When the left hand doesn't know what the right hand is doing, it can deny all accountability. As the title of Derek Haass's The Right Hand suggests, CIA agent Austin Clay does things the U.S. government doesn't want to acknowledge. His latest mission is to recover a field operative captured by the Russians, but he bucks orders and attempts to rescue an innocent young Hungarian nanny as well. Unbeknownst to him, though, the Russians aren't the only ones set to battle Clay--to the death--in order to stop him.
Haas's screenwriting background (Wanted and 3:10 to Yuma) is evident in a panoply of visually-oriented action sequences that keep The Right Hand's pace swift and its intensity high. Occasional improbably convenient circumstances, like a fully functioning motorcycle at an uninhabited dacha, are easy to overlook when the plot quickly propels the reader on to the next scene with well-placed twists and engaging characters.
Austin Clay is a refreshing addition to the world of literary spies--a compassionate, complex character who makes mistakes and yet still succeeds in his field. Michael Adams, the newly appointed chief of EurOps, provides a strong counterpoint to Clay's action-driven character. Adams is a strategist; he excels with data and codes and planning. The dynamic between these two characters creates a rich diversity in Haas's world of espionage.
With any luck, The Right Hand is just the beginning of Austin Clay's exploits. Thriller fans will eagerly await his return. --Jen Forbus of Jen's Book Thoughts