The Bottom Line: Rogue Agent is a conspiracy thriller that hits all the right targets. Dan J Ford has created a compelling thinker and a one-man wrecking crew in his protagonist, Tom Wiseman.
Wiseman, a Former FBI agent and current Army criminal investigator is contacted by his former mentor and Quantico trainer five years after Tom’s FBI’s career ended badly. His mentor – who Tom feels betrayed him – calls about a case involving a Saudi-born suspect who was shot and killed by the FBI. It’s tempting, but not tempting enough for Tom to reconnect – at least not yet.
Meanwhile, a United Nations helicopter carrying a governor and four crew has gone missing in Afghanistan. Tom’s job is to find it, figure out what happened, and locate any survivors. But as Tom delves deeper into the mission, it’s clear there’s far more at stake than he originally thought (including, eventually, the discovery of a suspicious weapons shipment and a shadowy cabal). It’s the beginning of an action-packed journey and intertwining plot that will lead Tom to unravel past mistakes at the FBI, whilst dealing with his current-day cabal’s assassins and contract killers.
Readers who love Brad Thor’s Scot Horvath series have come to the right place. Wiseman is a one-man wrecking crew who leaves it all on the field every day, despite suffering from crippling PTSD. One perfect line from Wiseman’s enemy perfectly sums up the enormity of Wiseman’s impact: “One man has done this to us? One lowly FBI agent?”
Ford, the author, a decorated combat serviceman himself, proves to be particularly gifted at creating believable action scenes. Throughout the book, he delivers all the goods that conspiracy thriller fans are looking for: a suspicious old case that just won’t go away, a present-day threat with national security implications, and a flawed but talented agent on a path to redemption.
Thematically, Tom’s high-functioning memory is an intriguing gift that’s mentioned more than a few times, and human cognition is a running theme in the story. Ford juxtaposes Tom’s abilities with lots of creative and colorful dialogue, as well as plenty of compelling secondary characters. And for those who love cutting-edge tech,set in the next 5-10 years, Rogue Agent also has an ‘into the looking glass’ slant that is believable and a point of difference to the thriller genre.
In a nutshell, Rogue Agent is an exceptional series debut that will leave you wanting more.
