Agent Hill: Off The Grid- Book 0
 A novel by James Hunt
Book review by Jules Brenner
 DBS Publishing LLC, released 7/4/15, 123 (1074 KB) pp., $0.00 (Kindle Edition)
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Though this international spy thriller seems more a promotional gimmick to hook you on a series than a book to be taken seriously by fans of espionage, that impression may be countered with the fun of its concept, which is pure feminine fantasy in an action format. It may also boast of a great deal of clarity and minimal complexity. A smooth, electrifying ride.

Our protagonist is Sarah Hill, a wonderwoman and an on-call field agent of the GSF, a covert spy agency operating everywhere on the planet. Reports of terrorist thugs in country X? Mack Farr, Sarah's senior agent, picks Hill to deal with it -- seemingly 100% percent of the time. But, for good reason. However out-manned and out-gunned she may be she's not out-foxed and, one way or another, meets the challenge. Here's a taste of how her mind works:

"[she] continued firing... considering there were twelve of them and only one of her -- which, in her mind, equaled out to pretty much the same thing -- she considered it a good starting point."

By this time in the narrative, we know she's certain to come home whole. There's just no way Hunt is going to compromise the certainty. It's the bad guys who don't know that they should've said goodbye to their family and comrades before they left their compound.


Mack never has a problem deciding on assignments -- even with the urgency of finding one of his oldest friend's killer. Giving Sarah a plane ticket to zone in on a psychopath in a hot spot is tantamount to feeding a lioness. She lives for the meal that awaits her.

Ah, but, it all rings a bell. If you've ever read a Pike Logan thriller, about a secret group called The Taskforce, you'll remember Jennifer and her exploits -- if nothing else a perfect model for Hunt's Sarah. Jennifer, as the only woman in the Logan crew, is always trying to prove her creds and she amazes. But she's a wimp compared to Sarah.

Author Brad Taylor goes for somewhat fuller character depth and has his superwoman take a few licks as she returns from a mission with broken bones and cute wounds. The similarities, however, are pretty spooky, in more ways than one.

I expect Hunt's series is going to sell, based on his sheer ability to draw the line of realism so far from what we know as possible without apology. At least, "what I thought we knew." If you take Hunt's thesis about Sarah's skill set seriously you might look a little differently upon gender issues. But, hey, it's for the sake of swift action and fun reading. And, we find, Book #0 has all that and is certainly worth the price of admission.

If you don't yet own Agent Hill: Off The Grid- Book 0 and would like to purchase it (usually at a sizable discount), click here.