Liars & Thieves

This novel features as its main character Tommy Carmellini, a former burglar and CIA operative. Tommy’s old girlfriend, Dorsey O’Shea shows up and asks him to break into a house and retrieve some sex tapes. Not thinking much of it, Tommy agrees to the job. Later, the CIA sends him to a safe house where a Russian defector is being debriefed. The place is a massacre, and Tommy is forced to flee. Now he faces accusations that he was responsible for it and is being hunted down. The plot includes conspiracies, evil politicians, and betrayals to go around.

There was nothing overly original about this plot. Most of the elements have been done and done again. Style wise, the novel was solid but unspectacular. There are various twists and show more turns along the way to keep things moving. The characters are interesting. Although it was a decent read, there is nothing remotely memorable about this novel. It’s the kind of book that you will forget about shortly after reading it.

Carl Alves – author of Blood Street show less

Tommy Carmellini series is a spin-off from Coonts' Jake Grafton novels. In this, the first book of the series, the two interact to solve a plot at the highest levels of US government. There is action galore and bodies everywhere. The technology is good and plays a little bit on the plot. The political interaction leads one into people close to POTUS, with dire consequences. The characters are easily understood and fun to wonder about. Where's book #2?

Tommy Carmellini, the burglar turned CIA agent, spins off his own series from the well-known Jake Grafton novels. Of course, Tommy does need retired Admiral Grafton's help and connects to get himself out of this mess. Mikhail Goncharov, the chief archivist for the KGB for 25 years, has just defected. Tommy is assigned to guard duty while the CIA and MI-6 debrief Goncharov, and explore the seven suitcases full of notes and copies of files that tell secrets of the Soviet intelligence service Goncharov brought with him. Tommy's world starts to go sideways when the safe house is attacked, not by Russians but by Americans. The twists and turns lead to a political conspiracy that threatens the Presidency of the United States. The action takes show more a high-octane, and high-testosterone, ride through Washington D.C. and New York. Christopher Andrew's The Sword and The Shield tells the real life tale of a KGB archivist defector who inspired Coonts to write this novel.

Much more into the action than espionage. Tommy is "a man's man", and the female characters feel like very wooden placeholders.

Liars & Thieves.doc show less

okay mystery

Unafraid to walk both sides of the law to attain his goals, CIA operative Tommy Carmellini is sent to post guard duty at a farmhouse in West Virginia. When he arrives, he finds the guards shot dead and a ruthless team of American commandos killing everyone in sight. Carmellini escapes in a hail of bullets with what seems to be the sole survivor-a stunningly attractive translator, who then steals his car and abandons him after a deadly mountain car chase. But someone else survived the massacre-someone who holds the answers to a deadly conspiracy.

Tommy Carmellini, an accidental spy, unknowingly walks into a massacre when he reports for duty at an isolated safe house.
Mikhail Goncharov, a retired archivist for the KGB has defected to the US and it looks like someone high in the US government is gunning for him. Why is the question.

Good character development, good chemistry in the romance although a little too cutesy, good action, good plot reasonably believable; very readable and entertaining. All in all a really good read.

Good read