The Slush Pile Brigade (Nick Lassiter Series) (Volume 1)

THE GOOD NEWS: HIS BOOK'S A BEST-SELLER. THE BAD: HE'S BEEN BOOK-JACKED!

When he loses both job and girl friend--oh, yes--and also lands in jail in a few short hours, Nick Lassiter's thirtieth quickly shapes up as Worst Birthday Ever. But Lassiter still has one last hope--the thriller he hasn't yet sold. And then Worst Birthday graduates to Worst Day of His Life. Because he discovers not only has his manuscript been stolen, it was lifted by the Australian answer to James Patterson, and is now set to be the bestseller of the year, as the work of the world's second best-selling author. 

By anyone's standards, Lassiter's got to do something. Sue, maybe; at the very least kick the thief's audacious posterior. But, actually, all he really wants is an apology. As a high-level CIA official puts it: "He's either the most principled person on the planet--or the most naive." 

Next thing you know he's barging into forbidden publishing circles with a brigade of intriguing and offbeat buddies, trying to get his mea culpa from the illustrious Cameron Barnaby Beckett IV, and Beckett's deliciously unctuous agent, Anton De Benedictis. 

But unbeknownst to Lassiter and his slushpile brigade, his simple need to hear "I'm sorry" is seriously bollixing-up a long-planned CIA operation. Something else he doesn't know: the high-level spy who's running it is none other than his estranged father, only one of many amusing connections that make this satirical thriller a complex and many-twisted page-turner. 

Marquis is the kind of artful and wily author who seems at first to be taking you on a nice walk in the garden, when suddenly you notice you're actually on a towering cliff overlooking jagged rocks with a 16-wheeler barreling towards you. You never know what twist he's going to take, what daunting prospect lies ahead, but, since his story, bolstered by fine and compelling writing, barrels along at the speed of that 16-wheeler, you're not only happy to be along for the ride, you can't stop anyhow. 

Among the many delights you'll encounter--not only the requisite thrills and surprises (more than usual if we do say so!), but lavishly applied sly wit, including a laugh-out-loud skewering of publishing-as-we-know-it. 

Readers of both humorous thrillers and their more butch cousins, hard-boiled thrillers, will eat this one up, especially fans of the late great comic spymaster Ross Thomas, and the ever subtle Thomas Perry. Those who love Timothy Hallinan, Don Winslow, and Harlan Coben will find themselves hooked as well; even aficionados of the more hard-boiled guys like Barry Eisler, Daniel Silva, and Preston and Child will devour with relish Book 1 of the Nick Lassiter International Espionage Series.