Fast-paced thriller based on experience

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This article was published 13/02/2010 (5942 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The Bricklayer

By Noah Boyd

William Morrow, 390 pages, $33

This is an impressive and suspenseful debut whodunit by a rebellious former FBI agent about a rebellious former FBI agent.

In other words, Noah Boyd, a U.S. author using a pseudonym, knows whereof he writes.

He had a 20-year career with the FBI until he retired in 1993. He now lives in New England and is in his 60s.

His work with the FBI had him tracking down serial killers. He and his superiors had an altercation when Boyd published an unflattering book about the FBI. He then stirred up more problems for himself when he lambasted his boss in a national magazine article.

It’s Boyd’s first-hand experience, coupled with his strong creative talent, that makes The Bricklayer a fast-paced thriller that’s hard to put down. For a first novel, it’s getting a big push from its American publisher.

The novel’s hero, Steve Vail, quit the FBI to become a bricklayer because he was frustrated by the bureaucracy. He prefers working as a lone wolf rather than as part of a team.

Vail is lured out of his self-imposed exile to help the FBI solve a series of murders committed by a lethally elusive terrorist group.

Aspects of Vail’s non-conformist and lonely persona will conjure up memories of Ayn Rand’s solitary literary heroes.

Vail’s personality is also reminiscent of fictional FBI agent Jack Malone, brilliantly portrayed by actor Anthony LaPaglia on TV’s Without A Trace.

When The Bricklayer becomes a movie, casting directors would be well-served to give LaPaglia first right of refusal for the lead role.

Of course, most great mysteries require some credible villains and at least one good love interest. The Bricklayer provides both elements with satisfying success.

The villains are both from inside and outside the FBI and use highly complex technology to thwart the hero and his cohorts.

Deputy assistant director Kate Bannon, as Vail’s perceptive and adventurous supervisor, intrigues him from the moment they reunite to work together near the beginning of the story.

They knew each other professionally from Vail’s previous employment with the FBI. Bannon admires Vail’s integrity and ability not to be controlled by anything or anybody.

The tension between their obvious chemistry and their need to remain professional is also entertaining.

The Bricklayer is action-packed and never slows down. Vail is off-duty when he foils a bank robbery involving numerous hostages by single-handedly hurling the two perpetrators through the bank’s windows.

While some mystery novelists are guilty of not making their plots sufficiently clear, Boyd wisely recaps the story from time to time for the benefit of his readers.

Vail’s wry sense of humour is also a fun foil for the novel’s sometimes excessive violence. For example, moments after Vail kills one of the villains, he picks up the now deceased man’s cellphone, looks down at the body and reassures the late victim, "Don’t worry, it’s a local call."

The Bricklayer is a refreshingly unpredictable mystery destined to become a bestseller with many sequels.

Brenlee Carrington, a Winnipeg lawyer, mediator and journalist, is the Law Society of Manitoba’s equity ombudswoman.