THE ISLAND is a breath of fresh air in a summer of hot gas. Time may fly when you’re having a grand time, but it seems it was just a year or two ago that Ben Coes introduced CIA agent Dewey Andreas to the thriller genre. Obviously it has been longer than that since this is the ninth entry in the series, which is hard to believe. While those familiar with what has gone before should need no urging to pick up this latest installment, the uninitiated should feel free to jump on now. Coes does an excellent job of filling in the backstory when necessary in this ultimate beach read for all seasons.

The book’s title refers to Manhattan, which is the headquarters of the United Nations. The setup here is that U.S. President J.P. Dellenbaugh is scheduled to give a well-publicized speech before the UN General Assembly. A plain-speaking, two-fisted fighter, Dellenbaugh is ready to deliver a stem-winder of an address to the ears of the people who need it most and want it least, and is determined that nothing will prevent him from doing so.

"Not everyone makes it to the end of THE ISLAND, but enough of the right folks do that you will be happy to have expended the time and effort to read it."

Muhammed el-Shakib, the head of Iran's military and intelligence agency, has decided that he is going to use the speech as a means of paralyzing the United States across all fronts. El-Shakib is no stranger to Dewey and moves to take him out ahead of the event. He fails, of course, but is assured that Dewey will be far enough away from the action that he will not constitute a threat.

Dellenbaugh travels to New York the following day and arrives at the UN in time to give his speech as scheduled. But before he can begin, el-Shakib uses long-embedded terrorist agents to launch a series of surgical strikes to cut Manhattan off from the rest of the world and assassinate the President. The wild card, of course, is Dewey, who is off the shore of Long Island. He has been made aware of the attack and steadily inserts himself into the situation.

Rob Tacoma, who could be described as Dewey’s understudy, is there to lend a hand, and lend it he does. It is a good thing, too, because assassinating the President is an important but not the primary goal of el-Shakib’s exercise. There is in fact a large quarrel of clocks ticking here, and it is all by the munitions, fisticuffs and stabbings that seem to be featured on every page in unforgettable and vivid prose as the story races to its conclusion.

Not everyone makes it to the end of THE ISLAND, but enough of the right folks do that you will be happy to have expended the time and effort to read it. Coes brings a clear-headed, practical and realistic vision of how the world works to the story, which blessedly does not contain a woke checklist to be waded through before one gets to the good stuff. All thrillers should be as good as this one, which is why I highly recommend it. Coes will know what I mean when I suggest you keep an eye out for it.