Rogue by Mark Sullivan

First published in 2011; published by Minotaur Books on October 2, 2012 

According to Jack Slattery, the CIA’s director of covert operations, the secret archives of Al-Qaeda can be found on a hard drive in an office building in Istanbul.  Slattery orders Robin Monarch to lead a team into the building to steal a copy of the archives.  Monarch has time to read a few of the archived files before bullets and explosions bring the mission to an unhappy conclusion.  What he sees convinces him to leave the Agency and begin a new life.  Shortly thereafter, an assassination attempt nearly brings that life to an end.

Eighteen months later, Monarch is in Switzerland bedding a woman named Lacey and pursuing a career as a security consultant -- with a lucrative side business that is rather unsavory, but perhaps less so than the job of a CIA operative.  I found the incongruity disturbing at first, but it made sense after Mark Sullivan reveals more about Monarch’s intriguing background -- and after learning what Monarch does with the wealth he acquires.

After Monarch unwittingly saves the life of a Russian gangster (and, of course, the Russian’s beautiful girlfriend), Monarch is back on Slattery’s radar.  The Russian wants Monarch to steal a weapon, and says he will hold Lacey hostage until he completes the mission.  Slattery’s interest in Monarch intertwines with the Russian’s, while a Chechen criminal who is competing with the Russian to obtain the weapon wants to use Monarch for his own ends.  Monarch, of course, is stuck in the middle, and spends most of the novel trying to get unstuck.

Rogue is an enjoyable second-tier spy thriller.  While the plot is fun, it doesn’t stand out.  Sullivan’s writing style is a notch above that found in most spy thrillers, but it isn’t top notch.  Rogue is memorable only  (if at all) for the character of Robin Monarch.  Given his history, Monarch is a more interesting character than the typical spy fiction action hero.  His team members on the other hand, like the other supporting characters, are given little definition.

Much of Rogue is familiar:  the numbered rules for survival (“Rule Five:  Fit in”); the wealthy gangster who made his fortune in the Russian Mafia; the supremely beautiful Russian girlfriend, an obligatory accessory for wealthy Russian mobsters; the protagonist’s uncontrollable desire for the mobster’s girlfriend; the highly placed CIA official who betrays his country.  Shoot-outs and chase scenes are standard, although I did enjoy learning about Rokon motorcycles.

Like most thrillers, Rogue has its weaknesses.  A scene in which Lacey learns some partial truths about Monarch is a bit melodramatic.  Monarch’s ability to reassemble his CIA team to perform an unsanctioned mission, given his earlier abandonment of them, struck me as improbable, but not so implausible as to destroy the novel’s credibility.  Monarch’s stamina, his ability to run and shoot after enduring starvation and torture, is impossible to believe, but normal enough for an action-driven thriller.  The ending, while satisfying, is a little too tidy (why, I wondered, would a politician believe a rogue agent’s wild story, supported only by video evidence that could easily have been faked?).

As a thriller should, Rogue moves quickly, and the pace accelerates as the novel progresses.  Action sequences are vivid.  The diverse international settings (Istanbul, St. Moritz, Buenos Aires, Budapest) are described in convincing detail.  Despite its flaws, Rogue worked well enough to whet my interest in the sequel promised by the novel’s last sentence.

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