Book Review: Slingshot by Matthew Dunn

Title: Slingshot: A Spycatcher Novel by Matthew Dunn
Genre:  thriller

Published June 25, 2013; William Morrow

I read the first in the series, Spycatcher, and thought it was an excellent book. Here is a quote from my review:

The usual superlatives go to a thriller that is uncommonly good: action packed, gut wrenching, suspenseful, and at the same time quite realistic. I was sympathetic to the main character, (Will Cochrane) a British agent who works in secret and who is unknown, even to  British intelligence service MI6, of which he a part.  (review of Spycatcher)

I missed reading the second in the series, Sentinel, and caught up with the third, Slingshot. Slingshot is all spy novel, as the book description below shows, and I missed the personal side of Will that made the first book so good. I would have liked a more developed subplot or subplots and earlier in the novel. As it is, the book is all top notch spy action and it was hard to sympathize with any of the characters. This could have been because the plot seemed far fetched, though the reality may very well be close to what actually takes place behind the scenes. To get into the series, I would suggest you start with the first book, Spycatcher. There is a giveaway of a set with both books below.

Publisher description: Master spy Will Cochrane must catch a missing Russian defector as well as one of Europe’s deadliest assassins. Will monitors the streets of Gdansk, Poland—waiting for a Russian defector, a man bearing a top secret document. But suddenly everything goes sideways. The target shows up, but so does a team from Russian Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) hell-bent on keeping the man from walking. Then, in a hail of crossfire, a van snatches the defector out from under them all. Everyone wants the man and the codes he carries—but now he’s gone.

Then Will learns that the Russians have tasked their own ‘spycatcher’—an agent just as ruthless and relentless as Will—to retrieve the document. Now Will  faces two clever and deadly adversaries, who will stop at nothing to achieve their aims.

For other reviews of this book, see the tour schedule.
Thanks to Partners in Crime Virtual Book Tours and the publisher for a review copy of this book.


Author info: As an MI6 field officer, MATTHEW DUNN recruited and ran agents and acted in deep-cover roles throughout the world, conducting approximately seventy missions, all successful. He lives in England. His novels in the series are: Spycatcher, Sentinel, and Slingshot. He is at work on the fourth Spycatcher novel.

GIVEAWAY:

Partners in Crime and the publisher is offering one set Mass Market edition of Spycatcher and Slingshot to a reader. To enter, leave a comment with an email address indicating you wish to be entered in the contest. No P.O. box addresses, please. U.S. residents only. A winner will be randomly selected July 3 and informed by email. A response will be due by July 5. Good luck!

UPDATE: The giveaway winner is Naida, chosen by random.org Thank you all for entering the contest.