Agent X: A Novel

“Vail is in the mold of Lee Child’s Jack Reacher and Robert Crais’s Joe Pike….This guy has movie written all over him.”
—Chicago Sun-Times

“Fans of Sam Spade and Jack Reacher will feel right at home with this new tough guy.”
—Boston Globe

“We have a new American hero in Steve Vail.”

—Patricia Cornwell

Steve Vail, former discarded covert operative and the FBI’s new go-to guy for the toughest jobs, returns in Agent X—the pulse-pounding follow-up to the explosive New York Times bestselling debut thriller by Noah Boyd, The Bricklayer. A former FBI agent himself, author Boyd pulls out all the stops in Agent X—as “the Bricklayer” hunts down an elusive Russian spy in a taut and authentic thriller that rivals the very best of Brad Thor, Vince Flynn, Stephen Hunter, and Robert Ludlum.

Ex-FBI agent Steve Vail navigates a maze of hidden codes and brain-teasing puzzles to stay hot on the trail of a band of Russian spies in this breathtaking follow-up to his New York Times bestselling debut, The Bricklayer

FBI-agent-turned-bricklayer Steve Vail once helped the FBI solve a brilliant extortion plot. It was supposed to be a one-and-done deal. But when he's in Washington, D.C., to see Kate Bannon—an FBI assistant director—on what he thinks will be a romantic New Year's Eve date, suddenly things get complicated. The FBI has another unsolvable problem, and it has Vail's name written all over it.

A man known as Calculus, an officer at the Russian embassy, has approached the FBI claiming that he has a list of Americans who are selling confidential information to the Russian SVR. In exchange for the list, he is asking for a quarter of a million dollars for each traitor the FBI apprehends. But then Calculus informs the FBI that he has been swiftly recalled to Moscow, and the Bureau suspects the worst: the Russians have discovered what Calculus is up to, probably have access to his list, and will be hunting the traitors to kill them unless the FBI can find them first.

The FBI realizes that it has to keep the operation quiet. Once again, Vail is the perfect man, along with Kate Bannon, who would be anyone's first pick for help on an impossibly dangerous case. But finding the traitors isn't going to be easy. In fact, it's going to be downright deadly. And if the Bricklayer survives, he will have to come up with a few tricks of his own.

Agent X is a heart-pounding thrill ride with an authenticity only a writer who's an FBI veteran can provide, and Steve Vail—a man Patricia Cornwell calls a "new American hero"—is one of the smartest, toughest, and most compelling new characters to come along in many years.

“Vail is in the mold of Lee Child’s Jack Reacher and Robert Crais’s Joe Pike, though more playful than either one.... The reader is treated to some of the snazziest, smartest, and often surprising dialogue likely to show this or any season.... Vail is fun to watch as he outthinks everyone else in the room, no matter the room.... That there will be more Bricklayer tales is unquestioned. This guy has movie written all over him.” - Chicago Sun-Times

“Thrilling.... Depending on who’s judging, Vail is a cool maverick with his own moral compass or a dangerously loose cannon. Fans of Sam Spade and Jack Reacher will feel right at home with this new tough guy.” - Boston Globe

“There’s a new hero on the bookshelf. Imagine Lee Child’s Jack Reacher as a disgruntled ex-FBI agent who makes ends meet by laying bricks.... Steve Vail is a terrific new addition to the crime shift with a Sherlock Holmes perspective mixed with killer elite.... But what really sells The Bricklayer is Boyd’s inside perspective. The bureaucratic posturing, the under-appreciated heroes and the mind-set of evil are razor sharp in Boyd’s unflinching prose.... You’ll want to slide The Bricklayer in alongside Lee Child’s Jack Reacher series.” - The Clarion-Ledger (Jackson, MS)

“A standout procedural thriller.” - Pittsburgh Tribune-Review

“A blistering debut.... [The] cat-and-mouse game between Vail and the Pentad’s chief [has] enough jolts to create a legion of fans.... Irresistible red meat for connoisseurs of action thrillers.” - Kirkus Reviews

“The Bricklayer is lots of fun, plenty smart, and great escapist reading. And Steve Vail is a magical FBI agent. If I had my way, I’d read stuff like this every minute I’m not on deadline.” - Seymour Hersh

“Get in on the crack debut of a compelling new character.... This fictional detective thinks as intricately as a modern Sherlock Holmes.... Boyd, the author who might have lived some of Vail’s adventures, creates consistent tension and dialogue.... Don’t miss it, nor the purported sequels to come. Grade: A.” - Cleveland Plain Dealer

“Even mediocre thrillers provide entertainment and escapism. But the best come with a healthy dose of authenticity that draws readers quickly and inexorably into the story. Such is Noah Boyd’s novel, The Bricklayer.... If you think you can resist, just read the opening sentence.... Boyd, a former FBI agent with 20-plus years of experience, invests The Bricklayer with an insider’s knowledge of his subject. His prose is spare, his dialogue witty and his characters drawn from life. Foremost among them, of course, is Vail himself -- a brilliant investigator who combines intuition with legwork, a man of solid principles who’s also partial to some judicious illegality -- and an unapologetic loner. He’s the perfect protagonist for Boyd’s superb plotting, a maze of misdirection that takes the reader from plush D.C. offices to L.A.’s dark side and induces serial gasps. But even as the pressure rises, you’ll also find yourself smiling at Boyd’s sly humor, such as the name of the hotel where Vail finds a kidnapping victim, and the banter and sexual tension between Vail and Kate Bannon, the bureau’s deputy assistant administrator. With a fine combination of cynicism and heroism, The Bricklayer is taut and twisty -- and powerfully addictive. Boyd has established himself as a potential master of the genre.” - Richmond Times-Dispatch

“It’s a good, fast-paced story.... Great action. Great writing. Great story.” - San Jose Mercury News

“If the rest of the series is as sensational as The Bricklayer, Vail should have a long, happy life and readers should enjoy every installment of it.” - Lisa Ko, author of The Leavers

“Patricia Cornwell highly recommended this thriller to me and she was right on. The Bricklayer has terrific pace, surprises galore, and snappy dialogue in the appropriate places. Even better, it has a real hero. Move over Jack Reacher, here comes The Bricklayer.” - James Patterson

“Non-stop action and non-stop authenticity make this a real winner.” - Lee Child

“Readers will root for the tough, intelligent Vail while savoring the sexual tension between him and his FBI handler.... This fast-paced thriller includes many authentic-seeming details about the Bureau’s bureaucracy.” - Booklist