Night Owl: A Trasker Thriller Paperback – December 1, 2023

This book was really interesting. Not only was it a mystery spy thriller, but it was unique. You can tell the author is intelligent and technically savvy. I liked the characters and the thought pattern around the storyline.

It took me awhile to get into the story. At the beginning I had to keep rereading some pages to maintain the thread of the action but at about the halfway point it started to get really good. Constant surprises all the way to the end. Very intriguing and unpredictable! Got some great brain exercise with this book trying to figure out how Brad would get out of the situations he was trapped in. Enjoyed the ending immensely & would definitely recommend.

A must read. The story is thought provoking and surprising development that kept you reading straight through. I cannot wait to read the sequel.

“Night Owl” was one of the Amazon Prime first reads selections for November 2023. I was excited to see an offering from author Andrew Mayne and did not hesitate to make it my first choice.Brad Trasker is a retired CIA operative. He is invited to the inaugural launch of a new aircraft by CEO Kylie Connor. For some unknown reason the jet explodes outside the hangar and Kylie is fortunate to escape the blast unscathed, despite her close proximity to it. A conspiracy emerges and Trasker is fully immersed in it, putting himself and others in grave peril. Banking on his years of experience, Trasker puts his rusty espionage skills to the test.I’ve read Andrew Mayne novels in the past. While the plot was good and the action thrilling at times, this effort fell a little short for me. Mayne did a very good job developing Brad Trasker’s character. The reader certainly got a good feel for his psyche, his analytical thought processes, his no nonsense demeanor. I would certainly welcome more from this character in future sequels. That being said, the problem for me was the sheer number of protagonists creating some confusion in understanding. I found myself going back at times and rereading some passages to try to keep things straight in my head. I struggled with this one in spite of my best attempts to absorb the narrative. At times I felt things getting borderline convoluted as I muddled through.This is not a bad book by any stretch of the imagination. It was, however, flawed in its development. Three stars does not do this novel justice, but to me this was a 3.5 that didn’t quite make it to four stars. It left me a little flat and bewildered at times. I’m not ready to jump off the Andrew Mayne bandwagon; “Night Owl” just didn’t check all the boxes for this reader/reviewer.

Readers who enjoy well-drawn, distinctive crime-solvers and espionage types—characters like Bond, Bourne, Bosch and Reacher—will want to take a good look at author Andrew Mayne’s newest offering, “Night Owl.”It is the first in a planned series starring Bradley Trasker, a very smart, very knowledgeable retired intelligence officer. Divorced and having lost both his career and his son (to an auto accident), he’s at loose ends. But then engineering wunderkind and billionaire Kylie Connor invites him to the launch of the revolutionary hydrogen-powered aircraft she’s just developed. When that experimental plane explodes on the tarmac, and it appears that it might be sabotage, she turns to him for help.Just who or what caused the explosion? And how? And why? And if it’s a who, will they try to inflict future damage upon Kylie’s company? Or upon her? Those are the questions Trasker must answer and that keep us readers turning the pages.Mr. Mayne has given us a well-written, plot-driven novel. The very beginning had me a little worried because the writing seemed a little too convoluted—a little too “writerly”—for its own good. But very quickly, the prose and dialogue became simple and straightforward, catching me up in the story and making the pages fly by.I thoroughly enjoyed Bradley Trasker, a man who knows a lot about how the world works, and global security threats, and the tradecraft of his profession. He’s not afraid to share that knowledge with other characters, and with us, which makes him a great protagonist and narrator. Nevertheless, no matter how savvy he might seem, he often feels outpaced by a quickly changing world. That vulnerability adds depth and humanity to the character.Mr. Mayne has built his story around current and just-over-the-horizon science and technology, which is always fun. And he’s layered in a good deal of industrial espionage and other types of skullduggeries, which is fun too. Put that together with the novel’s various twists and turns and you have the recipe for a very entertaining tale. I look forward to the next tale in the “Trasker” series.

Loved the characters in this, the intricate storyline, the conclusion. Andrew Mayne is one of a very few authors I follow who always releases a book I can't put down. Excellent!

Story moved quickly. Sometimes had to work at keeping players straight. Still don't understand the relationship among the bad guys.

Right up there, possibly right at the top of the near 60 books I've read this year. Will definitely look at Mr Mayne's other works. btw, this is the first review I've ever written.

Thank you Andrew, best fiction book I’ve read in a while. Intrigue & espionage in the modern world with characters you can really “see”

A tale told by a ‘genius’, full of wind and fury signifying everything that is good in an adventure novel.

A new hero, Trasker is an aging Bond, retired but still useful in the world of espionage. Likeable and very human. I couldn't put this down. Looking forward to the next installment.

This is a fast paced action thriller that's just close enough to be credible to be believable, but far enough from reality to still be fun. All in all, a good, non-taxing and enjoyable read, with an engaging central character.