Brett Battles’ debut novel THE CLEANER is a thrilling ride, introducing a new spy on the scene: Jonathan Quinn. He’s a cleanup man who will dispose of your bodies and make sure everything looks copacetic. A total lone wolf we’ve seen before in other books, he’s also a mentor to an up-and-coming cleaner named Nate.
Quinn is asked to look into a case of arson that has killed someone important to the Office, the agency for which he freelances. Things don’t exactly add up, especially when they make a gruesome discovery in the back of the victim’s car: another Office worker shot to death. Once Quinn makes it back home, he’s greeted by a man who’s there to carry out his own job: killing Quinn.
From here, Quinn embarks on a globetrotting adventure to find out who is behind the attempt on his life and how it’s connected to the arson. The novel follows him through Vietnam to Berlin, with Quinn running into former associates, most of whom don’t seem to happy to see him again.
There’s not one but two obligatory showdowns, all while the plot builds and builds to an escape-fueled fever pitch. Battles writes so easily that the tale feels like an action movie in the waiting. There are some truly pulse-pounding moments just screaming to be filmed, including a car chase and shootout, which show Battles has a ear and eye for the action.
But it also has a few minor missteps, including some tired clichés. One that really set me off: moments of Quinn going into great detail of the plot, but when it comes to some crucial information, it’s glanced over, leaving the reader in the dark. Then there is the whole basis of the plot, and the former associates and/or lovers Quinn will call upon for help. These have been used over and over in other novels.
When Quinn is faced with who’s behind it all, it’s not plausible with everything we’ve been told before. But I’ll give Battles some slack since it’s his first effort. Hopefully in the next one, he’ll rely on fresher ideas. He does come close to hitting this one out of the park; it’s just some ideas drag it down enough to keep it from sailing over the fence. –Bruce Grossman
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