This is not your typical thriller by any means. One would not expect it to be. Over the course of the past decade or so, author Daniel Judson has proven that he can write just about anything, and do it quite well. He turned his hand to something of a hybrid espionage-adventure novel in THE TEMPORARY AGENT less than a year ago, and this fine sequel is even better.

The “agent” of both titles, if you will, is a gentleman named Tom Sexton. Orphaned before he was out of his teens, Tom enlisted in the Army but was tapped by one of a succession of military mentors to join a US Navy Seabees special ops team, where he was a standout performer, taking medals and wounds with equal valor. He left the service and wandered for a bit before meeting Stella, the love of his life. The problem is that Tom reluctantly keeps being drawn back into his military life. This was the thrust of THE TEMPORARY AGENT.

"Judson does a terrific job of keeping the reader guessing as to who the snake might be right up until near the end, when he drops another revelation for the next book in the series just as he is resolving the issues raised here."

THE ROGUE AGENT opens approximately 18 months later. Tom and Stella have built a life together, living under assumed names and running a popular diner with limited hours in a small town in Vermont not far at all from where Tom grew up and the lives of his family members ended so tragically. However, events slowly begin to overtake him when he is contacted out of the blue by his former superiors and more or less blackmailed into another mission. A young woman has been targeted by the agents of an infamous mercenary known as The Algerian, who in turn works for an even more nefarious and mysterious character known as The Benefactor. Given that Tom and Stella are living quietly and anonymously, with their location known only to a handful of people, Tom’s once and future military handlers feel that the targeted woman is better housed with him than at one of the safe houses they maintain.

This would seem to be true. THE ROGUE AGENT serves as a how-to guide if you really, really want to turn your residence into a seemingly impenetrable space, loaded with plenty of adult firepower toys that will enable one not only to take fire but also to return it. That’s how it seems, anyway. However, a late-night attack demonstrates that the suspected but unthinkable is true: there is a traitor in their midst, and it is someone who is otherwise completely trustworthy. Judson does a terrific job of keeping the reader guessing as to who the snake might be right up until near the end, when he drops another revelation for the next book in the series just as he is resolving the issues raised here.

THE ROGUE AGENT is very fast reading; the pages just fly by. This is especially remarkable because Judson isn’t afraid to give the reader background on the primary characters. All of it is extremely interesting, even the elements that in the hands of a lesser author would be boring minutiae. Tom Sexton is not a world-beater, either. While many espionage novels involve changing locales on the global map with the frequency of underwear changes (nothing wrong with that…the changing locales, I mean), most of this book is played out in rural Vermont and urban New York. More is almost certainly coming, so get on board the Agent train now.