The Incendiary Agent


Fiction - Thriller - Terrorist
190 Pages
Reviewed on 03/21/2014
Buy on Amazon

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    Book Review

Reviewed by Jack Magnus for Readers' Favorite

Nathan Frost is the hero of The Incendiary Agent, an espionage thriller written by Joseph C. Reiss. By day, he works undercover as the funder for scholarships for students from Israel and the Middle East. At night, he lives aboard a power yacht called The Safe Bet and he's got a number of escape routes by sea figured out, just in case. The two students he's been watching during their interview with Robert Boff come from Israel and Palestine, and they both seem fairly innocuous. Nathan's cover has not had much success in ferreting out potential terrorists to date. Everything changes when Nathan receives an alert that his office has been broken into. When he gets there, he's surprised to see David, the Israeli, calmly taking the upper hand. David's in the middle of interrogating Mahmoud, the Palestinian student, and his tactics are brutal and heavy-handed.

Joseph C. Reiss's The Incendiary Agent is a first-rate psychological, high-tech thriller about the CIA and law enforcement's work to prevent terrorism. It takes place in New York City, where terrorism has been a real and present danger since the World Trade Centers were attacked. The Incendiary Agent is more than that, however. It's got the gritty feel and texture of great crime noir. Nathan Frost comes straight from the lineage of hard-boiled, slightly isolated and independent private eyes mixed with a dash of sombre Le Carre-style intrigue. He's capable of great violence in the cause of his work, but Nathan's also well aware of the price his humanity pays each time. The Incendiary Agent is thoughtful, fast-paced and ingenious, and is highly recommended.

Patricia Reding

When Nathan Frost discovers terrorists seeking to destroy U.S. currency, he stumbles upon an undercover plot to bring mass destruction to New York City, destruction on a level that would make the events of 9/11 seem small by comparison. Joseph C. Reiss introduces Agent Frost in The Incendiary Agent, a man who evades the rules as and when he deems it necessary to see his mission to conclusion. Drawn by the lovely Diana Calabrese, he enlists her aid along with that of some additional law enforcement cohorts. Together they follow the counterfeit plot and, over the course of 72 hours, circumvent the plans of the Russian mob and an array of international terrorists.

The Incendiary Agent is a fast paced thriller, so much so that I was surprised to find the ultimate resolution of the matter brought about in a just a few paragraphs. Even so, I cheered for the good guys! Also, at times Frost seems to enjoy stepping outside the rules a bit too much (an idea reinforced when he tells of the manner in which he disposed of someone who had hurt a friend of his, as a consequence of which the agency recruited him, all without any remorse on his part — though he had clearly taken the law in his own hands). Even so, Frost is made a more sympathetic character when he laments the loss of a good cop whose name he had used and who was killed as a consequence thereof. In the end, readers are content to learn that Frost is willing to do the hard things, not to benefit himself, but in exchange for protecting the freedom of others.

Trudi LoPreto

The Incendiary Agent by Joseph C. Reiss is a spy story, a story about terrorists, and an all-round exciting read. Nathan Frost is a CIA field officer and his cover is a scholarship program offered to help with financial aid to foreign students. As we join Nathan, he is interviewing two candidates for this scholarship, wondering if he will ever catch a bad guy this way. The Incendiary Agent from here on is fast paced with unexpected twists and turns. Frost finds himself in life threatening situations with Islamic terrorists, the Israeli Mossad, and Russian gangsters. There is an unknown plot to cause harm to the city and it becomes necessary for Frost and his team to find the solution before the trouble begins. They are faced with murder, injury, and intrigue before finding the answers they need.

Joseph C. Reiss has written a book that has something for everyone. The Incendiary Agent is a good, old-fashioned read without tasteless sex scenes and foul words. The Incendiary Agent can be found under the genre of fiction-thriller-terrorist and it does not disappoint. The last several chapters kept me glued to my seat for an ending that I never saw coming. The Incendiary Agent would make an excellent movie and it was easy for me to see the leading man in my mind. Joseph C. Reiss has a five-star book and I anxiously await the next installment of The Incendiary Agent - The Bloomslang Beauty. This is easily a five-star book that you won’t want to miss.

Anne-Marie Reynolds

Written by Joseph Reiss, The Incendiary Agent is a story of terror and suspense. Nathan Frost works for the CIA as a field agent in charge of "spying" on a scholarship program. On the outside, the program is to help students visiting the US with finances but, in reality, it is meant to determine if education plays a role in terrorism and to gather intelligence on the students. The idea is to try to catch one of the students doing something they shouldn't be doing. The trouble is, when Agent Frost does catch someone he gets a shock at who it actually is. It's up to Frost to make sure that would-be terrorists are stopped and that the bad people are made to pay. Unfortunately for Frost, it becomes a case of life or death - his life or his death.

The Incendiary Agent by Joseph Reiss is a thriller of monumental proportions. It's a first-class story written in a first-class manner. The story takes the reader on a journey they hope they never have to live for real or, if they do, that they find a way to forget it. I found it to be a real nail-biter, exactly what a good thriller should be. It has clearly been well researched and the characters written to match the story line. Excellent book, one that I think could be made into a movie. I really hope there is more where this one came from - if there is, I'll be first in line.

Faridah Nassozi

After waiting for a very long time and spending lots of dollars on a bait scholarship programme at NYU, CIA paramilitary field officer Nathan Frost finally caught a break. America is under attack, but this time it is a different kind of attack - a new form of terrorism threatens the core of America's existence, the dollar. Nathan learns that a multi-national group of people intend to create a panic by releasing information about the existence of fake dollars in the American economy. This would do major damage to the value of the dollar. He starts working with a close group of colleagues, doing things they should not be doing - the CIA should not be operating on American soil anyway - in order to save the dollar from the outside influence that, though temporary, would have a far lasting impact than can be imagined. In the process, he gets answers he was not even really looking for and he has to pull out all stops to preempt the terrorists' next deadly move from which America may never recover.

The Incendiary Agent by Joseph C. Reiss is a terrorist thriller with a major twist. Forget the usual black ops CIA anti-terrorism stories. The book tells a thrilling and intriguing tale about a new form of terrorism that America has never seen before. The main storyline is so unique and yet very real; it moves away from the stereotyped terrorist stories we are all used to and introduces a new era of terrorism, the Currency Attack. It has all the core ingredient that always make an excellent terrorism story; off the book spy games, high tech spy gear, smart bullets, new age body armor, and everything else that turns an everyday spy into a super spy. Anyone who enjoys spy, anti-terrorism, and detective stories will definitely enjoy reading this blood-pumping page-turner.