Trigger Point

Screenwriter Law draws heavily on genre clichés for his first novel, a spy thriller. When self-aggrandizing CIA handler Bill Blake betrays an attempted rescue of a hostage in the mountains of Afghanistan, Tom Wisher, the undercover agent directing the mission on the ground, is forced to go on the run from his former allies, who believe that he’s responsible for the debacle. Recruited by a shadowy cabal of do-gooders, Wisher teams with the ruthless female assassin Maja Vacic, but their quest to unravel Blake’s network of corruption may be foredoomed. Blake’s allies are exceptionally well connected, and a misjudgment on Wisher’s part directs Blake’s attention to his Achilles heel, his idealistic journalist sister, Rachel. This tie-in with a forthcoming movie, which is part of a multimedia project from Pure Grass Films, offers familiar plot twists, stock characters, and forgettable prose. (Aug.)