Wet Work by Donald Bingle
Title: Wet Work
Genre: Spy Thriller
Publication date: June 11, 2018
Publisher: 54-40’ Orphyte, Inc.
Dick Thornby is not Hollywood’s idea of a spy. In his rough and tumble job there are no tailored Italian suits, no bimbos eager to please, and no massive underground fortresses built by evil overlords seeking world domination—just an endless series of sinister threats to the safety and security of the billions of mundane citizens of the planet. Sure, Dick’s tough and he knows a few tricks to help him get out of a tight spot, even if his boss accuses him of over-reliance on an abundance of explosives. But he’s also got a mortgage, a wife upset by his frequent absences on “business” trips, and an increasingly alienated teen-age son who spends way too much time playing in gaming worlds on the computer.
After taking personal revenge on the criminal behind both his son’s injuries and the continued disintegration of his marriage, Dick Thornby is teamed with Acacia (“Ace”) Zyreb, a young, female agent from the East European office of the Subsidiary, to deal with the mystery behind coordinated hacking of the braking systems of several car models.
Doing his best to maintain his vows to his wife, Dick struggles to deal with the inexperience and provocative attitude of Ace on her first non-European mission. Their somewhat combative investigation takes a left turn by uncovering a much more sinister threat to the world and to Dick’s family. He’s willing to risk his job, his partner, and his life to eliminate the threat, but the clock is ticking.
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Excerpt
Ammo Scene (415 words)
Dick divvied up the ammo. There wasn’t much left, but he gave the bulk of it to Ace, keeping only a partially empty clip for himself.
“You need to do one thing for me,” he said, as Ace checked her weapon and got into the makeshift harness Dick would be strapping to his back before his mad dash across the helipad.
“Yeah, yeah,” replied Ace. “I know, ‘don’t die.’ I promise I’ll do my best not to die.”
“Screw that,” said Dick. “I’m prepared to live with you dying. I’ve had partners die before. Hell, I’ve made my peace with me dying.”
“Then what?”
“Don’t you dare die with any bullets left in your gun.”
“What?”
“Kill all the sons-of-bitches you can. That’s what I’m going to do with what I’ve got left and I can’t bear the thought of any ammo being wasted in the clip of a dead man.”
“Dead woman.”
“Yeah. That, too.”
Ace stood on a chair to help Dick strap her on. Then he picked up the grappling hook and dropped the loop on the other end of the rope across his body, from his left shoulder to his right thigh. He leaned forward, hefted her up and off the chair and let out a blood-curling roar as he bolted for the southwest corner of the helipad.
What the fuck. She’d always wanted to die a hero.
Ace watched as the mouths of the latest bad guys to poke out of the stairwell in the northeast corner of the helipad gaped open, then she fired off a brief burst in their general direction to force them to scatter for cover. She couldn’t hit shit, not bouncing along on the back of a beefy, middle-aged spy who was still yelling at the top of his lungs as he lugged her on his back as fast as his stocky linebacker legs could pump. She didn’t even bother to gauge the distance to the jump—better not to know. Instead, she just did her best to steady her aim and pop off a few more rounds.
She heard a clang and glimpsed the grappling hook dropping to the side into the tangled superstructure at the edge of the helipad, then she abruptly tilted backward and seemed to float, weightless, as they plummeted to death or glory.
What the hell, she decided to bellow with her burdened beast as they fell off the edge of the world. Her final thought: There be dragons here.
Author Bio
Donald J. Bingle is the author of six books (The Love-Haight Case Files (with Jean Rabe); Wet Work; Net Impact; GREENSWORD; Frame Shop; and Forced Conversion) and about fifty shorter stories in the science fiction, thriller, horror, fantasy, mystery, steampunk, romance, comedy, and memoir genres. He was the world’s top-ranked player of classic role-playing game tournaments for the last fifteen years of the last century. He once received a surprise package in the mail with a lapel pin thanking him for his “contributions to time travel research.” He’ll really have to get around to doing that research some day soon. He is a full member of the Science Fiction & Fantasy Writers of America, Horror Writers Association, International Thriller Writers, International Association of Media Tie-In Writers, and Origins Game Fair Library.
My Review
5 Stars
Dick Thornby is not what you think of when you think of a spy. He is an average guy with more than average training. He has a wife and kids and mortgage just like us. His friends and family think he works as a wastewater treatment consultant and he does, in a way. Wetwork is another definition for murder or assassination and Dick does take out the trash.
Things are going to hell for him with his marriage and injuries to one of his children. But he doesn’t really have time to sit down and mend the problems. Instead he is partnered with Acacia Zyreb a young agent from Eastern Europe. Ace and Dick are looking into someone that has been tampering with some very important peoples brakes. But the deeper they dig, the more of a connection they find to those that have hurt Dick’s Family.
I love Dick as a detective. He is your average Joe with some intelligence and knows how to get things done. He clearly loves his family although there are some troubles there. And it is a dance to get used to working with Ace and all of her quirks. But in the end, I hoped for the best and was afraid that everything was going to fall down around Dick’s head.
This is my first book from author Donald Bingle but I have to say that is won’t be my last. I loved how you could easily get into this story and not be lost without having to read Net Impact first. Thankfully I do have a copy of Net Impact and I will be posting a review for it shortly. Dick Thornby is a great character and I can’t wait to see what Donald has in store for him next.
I received a complimentary copy of this book. I voluntarily chose to read and post an honest review.
I would like to thank Let’s Talk Promotions for the opportunity to read and share this book.
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