Steve Vail #1 : The Bricklayer (P)

Literary awards - Barry Award Nominee for Best Thriller (2011).

In The Bricklayer, Steve Vail, a former FBI agent with a reputation for defying orders, is called back into action when a shadowy group embarks on a brilliant and deadly extortion plot. The Bureau faces a relentless series of killings, each one escalating as the FBI fails to meet the demands of a brilliant and vengeful criminal mastermind.

When an unassuming woman in Los Angeles encounters an intruder who reveals chilling knowledge about the FBI, and a young agent is tested to his limits with a deadly mission, Vail is reluctantly pulled into the case. As the body count rises, Vail must use all of his sharp instincts and expertise to outwit a foe who knows the FBI’s secrets better than anyone. With his future at the Bureau on the line, Vail's fight to stop the madness becomes a race against time, as each clue he uncovers leads him deeper into a deadly web of intrigue.

Noah Boyd’s The Bricklayer is a fast-paced, high-stakes thriller that pulls readers into a maze of deception, danger, and mind-bending puzzles. Boyd, a former FBI investigator, brings an authentic and gripping edge to this explosive debut novel, filled with suspense and unexpected twists. With Vail's life and the safety of countless others at risk, the stakes have never been higher.