The Bricklayer -- Noah Boyd

Something called the Rubaco Pentad is blackmailing the F. B. I. When the Bureau tries to pay off, bad things happen to the money carriers. So what else is there to do but call in Steve Vail, once an agent but now a bricklayer, having been fired because he doesn't suffer fools gladly. Deputy Director Kate Bannon is the one who gets him to accept the job, and things move fast after that, with all booby traps and twists galore.

The writing is fine, and the pacing is dandy, but I had a few problems with the book. I have advantage, however. I've read a lot of thrillers, whereas the characters in the novel have to play by different rules. At any rate, I was always several steps of Vail, and in one case I was about 300 pages ahead of him. Vail is one of those super-competent guys who sometimes show up in thrillers. Nothing wrong with that, and maybe more about his past will be revealed in future books.

Problems aside, this was an entertaining debut novel. I'll probably read another one in the series when it comes along.