Night Owl by Andrew Mayne – Review

Published: October 17, 2023

Publisher: Thomas & Mercer

Series: Trasker #1

Genre: Thriller

Pages: 312 (Kindle)

My Rating: 3.5 Stars

Synopsis:
A shocking act of sabotage draws a retired spy into a deadly conspiracy in an explosive thriller by an Amazon Charts and Wall Street Journal bestselling author.

After three decades in counterintelligence, Brad Trasker is retired, disillusioned, and dealing with a tragic loss. Spy games are behind him until he attends the launch of a next-generation aircraft. When the project of innovative aerospace CEO Kylie Connor explodes on the tarmac―nearly killing her in the process―Trasker is pulled back into the line of fire.

The mystery of the sabotage quickly deepens. All Kylie’s data has been wiped from the server. One of her engineers has disappeared. A seed investor has died in a suspicious car accident. And a cold-blooded murder raises the stakes even higher.

To discover who’s pulling the strings behind a dangerous conspiracy, Trasker needs to find a motive. Corporate espionage, revenge, or something he can’t yet see? Targeted by assassins, he finds himself overmatched when he realizes he can’t trust anyone―including Kylie. Too long out of a game he no longer understands, Trasker must adapt or die.

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Night Owl is very much in line style-wise with previous series by Andrew Mayne, with the only difference being that our main character is older, and therefore, theoretically wiser. If you’re in the mood for a thriller that exudes excessive competence and tv style action you may want to give this a go.

Night Owl follows Brad Trasker, a retired counterintelligence agent who has been brought on as a security consultant for an aerospace company. The company, headed by it’s brilliant, young female CEO Kylie Conner, is barreling towards success and some tremendous government contracts if their product gets off the ground, literally. All seems to be going well on unveiling day until something causes the hydrogen powered jet Kylie is about to reveal to the world to explode, nearly killing her. Now Brad must track down who’s responsible for the sabotage and keep Kylie alive. As I expect from an Andrew Mayne thriller, this book bounces around to some fascinating settings and sees the slow unraveling of a complicated case of corporate sabotage.

I feel like Night Owl is the stereotypical “man’s man” action thriller, but damn do I love a good action packed book full of spies and espionage. This is 100% popcorn worthy entertainment and was the perfect palate cleanser between a bunch of chunky fantasy reads. While this may not be my favorite of Andrew Mayne’s series (I think the UIU gets that title), it’s a solid read provided what you’re expecting is pure entertainment. This isn’t a deep story and I think the characters lean heavily on some stereotypes, like Kylie and her team of engineers, but it was super fun.