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Summer may be a time for lounging on the beach and relaxing in the sun, but it’s also a great time for entertainment—for action-packed reads that are every bit as thrilling as the big-budget summer blockbusters that hit movie theaters every weekend. And that’s exactly what author Jeff Abbott’s Adrenaline promises.
CIA agent Sam Capra thinks he has the perfect life: a great job, a loving wife, a baby boy on the way. He’s even starting to close in on a man he calls the Money Czar. But then, during a meeting, he gets an urgent call from his wife, Lucy, telling him to leave the building. He gets out just in time to see his office explode as his pregnant wife is taken away in a silver sedan.
The next thing he knows, Sam has lost everything. His wife and child are missing, and the CIA has labeled him a traitor and put him in prison. The only person who’s willing to help is an agent named Howell, who gets Sam out of prison and sets him up with a new life in New York. He urges Sam to let go and move on, but Sam refuses to give up when his wife and child could be in danger.
I’ll admit that I was a bit skeptical when I first saw the title of this book. It’s a bit presumptuous, don’t you think? But, fortunately, I didn’t have much to worry about.
As it turns out, though, Adrenaline isn’t exactly the book that you’d expect from its title. That’s not to say that it isn’t action-packed and suspenseful—because it is. It’s a gripping thriller that will keep you ducking, weaving, and guessing along as Sam searches for answers, always looking over his shoulder, knowing that any number of people want him captured (or maybe just dead).
Still, Adrenaline isn’t the lightning-fast read page-turner that you might imagine it to be. There are a number of groups involved—the CIA, the group that has Lucy, the mysterious group that later recruits Sam to help them recover a missing scientist, and maybe a few others, too. There are also conspiracies and secret organizations thrown into the mix. So it isn’t just a simple, straightforward thriller; it takes a while to sort through everything.
With a character like Sam in the lead, though, you’ll be willing to wade through the collection of characters and conspiracies (and even a few supporting details that aren’t entirely fleshed out). The spy who goes rogue to take on a personal mission may not be a unique character, but Abbott writes Sam well. He’s a loyal husband, a devoted father, and an all-around good guy—making him the kind of character that you’ll willingly follow through seedy bars and dark, deadly warehouses.
Adrenaline isn’t the kind of all-out, gasping-for-breath thriller that you’ll zip through on a summer afternoon. It’s a more intricate read that leaves plenty of questions unanswered, keeping things wide open for a sequel—so you’ll want to keep that in mind when making your choice. But if you’re willing to take some time to get to know Sam and the numerous threats that surround him, you’ll find yourself caught up in a captivating and satisfying spy thriller, eager to pick up the next installment in Sam’s story.
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