islamic Extremist who is potentially responsible for the tour bus kidnap. We also learn that Pakistan is on the verge of war-footing in the Kashmir due to India purchasing some game-changing UAV's from Israel. In order to mollify tensions, the SecState has been flown to South Asia to talk terms. In Pakistan, a mid-level political staffer is contacted by his benefactor for a special task. A killing ground is scouted. A doctor is paid a visit by an old friend who wants to borrow his farm for a few days. These threads come together in a terrorist incident designed to push one of the most twisted geopolitical hot-spots into the fires of war with the USA.

In terms of plot, "The Invisible" is a step down from the second book. Certain subplots, while adding complications, are more akin to padding and highly detrimental to the pace, chief among which are the medical sections of the book. While accurate and due to how the terrorist attack goes, necessary, the pacing drags unlike "The Assassin". For the settings, apart from Pakistan, we also have a section set in Spain, where Kealey pays a highly destructive visit to a terrorist sympathizer within a construction site, and becomes the center of a diplomatic incident. In terms of research, "The Invisible" is up to the series standard. From infiltration strategies to how a close protection detail operates, like the second book, it manages to pack a lot of detail and integrate it mostly well into the narrative.

Now, characters There were only three standouts in this book, due to bad characterization. Most were bland, unpleasent or just plain idiotic. First, Kealey. His story is that of a tragedy, in which his life and sanity begin to burn down around him. And in "The Invisible", we reach the critical third act. With his life complicated once more with being suckered into another mission by the CIA, he progressively begins to deteriorate psychologically, up to the end of the book, when all that's left is an empty shell of a man with a gun in his hand. As the anti-Mitch Rapp, while those cowboy antics get results, Kealey also suffers from doing them and does not get away scott free like "Iron Man" Rapp does. People die due to the choices he makes, half his friends are estranged from him, barely tolerating working with him and one either gets annoyed or pities the poor chump for clingling onto his final delusions regarding the dillema he has between retirement or staying at the agency. Next, we have Javier Machado, a former CIA officer. He's the catalyst of Kealey's final fall into the abyss. Epitomizing the "well intentioned extremist" template, he drags Kealey into a personal matter and demands he commit a wrong, for all the right reasons. Far more sympathetic than Kealey, he stole the show from our erstwhile protagonist with perfectly understandable motivations, due to Britton's faliure in trying to inject some moral ambiguity into the subplot. Finally, we have the brilliant snake John Harper. Still managing to find ways of roping his long suffering subordinate back into the company, with his new promotion, Harper is at the top of his game, skillfully corordinating the search for the SecState with a consumate skill.

So, now we come to the criticism. I'll get to the point. Firstly, my suspension of disbelief snapped. In any other spy novel, the US government would not put their faith in two psychologically unstable CIA employees to go recover a V.I.P. The state the main characters are in would be grounds for confinement and serious counselling. Secondly, the treatment of the female characters in this book is a bit insulting to be honest. They're either out of their depth, gung-ho and careless compared to the male characters or just plain weak. Considering book 2 had a strong, reliable female antagonist in the form of Yasmin Ransin who gave as good as she got with her sociopath partner in crime, it's interesting how Britton never did the same with any of his female protagonists.

I suppose it's also the depressing tone which has caused my negativity but then again, the Ryan Kealey series is supposed to be a tragedy. The "Invisible" does not reach the heights its fantastic predecessor did. The characterization combined with some of the most erratic pacing I have seen in a counter-terrorist thriller make what might have been a good premise into quite frustrating reading. While the research is good, the tragedy of Ryan Kealey completes its arc and there are a few gems here or there, I really don't recommend it as much as the previous book.

NOT FOR READING IF YOU WANT TRUE THRILLS. ...more

Like · see review