Interesting thriller about a rather dysfunctional family (second novel with similar theme in last week for me - following Kevin Wignall's "The Fragile Thing").

Ben Treven is not very social person. You wont find him talking much about his feelings or thoughts. This led to dark cloud casting its shadow on Ben's relations with his family after particularly heart-breaking incident. Since nobody talks with anybody and everything is based on assumptions tensions grow.

Ben feels his family shunned him so he seeks [and ultimately finds] his purpose in the field that looks for that exact type of person, quiet professionals - military intelligence. He moves from assignment to assignment, acting as a robot, attacking enemies of his country mercilessly until his brother Alex calls him and asks him to help him. Somebody wants Alex dead and he wants to find out who and why.

This brings Ben from the shadows and sets him on course that will test his family ties but also his relation with the army and shadowy intelligence agency he trusts fully and without reserve.

Recommended to all fans of thrillers and action. ( )

Lo último que pensó Richard Hilzoy antes de que la bala le atravesara el cerebro fue: realmente la cosa pinta bien.
El inventor de un revolucionario programa informático es asesinado en Silicon Valley. Alex Treven, el ambicioso abogado responsable de patentar el programa, siente que él es el siguiente en la lista y acude a la última persona a la que hubiera querido recurrir, su hermano Ben, agente clandestino en operaciones de guerra encubierta y terrorismo al servicio del gobierno de EEUU. A pesar de sus diferencias, cuando Ben recibe la llamada apurada de Alex, se dirige sin más dilación a San Francisco para ayudarlo. Alex le confiesa entonces que hay otra persona conocedora de la tecnología en cuestión: Sarah Hosseini, una joven abogada iraní-norteamericana que Alex ha deseado en secreto desde el primer momento, y de la que Ben desconfía apenas la conoce. A partir de ese momento los tres lucharán por identificar a las fuerzas que tratan de silenciarlos, una conspiración que sólo ellos pueden detener.
Tres personas con diferentes visiones del mundo, diferentes conflictos personales y diferentes motivaciones, y que para sobrevivir a las fuerzas desplegadas contra ellos, primero deben sobrevivirse a sí mismos. ¿Quién está detrás de este asesinato? ¿Por qué tanto empeño en apoderarse de un programa? ¿Cuál es el límite para conseguirlo?

Alex e Ben sono fratelli, ma non potrebbero essere più diversi. Alex è un avvocato rampante specializzato in tecnologia informatica e vive nella Silicon Valley, mentre Ben, veterano di guerra cinico e sprezzante, lavora a Istanbul come agente segreto per il governo americano. A unirli è solo una cosa, l'odio che provano l'uno per l'altro, da quando la sorella è rimasta uccisa in circostanze misteriose. Una morte di cui Alex ha sempre attribuito la responsabilità a Ben. Ma adesso è venuto il momento di dimenticare il passato. Perché, come anni prima, c'è di nuovo in gioco la vita, quella di Alex questa volta. L'affare in cui è rimasto invischiato sta diventando maledettamente pericoloso. Si tratta del brevetto di un software, Obsidian, che potrebbe rivoluzionare il mondo della rete, rendendo obsoleti gli altri programmi di protezione informatica. Tutti quelli che hanno avuto a che fare con quel dannato software sono stati uccisi. E ora è il turno di Alex. C'è un'unica persona al mondo in grado di aiutarlo, l'ultima persona a cui vorrebbe chiederlo: suo fratello. Ma il sangue non è acqua e, nonostante gli antichi rancori, Ben non può fare a meno di correre in suo aiuto. Solo decifrando cosa si nasconde dietro il codice segreto alla base di Obsidian Alex e Ben avranno qualche possibilità di salvarsi. ( )

Elizabeth Warren recommend per this author on the Ezra Klein show. She likes to listen to them on the drive between Boston and DC - otherwise she is not a good passenger.

This was great. First it’s Ben, a Black Ops guy - he kills who his boss Horst tells him to.

His younger brother Alex is an ambitious attorney in Silicon Valley, representing a software guy with a patentable product. The inventor and the patent guy are killed. There’s an intruder in Alex’s house - are they coming after him too, and does it have something to do with Obsidian, the software? He calms his estranged brother for help.

So they have history. It’s funny to read Ben instruct Alex and his associate Sarah on the steps to take to evade a tail and stay safe - things he does without really thinking about it - and they question everything. Everything they do is wrong.

But Ben isn’t infallible. He does make mistakes. And in the end it’s Alex who figures out Ben was duped by Alex’s boss Osborne and by Hort and Alex is the one who figures out how to neutralize Obsidian so Hort will release Ben and Sarah and Alex. So it was fun to see Alex’s lawyer instincts be useful - more than Bens.

This was a great thriller. Lots of action but not gory or scary. Couldn’t put it down! ( )

An awful book, though the plot, at a high level, was pretty interesting. Mediocre writing, terrible dialogue, silly dynamics between brothers, and a ridiculous ending sink it, though. It's readable in an action-novel sense, but if you're looking for something well-written and intricately plotted, this isn't it. ( )