Adrenaline (Sam Capra): Jeff Abbott: 9780446575171: Amazon.com: Books

Amazon.com Review

Amazon Best Books of the Month, July 2011: CIA agent, Sam Capra, is about to have an extremely bad morning. We’re not talking about I-just-spilled-coffee-on-my-chinos bad. We’re talking about terrorists-bombed-my-office-and-kidnapped-my-wife bad. Sam is in the middle of an important meeting—he’s been closing in on the CIA’s most important target—when he’s interrupted by an urgent call from his pregnant wife, Lucy. There’s panic in her voice. “Meet me outside now,” she begs. In the street, Sam sees Lucy in a silver grey sedan with a strange man in the driver’s seat. Then a blast hits. In a flash, all of Sam’s colleagues are dead. Lucy’s gone. Sam’s the only survivor. And we’re only on page twelve. What follows is a breakneck thriller that delivers on the promise of its title. Adrenaline does indeed get the heart pumping with an exhilarating pace, creatively choreographed action, and intrigue that routinely compels you to read the proverbial “one more chapter.” But Sam Capra remains its most memorable asset. In his quest to find his family, Capra becomes the best kind of hero, one who’s highly capable at kicking ass, but who's also imbued with a large amount of heart, which makes him worth rooting for book after book. Fortunately, Jeff Abbott has promised us more.--Shane Hansanuwat

"If you knew this was our final day together, what would you say to me?"
"Anything but good-bye. I can't ever say good-bye to you."

ADRENALINE

Sam Capra is living the life of his dreams.

He's a brilliant young CIA agent, stationed in London. His wife Lucy is seven months pregnant with their first child. They have a wonderful home, and are deeply in love.

They have everything they could hope for...until they lose it all in one horrifying moment.

On a bright, sunny day, Sam receives a call from Lucy while he's at work. She tells him to leave the building immediately. He does...just before it explodes, killing everyone inside. Lucy vanishes, and Sam wakes up in a prison cell. As the lone survivor of the attack, he is branded by the CIA as a murderer and a traitor.

Escaping from the agency, Sam launches into a desperate hunt to save his kidnapped wife and child, and to reveal the unknown enemy who has set him up and stolen his family. But the destruction of Sam's life was only step on in an extraordinary plot-and now Sam must become a new kind of hero.

Author One-on-One: Jeff Abbott and Harlan Coben

In this Amazon.com exclusive, author Jeff Abbott is interviewed by thriller writer Harlan Coben about Adrenaline, characters with dark secrets, and how films influence the writing process.

Harlan Coben: Let's get right to it. You’ve created a new, iconic (or soon-to-be iconic) character in Sam Capra with the plan to turn this into a series: Why?

Jeff Abbott: My last four novels were standalone thrillers, but I had readers asking me every time if the main characters in those books would launch a series. So I decided I wanted to take what I'd learned in writing standalones--interesting (I hope) characters and lots of action and high emotional stakes--and apply it to a series. Sam Capra is a bit different from other suspense series heroes: he's younger (at 26), he's a husband and about-to-be father, and he's an ex-spy who can now operate free of agency rules and find his own dangers and challenges.

Harlan Coben: Did you choose to have Sam own bars just so you could travel the world and call it research? Because if you did, you're an evil genius and I want in.

Jeff Abbott: Well, an ex-spy needs a job, and I thought: what if Sam owned a lot of bars around the world? He could be like a globetrotting Rick Blaine, from Casablanca. I can instantly put Sam anywhere in the world, and I can introduce an interesting new cast in each book--or I can revisit characters and settings from earlier books. Bars are perfect places for lives to collide and intrigue to arise. And bars give us a way to connect personally, face to face, not in the digital way we all seem to find each other now. Unexpectedly cool: my readers sent me over thirty suggestions when I asked them, via my blog, to recommend their favorite London bars, and I visited several of those fine establishments. A hardy band from my British publisher bravely accompanied me on this quest. It's great how everyone volunteers to help me with this kind of research.

