(Getting) Even with Andrew Grant

Readers, you are in for a treat: I just finished a debut novel that kept me up all night, made my heart race and my brow sweat, and unlike some of the books I recommend, is actually available now, right now! I swear I'm still breathless.

Even, by (the rather adorable...sorry, Mr. Grant, one can't help but notice) Andrew Grant, came out about three weeks ago, and I immediately downloaded it to my spiffy Kindle. It took me a while to read because I was busy completing my new novel (more about that soon). But this week I finally got to sit down and dip in, and whooo!

Now, most of you know that I don't usually read thrillers. I don't even know why. I suppose, like many readers, I simply turn to what I've read for the majority of my life: mainstream/literary/Southern/women's fiction. (That's quite a category, isn't it? More on that later too.)

But I have a feeling that Even is going to make me a convert.

About the book:

David Trevellyan takes a lonely late-night walk between a restaurant and his New York City hotel. A familiar huddled shape in the mouth of an alley catches his eye. A homeless man has been shot to death. Trevellyan steps forward...and a police car arrives.

A split second too late, Trevellyan realizes he's been set up.

But Trevellyan isn't worried. He's a survivor from the shadowy world of Royal Navy Intelligence. Used to working undercover—sometimes with the approval of his masters, and sometimes not—he's been in and out of trouble a thousand times before. But the NYPD quickly hands the problem to the FBI. Trevellyan is sucked deeper into the system.

And just when he needs them most, his bosses in London turn their backs.

Obliged to clear his name, he acts alone. With no idea who's a friend and who's a foe, he penetrates deep into a huge international conspiracy. The price of failure will be death, and the reward for success will be redemption, both for himself and the huddled corpse from the alley. The motivation will be his cherished life-long belief:

You don't get mad—you get EVEN.

From reviewers:

The thriller genre has a compelling new hero, the creation of Andrew Grant, the younger brother of Lee Child. While on assignment in New York, Royal Navy secret agent David Trevellyan discovers a dead body in an alley. When he is thrown in jail for the man’s murder, he quickly realizes he was set up to be the fall guy. Left hanging by his superiors in the UK, Trevellyan must outwit the NYPD, the FBI, and the group responsible for the killing if he is to clear his name. Of course, the murder turns out to be far more than the simple death of a vagrant. There is some no-holds-barred violence here—a couple scenes require avoiding food before, during, and immediately after reading—but the intensity of the narrative will keep even the timid furiously turning pages. Trevellyan is likely to be compared to his brother’s hero, Jack Reacher, or even to James Bond, and while there is a bit of hyperbole in such claims, there can be no doubt that we have a new guy on the block who requires attention. --Booklist

Jason Bourne fans will welcome Grant's thrill-packed debut, which introduces Lt. Cdr. David Trevellyan, of Royal Navy Intelligence. Near the end of a mission in New York City, Trevellyan's chance discovery late one night of a bum in an alley with six neatly arranged bullet holes in his chest makes the secret operative the NYPD's prime suspect in the man's murder. After the FBI takes over the case, Trevellyan learns the victim was an undercover agent for the bureau, the sixth to die in a series of killings. Disavowed by his British bosses, Trevellyan realizes he has to fend for himself in what is clearly some sort of frameup. A villainess with a taste for genital mutilation lends a James Bondian touch, but Grant, bestseller Lee Child's younger brother, never strikes a false note in a plot that could have gone over-the-top in lesser hands. Effortlessly filling in bits of his protagonist's backstory during breathing spaces between action scenes, Grant closes on a nicely dark note. -- Publishers Weekly (Starred Review)

And Other Writers Love Him:

"Andrew Grant's debut novel reads like it was written by an old pro with new things to say. Even is a bit of LeCarré and Ian Fleming, but with more grit and a sharper edge. Wonderful sardonic wit and crackling dialogue."—Nelson DeMille


"The first paragraph is a whopper. . .the last one made me gasp. With surprise. With delight. David Trevellyan is by turns witty and wicked. Fans of 007 will be shaken & stirred." —Sandra Brown

"Modern noir at its best . . . Even is brilliantly plotted and smart, and delivers the bone-jarring kick of a .45. Here's hoping author Grant is hard at work on the next installment featuring his thoroughly compelling tough guy hero, David Trevellyan."—Jeffery Deaver

"Even is a slam-bam humdinger of a thriller, with breakneck pacing that won't leave you even a moment to catch your breath. Andrew Grant has created a hero so intriguing that readers will surely clamor for the next book in what I hope will be a long-lived series. I will certainly be looking forward to it!"—Tess Gerritsen

"Think a young, British, Jason Bourne framed and trapped in New York City and running for his life. Think about a new author on the scene who writes action like a veteran. Think about trying to put this book down, and then clear your calendar: it ain't going to happen."—Ridley Pearson

Online:

Andrew Grant

Buy Even:

IndieBound

Barnes & Noble

Amazon


Let me know what you thought when you're finished, and if, like me, it might have converted you to thrillers!