The Bottom Line: An irresistible espionage thriller where nothing is as it seems. From white-knuckled spycraft to shattering domestic fallout, Doug Williams delivers a novel that works on every level.
As Failure Point opens, a dead drop between FBI agent Nick Faulkner and a Kremlin mole goes horribly awry. Instead of obtaining intelligence that reveals a suspected spy within the Bureau’s highest ranks, Nick watches as his contact is murdered in a hit-and-run. As if that isn’t humiliating enough, local police then catch him rifling through the dead man’s car, mistaking him for a common vulture.
Nick, who has weathered a series of intelligence disasters that he attributes to bad luck, expects to get another rap on the knuckles. Instead, he’s given a choice between being fired or resigning with full benefits. He wisely chooses the latter.
The idea of breaking the news to his wife, Lexi, fills him with uncommon dread. After the death of their son, the relationship is already on the rocks. But upon returning home to Bethesda, things go from bad to worse. Lexi is gone, leaving behind only a succinct post-it note: I have to leave. It’s all too much. I can’t take it anymore.
He soon finds evidence that Lexi may be with an east Texas cult known as the Hammer of the Gods Ministries, and becomes convinced she has been kidnapped. However, longtime friend Wendell suspects Lexi simply left the relationship. Julia, a woman with whom Nick had an affair, finds Nick’s refusal to believe Lexi left on her own terms laughable (“What planet are you on? I know love can make you stupid, but please”).
Author Doug Williams delivers a tantalizing puzzle piece in the early going in the form of a transcription that reads as if it may be a confessional written from Lexi’s point of view. From there, the more Nick, Wendell, Julia and others dig into Lexi’s history, the more nefarious – and dangerous – the truth becomes.
Author Doug Williams, whose resume includes a stint as a press secretary in the U.S. Senate, writes with the authority of a beltway insider. Through Nick’s past and present relationships, Williams deftly explores the concept of identity, but also painful themes of loyalty and betrayal on both a personal and professional level. White-knuckled action scenes are beset by wistful nostalgia, as well as the ever-present, unspoken fear that Nick’s best days as both a man and a professional may be behind him. Even well-drawn supporting characters like William “Trip” Vincent III, a former FBI Agent whose success and demise are eerily similar to Nick’s, cast a foreboding shadow over everyone associated with the Bureau.
Ultimately, Williams delivers a satisfying resolution without tying everything up in a neat bow. Let’s hope that we haven’t seen the last of Nick Faulkner.
