The Spy Coast: A Thriller (The Martini Club)
A retired CIA operative in small-town Maine tackles the ghosts of her past in this fresh take on the spy thriller from New York Times bestselling author Tess Gerritsen.
Former spy Maggie Bird came to the seaside village of Purity, Maine, eager to put the past behind her after a mission went tragically wrong. These days, she's living quietly on her chicken farm, still wary of blowback from the events that forced her early retirement.
But when a body turns up in Maggie's driveway, she knows it's a message from former foes who haven't forgotten her. Maggie turns to her local circle of old friends--all retirees from the CIA--to help uncover the truth about who is trying to kill her, and why. This "Martini Club" of former spies may be retired, but they still have a few useful skills that they're eager to use again, if only to spice up their rather sedate new lives.
Complicating their efforts is Purity's acting police chief, Jo Thibodeau. More accustomed to dealing with rowdy tourists than homicide, Jo is puzzled by Maggie's reluctance to share information--and by her odd circle of friends, who seem to be a step ahead of her at every turn.
As Jo's investigation collides with the Martini Club's maneuvers, Maggie's hunt for answers will force her to revisit a clandestine career that spanned the globe, from Bangkok to Istanbul, from London to Malta. The ghosts of her past have returned, but with the help of her friends--and the reluctant Jo Thibodeau--Maggie might just be able to save the life she's built.
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Community Reviews
This is a cross between Killers of a Certain Age and The Thursday Murder Club and I am here for all of that. And it’s the first in a series, so, bring on the next one, please. It seems like former spies are never really former spies. It’s hard to give up the game and sometimes the game won’t give you up. Chills, thrills, kills, spills, love, loss, it’s all here. Read it. You’ll love it.
I’ve been wanting to read this ever since the first review I ever read of it. Don’t remember whose it was, but the review made the story kind of remind me of that Helen Mirren and Morgan Freeman (and a bunch of other great film stars) movie Red. Loved that movie! Well…..this story was kind of sort of like that in that it had a bunch of retired assassins CIA black ops agents in it and someone is targeting one of them for “termination” because of some past CIA assignment gone bad.
The book summary basically lays out the beginning of the story of Maggie finding a dead body in her driveway of her chicken farm. Purity is a podunk town in Maine that is a tourist town in the summer and pretty deserted in the winter. It’s also where Maggie and her retired buddies are all hiding out from “something” or “someone”. Under their perfect aliases and top-level cover stories, they spend their days taking care of their farms, shooting the $#*^ in the local coffee shop and running a book club where they can drink their top shelf martinis and 30yr whiskey and show off their international cuisine cooking skills. What the book summary doesn’t say is that a woman named, Diana, a former collegue of Maggie’s, who was hiding out in Paris, is now on the run after killing two assassins who came after her. None of this is a spoiler since it’s how the story started.
The story mostly flips back and forth between Maggie’s present and past (going back 24yrs to present). There are also some chapters from Jo, a Purity native as well as the Acting Sheriff (the Sheriff died in the line of duty not too long ago). Jo is a bit of a loner as well as a bad@$$ in training, which means she has a reputation for not taking crap from a lot of people. She also isn’t falling for the boatload of lies Maggie is giving her for the dead body that was discovered in her driveway, while she was hanging out with her Martini Club buddies. There is also a smattering of chapters from Diana, who has been on the run ever since a botched assignment she and Maggie had back in Malta 16yrs ago.
The character development for Maggie and Diana was pretty good, but the characterization for most of the other ensemble characters were pretty thin. However, I believe that later installments will probably provide further character development for Jo and the rest of the Martini Club. The pacing is steady and the story really interesting, which is kind of surprising because I’m not a huge fan of international espionage spy stories. The writing was also well done, which is not surprising coming from Gerritsen. I like Tess Gerritsen; she’s a good writer and storyteller. This is the sixth book of hers that I have read and it won’t be the last. I’m looking at an overall rating of 4.1 that I will be rounding down to a 4star review.
The book summary basically lays out the beginning of the story of Maggie finding a dead body in her driveway of her chicken farm. Purity is a podunk town in Maine that is a tourist town in the summer and pretty deserted in the winter. It’s also where Maggie and her retired buddies are all hiding out from “something” or “someone”. Under their perfect aliases and top-level cover stories, they spend their days taking care of their farms, shooting the $#*^ in the local coffee shop and running a book club where they can drink their top shelf martinis and 30yr whiskey and show off their international cuisine cooking skills. What the book summary doesn’t say is that a woman named, Diana, a former collegue of Maggie’s, who was hiding out in Paris, is now on the run after killing two assassins who came after her. None of this is a spoiler since it’s how the story started.
The story mostly flips back and forth between Maggie’s present and past (going back 24yrs to present). There are also some chapters from Jo, a Purity native as well as the Acting Sheriff (the Sheriff died in the line of duty not too long ago). Jo is a bit of a loner as well as a bad@$$ in training, which means she has a reputation for not taking crap from a lot of people. She also isn’t falling for the boatload of lies Maggie is giving her for the dead body that was discovered in her driveway, while she was hanging out with her Martini Club buddies. There is also a smattering of chapters from Diana, who has been on the run ever since a botched assignment she and Maggie had back in Malta 16yrs ago.
The character development for Maggie and Diana was pretty good, but the characterization for most of the other ensemble characters were pretty thin. However, I believe that later installments will probably provide further character development for Jo and the rest of the Martini Club. The pacing is steady and the story really interesting, which is kind of surprising because I’m not a huge fan of international espionage spy stories. The writing was also well done, which is not surprising coming from Gerritsen. I like Tess Gerritsen; she’s a good writer and storyteller. This is the sixth book of hers that I have read and it won’t be the last. I’m looking at an overall rating of 4.1 that I will be rounding down to a 4star review.
Wow, a book so good I pre-ordered the next in the series ...but wait, it doesn't come out for a year, well, that's a bummer!
This multi-POV story is told from the perspectives of 3 female characters (Maggie, Jo, and Diana) whose interconnected lives give both flashbacks and present-time insight to how these women come to be in one another's lives, and from the beginning you are wanting more to see where these characters are going. Later when one of the 3 is killed, a new female takes of the 3rd perspective potentially setting you up for the next in the series.
This was hard to put down. The author is well skilled in keeping the reader invested in the story. I really wanted to know what happened with Danny at every turn, and she just kept dangling one small carrot before making you wait while learning something else. The story flow was nicely done at a great pace and each of the characters served their point well. The ending was also well done, leaving the door open for the next in the series without leaving in a disappointing cliffhanger. I am looking forward to reading more by this author.
This multi-POV story is told from the perspectives of 3 female characters (Maggie, Jo, and Diana) whose interconnected lives give both flashbacks and present-time insight to how these women come to be in one another's lives, and from the beginning you are wanting more to see where these characters are going. Later when one of the 3 is killed, a new female takes of the 3rd perspective potentially setting you up for the next in the series.
This was hard to put down. The author is well skilled in keeping the reader invested in the story. I really wanted to know what happened with Danny at every turn, and she just kept dangling one small carrot before making you wait while learning something else. The story flow was nicely done at a great pace and each of the characters served their point well. The ending was also well done, leaving the door open for the next in the series without leaving in a disappointing cliffhanger. I am looking forward to reading more by this author.