The Gryphon Heist ~ Review

The Gryphon Heist

Talia Inger #1

By James R. Hannibal

Natalia (Talia) Inger is determined to get the Moscow desk as her first assignment with the CIA. All she needs to do is complete this last exam - what could go wrong?

With an assignment to the department known as Other, Talia knows that she has her work cut out for. First, there is her new boss Frank Brennan, directorate of operations, Russian Eastern Europe Division. Talia's just not sure what to make of the guy and whether she should trust him. And her first assignment finds her heading to Transnistria to help provide "security" to a Moldovan tech company with whom the US DOD had contracts. 

As Talia prepares for her assignment with Eddie Gupta a fellow rookie CIA officer with whom she had trained she is less than pleased to hear that they will be working with Adam Tyler a civilian. Adam Tyler is big trouble in Talia's opinion - opinionated and not able to grasp his place on this mission. 

When Talia's plans for a quick mission soon fall apart when the threat to Avantec prove more than credible. And the tech that is in danger could be catastrophic if it falls into the wrong hands. With time against them, Talia has no choice but to use what resources Adam offers. But will it be enough to obtain their objective?

The Gryphon Heist is really a good read. The first few chapters are used to establish Talia as a conflicted and hurting person who puts her all into whatever she feels is worth her effort. These are just a little slow but not in a boring manner. After we like Talia and Eddie are taken to Transnistria the action picks up a little and once the true threat is revealed we are moving. For the most part, Talia is a rather confrontational individual and has the easy ability to not make friends quickly. And offering her advice not a good move as she is more than likely to do just the opposite. I like her partner Eddie Gupta whom we don't learn much about in the way of backstory but he seems like the kind of guy you'd want on your team. And then there is Adam Tyler who has a backstory that we are given a glimpse of - one that makes him even more interesting as a character. One has to wonder just how many secrets he is keeping.

The book keeps the suspense building so that the reader is completely drawn into the story and by page 100 there is no way that you will willingly put it down. The characters are believable with flaws that make them real. The descriptions didn't get bogged down in excessive wordiness offering just enough to keep the story moving. This is the first book in a series and I can say I'm looking forward to what is to come.

I was provided a complimentary copy of this book by the publisher with no expectations but that I offer my honest opinion all thoughts expressed are my own.


About the Book:

Talia Inger is a rookie CIA case officer assigned not to the Moscow desk as she had hoped but to the forgotten backwaters of Eastern Europe-a department only known as "Other" When she is tasked with helping a young, charming Moldovan executive secure his designs for a revolutionary defense technology, she figures she'll be back in DC within a few days. But that is before she knows where the designs are stored-and who's after them.

With her shady civilian partner, Adam Tyler, Talia takes a deep dive into a world where criminal minds and unlikely strategies compete for access to the Gryphon, a high-altitude data vault that hovers in the mesosphere. But is Tyler actually helping her? Or is he using her for his own dark purposes?