The Elias Enigma

In Gervais’s overlong sequel to The Elias Network, DCS operator Caspian Anderson is on an unsanctioned assassination mission in Nairobi, Kenya, when he thinks he sees his girlfriend, German spy Liesel, on the back of a motorbike. Caspian knows Liesel is supposed to be at home, but he can’t ask her about it, because he told her he was going on a diving trip. Then Caspian’s parents are taken into custody by ATF agents shortly after they dine with him and Liesel, and he realizes something is seriously amiss. Meanwhile, an enemy from Caspian’s past targets Frank LaBelle, CEO of an American space company due to be sold to one of the country’s leading aerospace and defense manufacturers. Gervais churns through a lot of tedious backstory before a strained coincidence links his two main story threads and the plot finally comes to a boil. As in other Gervais novels, the action is the main draw, and the author’s crisp, bone-snapping prose does manage to get the blood pumping. Most readers, however, will wish he spent less time setting things up and more time letting his characters do what they do best: chase, catch, and kill. Agent: Eric Myers, Myers Literary Management. (July)