Andrew Grant (1) (1968–)

You know what really bothers me about most action/thriller books with a male protagonist? The fact that they are the anti-hero in some way. They're alcoholics, or they have another terrible vice, or something that handicaps their work, or they're just a terrible person. The #1 think I liked most about this book is the protagonist, Paul, is a straightforward bad-ass. There's some history, but it's not at the expense of action, it's just enough to understand him and how he works. I loved the show more number of different people he was, Paul with a different last name each time, how he double-crossed all the double-crossers and just did the RIGHT thing, no matter how tough. The world needs more books with heroes like Paul, taking names and chewing bubble gum later. show less

This was my first time reading Andrew Grant, and I thoroughly enjoyed "Invisible." I'm a fan of suspense thrillers/mysteries, but I'm not really into military/international type story lines. "Invisible" is not a military thriller, but it has some international military/covert ops type of stuff in it because of the protagonist's background. It didn't bother me; I felt it was necessary for the reader to understand the protagonist's background. The book was well written and moved along at a show more fast clip.

Paul McGrath is a retired Army intelligence soldier. After receiving a letter from his estranged father (two years late, due to the difficulties of getting mail to Paul when he is undercover), Paul returns home to reconcile, only to find that his father has died under suspicious circumstances. Determined to find out what happened to his father, he does his own undercover work by getting a job as a janitor at the courthouse to give himself access to all the rooms.

Paul is a bleeding heart good guy, despite everything that he went through in the Army, and that means that when he sees a wrong, he insists on making it right. He has a remarkable naivete regarding his belief that a detective he is working with would feel just as strongly as he does about righting every wrong. It doesn't occur to him that anyone would adopt a "that's not my job" attitude toward helping others. This means that Paul's stint as janitor leads him to personally investigate cases where someone has been wronged, and this investigative work results in his nosing into some complicated and very shady international goings-on.

The premise of the book -- Paul's investigating his father's death -- actually takes a back seat to the case that Paul decides to get involved in. This confused me a bit as I got further into the book, because I kept wondering when we'd get back to his father's case. Gradually I realized that the father situation was just Grant's way of getting Paul into the courthouse as a janitor, and the main story line actually has to do with the international crimes that Paul finds himself investigating. Once I realized that, I stopped waiting for more about Paul's father and was able to enjoy the book more.

At the end of the book Paul has found what he's been looking for regarding information about his father's death, but the information he finds is not revealed to the reader. I closed the book, wondering if this was intended as a series. I could guess what was probably in the packet of information that Paul found, and not revealing the contents to the reader was not necessarily a cliffhanger tactic, because if this plot line was not 100% resolved in a future book, I would be ok with it; it wasn't the main story line anyway. The main story line was resolved -- and in a satisfyingly all-things-coming-to-a-head way.

Grant writes well. Just as I was about to get frustrated at how Paul could be so naive about some things when he's an Army intelligence vet, Paul shows that he's not naive, using his undercover skills to great effect. The push and pull of Paul's character -- super good guy who wants to help everyone, hardened Army vet who knows how evil people can be -- kept him interesting and complex. It was nice to have a protagonist who, despite having seen great evils in the world in his former life, has managed to avoid becoming jaded about humanity. show less

I probably should sit down and give a detailed, reasoned and careful analysis of DIE TWICE by Andrew Grant. But can I just go with "I really liked this book". Because "I really liked this book".

I'm not sure why to be frank. Perhaps it was the structure - I liked the opening of chapters laying out a principle that the central character David Trevellyan learnt in basic training, which he then went on to demonstrate. Perhaps it was the level of action which was fast paced, tight and very show more nicely done. Perhaps it was the character of David Trevellyan, a bit of a later day James Bond with a considerably sharper edge. Perhaps it was because DIE TWICE is a spy thriller with double-crossing, intrigue, a ridiculously high body count and a lot of nefarious goings-on.

Sticking pretty closely to spy thriller scenarios there are plot points that won't stand a lot of scrutiny and there's a hefty dose of energiser bunny about the central character, but I still found this a very good example of its kind. Interestingly, I haven't read the first book in the series, but that didn't seem to detract at all. Everything I needed to know about David Trevellyan I found out, or could work out. Everything I needed to know about his role as general problem-solver for the British Consulate I could glean. In short - "I really liked DIE TWICE". show less

From Amazon:

Marc Bowman, a highly successful computer consultant and software designer, walks into his job at a major tech company one morning only to find himself fired on the spot, stonewalled by his boss, and ushered out of the building. Then things get worse: An explosive argument drives his wife away and a robbery threatens to yank a million-dollar idea—and his whole future—out from under him. In a matter of hours, Marc has gone from having it all to being sucker-punched by fate. show more But it’s only Monday, and before the week is over, he’ll be stalked, ambushed, wiretapped, arrested, duped, double- and triple-crossed—until he can’t tell enemies from allies.

Suddenly, the only thing standing between him and the wrath of everyone from the FBI to Homeland Security to his desperate ex-bosses is a flash drive full of data that might just be the holy grail of high-tech secrets—and a holy terror in the wrong hands. Now, as the gloves come off and the guns come out, turning back is hopeless and giving up is madness. The only person left for Marc to trust is himself. And the only thing left to do is keep running—or end up a dead man walking.

My Thoughts:

From the beginning to the end I had no idea who to trust! Andrew Grant has woven an excellent tale of intrigue that could easily be happening in our technology-filled world. I kept thinking I knew what was next, even until the very end...but each page brought a new twist and more questions. The book was well-written, and thought-provoking.

We have all read books where ordinary, everyday people suddenly find themselves in trouble and/or on the wrong side of the law. These people sometimes just as quickly acquire talents for preforming tasks that only military, law enforcement or Superman would be expected to do all the while digging themselves a deeper, darker hole. Even though Marc Bowman brought most of his problems on himself, you just couldn't help feeling his helplessness, desperation and despair throughout the entire ordeal. Never have I wanted to pick a character up out of the pages of a book and move him to somewhere else as much as I did this hopeless, incompetent man. In spite of this I thoroughly enjoyed this latest offering from this author. show less