The Echelon Vendetta

David Stone

ISBN 10: 1428132368 ISBN 13: 9781428132368

Publisher: Recorded Books, 2007

Synopsis

An international spy thriller of the highest order that traverses from Venice to London to Washington, D.C.

Micah Dalton is not paid to ask questions. He's the man the CIA sends to clean up the mess when something goes wrong-an agent gets in trouble, or worse. But when his colleague and friend Porter Nauman turns up dead in an idyllic Tuscan hill town, as a result of an apparent and unimaginably gruesome suicide, Dalton can't help but ask questions. And when Nauman's family is subsequently slaughtered back home in London, Dalton can sit back no longer.

Moving from Venice to London to Washington, D.C., to the unbearably beautiful mountains of the American West, Dalton tracks the specter who, with a penchant for intricate knifework influenced by Native American mysticism, is killing a disparate group of agents, former agents, and contract men-all of whom seem to have a connection to ECHELON, a mysterious company operation. The murders appear to be acts of retribution, but for what?

Elegant, horrifying, and chillingly suspenseful, The Echelon Vendetta will keep you enthralled, through its final, supremely satisfying twist.

About this title

About the Author

David Stone is the cover name for a man born into a military family with a long history of honorable service. Stone himself has served in the military and has worked both as an intelligence officer and as an investigator for a state-level law enforcement agency. He has lived in North America, Central America, and Southeast Asia.

Review

A terrific read. THE ECHELON VENDETTA is terrifying, stylish, action-packed. -- John Lescroart

A fast and terrifying ride -- Tucson Citizen [Arizona]

As he follows a trail from Tuscany to London to CIA headquarters to the Rocky Mountains, Dalton encounters government spooks, Native American mysticism, hallucinogens, and gruesome violence with which he seems creepily comfortable. -- Entertainment Weekly

Combines the eloquence of Lehane's Mystic River, the plotting of the best Ludlum novels, and the brains of a LeCarrŽ. -- Ridley Pearson

Hallucinogens, Indians, orchids, butchery, treason, ghosts and politics pop up in Venice, London, Washington, Simi Valley, Butte and the high western desert in a smashing debut thriller by a pseudonymous former military intelligence officer.

Micah Dalton is a "cleaner" for the CIA. Cleaners go in and tidy up messes, and the mess left by the grotesque suicide of Dalton's friend and colleague Porter Naumann is a doozy. Naumann was found outside a chapel in a Tuscan hamlet having apparently ripped out his own throat. The shrewd Carabinieri intelligence officer on the scene, Major Alessio Brancati, recognizes that someone or something drove Naumann to suicide, making the spy's death a murder. Brancati allows Dalton to follow up on the very few clues associated with the murder, but he turns up again when the investigation takes Dalton to Naumann's old haunts in Venice, where the agent falls victimto near-fatal dose of the same vicious psychotropic drug that figured in Naumann's death. The effects of the drug dog Dalton for the rest of the book as Naumann's sardonic, pajama-clad ghost materializes whenever things get hairy-which they frequently do. Dalton enjoys a brief poignant flirtation with a gorgeous Venetion dottoressa but is called much too soon to London where Naumann's unpleasant family was found butchered in their Belgravia home. The intercontinental fiend seems to be an extraordinary tall, long-haired, American Indian in silver tipped cowboy boots who has also been doing in a number of minor ex-CIA operatives in the western states. Dalton saw his backside in Venice, but the man has the power to cloud cameras, a bit of technology available only to the very best spies, and it is that connection Dalton must unravel, a process that takes him back to the Agency and a long-hidden Company disaster that set the grizzly plot in motion.

Fast-moving, smart, sexy and alarming. Everything you want in a thriller. -- Kirkus Reviews, starred review, November 1, 2006

Stone not only knows the espionage scene but also how to plot a complicated, fast-paced thriller. Take [it] for an adrenaline-fueled test drive. -- Military.com

Stone's prose is dazzling, his descriptions of scenes are evocative, and his depiction of even minor characters is compelling. -- Library Journal

Well-written, intelligent and sometimes funny... show[s] us what life is really like on the front lines. -- Washington Post

Edition details

• Publisher: Recorded Books
• Publication date: 2007
• ISBN 10: 1428132368
• ISBN 13: 9781428132368
• Binding: Audio CD
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 13