Great thriller that kept me turning the pages. Great story, great writing and characters. Really enjoyable and would read this author again.

i really enjoyed this mystery novel, the characters were great and I really enjoyed trying to figure out what was going on in this mystery.

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC.

In this easy to read tale the old adage of there always seeming to be an alterior motive is never far from the surface.

What starts out as a special task force (under Special powers from the President) to combat gang violence in the USA morphs into something far more sinister.

Dave McClure of the CIA is a man who has a habit of making things happen and being in the right place at the right time.

I enjoyed the story (too much talk about what people have eaten/will eat/might eat/have not eaten for my liking.

There are some nice set pieces here (drones for one) that make this a fun read. If you want an easy to read thriller this does the job.

Thanks to the author, BooksGoSocial, Outskirts Press and NetGalley for providing a copy of this novel for review.

This was a fun one. Sometimes you just need a straightforward novel that breezes by and keeps you entertained, and <i>Special Means</i> certainly delivered on that point. Andrew Ceroni keeps the narrative going with a confident and meticulous style that serves the story and its particulars well.

It helps that the author clearly knows the subject. The use of real world equipment and believable tactics helps the description of even something as nominally simple as a telephone conversation feel grounded in the world of espionage, and the actual depictions of combat engagements are well thought out and feel tangibly real. I particularly enjoyed how Andrew seamlessly wove together ground operations by the protagonist and other characters with the political and administrative machinery underlying the overall story. In that specific respect, it reminded me a lot of how Vince Flynn would do the same thing in the <i>Mitch Rapp</i> novels, which for me is always a plus when it comes to espionage thrillers.

The reader is dropped into the world of Dave McClure, a CIA agent that is tasked with investigating a series of high tech military attacks on organized criminal gangs within major cities. Note that this is my first novel in this series and by this author, and while it seems that going by what was mentioned in this book, there are at least 2 more preceding books with this protagonist, Special Means can be read entirely on its own without any previous knowledge of the series. And this one was, overall, good enough that I'm looking forward to catching up on what I missed, as well as future works by this author.

If I have one complaint, it's that a lot of this information (what brand of ammunition is loaded in a weapon, the exact make and model of a relevant car etc.) tends to be conveyed to the reader through dialogue between the characters themselves, even when it doesn't make sense that such exact technical specifications would come up naturally in the conversation that's currently taking place. It's a little jarring when seemingly every character in the novel is an expert in the particular workings of whichever firearm, vehicle, or location description is relevant to the story at the moment. That aside, the dialogue itself between characters is very formal and almost long winded, like you're listening to a radio broadcast from half a decade ago. Also, everyone loves talking about what they're having to eat or drink when the occasion arises, which I will admit I found (unintentionally) funny, but not necessarily in a bad way. I will say that that specific style grew on me as the novel progressed, and I found that it didn't annoy me as much near the end as it did when I started the novel. This is a point which is highly subjective and personal, and will just depend on your individual preferences.

But if you can acclimate to the writing style, or if you're just not bothered by it, then I heartily recommend this novel if you're in the mood for something like what I described. I'm looking forward to reading other works by the author.

Remembering the series of motion pictures starring Charles Bronson about a self-appointed vigilante hunting criminals and executing them will provide a bit of background about Andrew Ceroni's latest novel. The United States has reached a point at which criminal gangsters and gangs are running wild with no apparent means of controlling them. A newly elected president calls a meeting of carefully selected advisors and has a group formed composed of highly skilled military. Their mission would be to hunt down and summarily execute gangs. No arrest, no trial no hearings. When the group is activated and functioning crime does go down in certain areas of the country. The population is ecstatic about what is going on as it is apparent that this vigilante group is doing what the police cannot come to grips with due to the many regulations hindering their work.
Dave McClure, an agent with the CIA, who has appeared in prior novels by Ceroni and sent to investigate finds clues to a group of skilled warriors that are plotting to stage a coup and take over the U.S. government. He alerts his supervisors who begin to mobilize forces to go after the them. McClure and his fellow agents begin work to find out where the group is hiding and what their plans include. The leadership of the rogue warriors includes a four star U.S. army general and does involve highly trained people. Yes, you guessed it the group formed by the seemingly benevolent actions of the president has changed their course of action to now want to take over the country with them as the leadership.
McClure finds out where the rogue group is, and what they are planning and the CIA sets up a taskforce to thwart their plans. Along the way McClure's wife is threatened with kidnapping and being held to keep her husband from continuing with his plans.
The novel is easy to read, nothing strenuous to grasp and a feel good work for the readers. It's an all nighter due to the continuous action outlined and the interest by the reader to keep abreast of things. It would be easy to continue to look for and read future books by Mr Ceroni and that is my recommendation after finishing this one.