Harlan Coben: On the surface, Adrenaline (apt title, by the way) may be an international spy thriller--but what sets it apart, methinks, is that it is really a novel about family. You agree?

Jeff Abbott: You and I have always written about family and the secrets they hold. I know we are both very close to our families, and there was a long stretch in crime fiction where it seemed to be required that the main character be alienated from family. At the beginning of Adrenaline, Sam's seven-months pregnant wife vanishes, and Sam is accused of being a traitor and has to go on the run to find her. All he wants is his family back, and to know the truth about his wife: did she betray him, or was she taken from him? He needs to know if his family is based on love or on a lie. There is no greater emotional dynamite than family.

Harlan Coben: You know I love the partner in series fiction--Sherlock-Watson, Batman-Robin, Spenser-Hawk-- and you gave Sam a very strong one in Mila. She's, um, intense. Can you fill us in?

Jeff Abbott: So often the partner is the best friend to the hero--but Sam knows virtually nothing about Mila except what whisky she drinks and that she can help him find his family. She's tough and smart but she seems very alone in the world. A big part of the series will be finding out about her and her past; I love writing her scenes, for me it's often like a blurred photograph slowly coming into focus.

Harlan Coben: Because I’m always interested in the answer, let’s do the writer's chicken-egg question--which comes first, characters or plot?

Jeff Abbott: Usually for me, it's character, because every decision the characters make drives the plot. But if I think of an interesting situation first, a 'what if' that grabs me, and then can people it with characters I want to know more about, then that's fine, too. I don't think it always has to be one before the other.

Harlan Coben: You and I love to discuss (argue?) movies. We are often asked about literary influences, so let me turn that around a bit. Do films ever influence your writing?

Jeff Abbott: I never imagine the books as films, but I do tend to build the story in three acts, the way most movies are structured. If I get stuck on a book, I like to watch a good movie: a Hitchcock film, or a classic suspense film like Marathon Man or Chinatown. The story can be vastly different from what I'm writing, but just seeing the strong structure underlying the movie's story seems to clear my head and then I'm ready to go back to work.

Review

"This is a wonderful book and the start of one of the most exciting new series I've had the privilege to read. Jeff Abbott has been one of my favorite writers for more than a decade and Sam Capra is now on my short list of characters I would follow anywhere. Adrenaline provides the high-octane pace one expects from a spy thriller, while grounding the action with a protagonist that anyone can root for. Sam Capra is the boy next door -- assuming the boy next door to you is a CIA-trained agent who will do whatever is necessary to find and protect his loved ones." (Laura Lippman )

"Adrenaline has everything-relentless action, mind-bending intrigue, and twists and turns you won't see coming. It's exhilarating, and confirms Jeff Abbott as one of the best thriller writers of our time." (Harlan Coben )

"Adrenaline lives up to its name. Pure thriller in pace, but Abbott manages to keep the book's heart in the right place. The characters aren't cardboard action figures, but people under incredible stresses and strains. I read it in a big gulp." (Charlaine Harris )

"Engaging from the first paragraph, terrifying from the second page, ADREANLINE accomplishes what most modern thrillers can't. It makes us care about its characters even while we're speeding headlong down the ingenious Rabbit Hole of its plot. Well done!" (Eric Van Lustbader )

"I am, and always have been, a devoted Jeff Abbott fan. Adrenaline takes him to a whole new level. Sam Capra is the perfect hero-tough, smart, pure of heart, and hard to kill. And Adrenaline is the perfect thriller. Taut and edgy, with breakneck pacing and perfect plotting, it's a breathless race from the shocking, heart-wrenching opening sequence to the stunning conclusion. Jeff Abbott is a master, and Adrenaline is his best book yet." (Lisa Unger, NYT bestselling author of Fragile )

"A near-perfect thriller... Fans of Harlan Coben, Lee Child, Joseph Finder, or John Grisham-anyone who enjoys a wild ride on a bumpy road-can cheer the arrival of our latest master of the fine art of the page-turner. Highly recommended." (Booklist )

"Panic is Jeff Abbott's best novel yet...an instant classic immediately full of questions-who, what, why, how-that have answers you won't see coming." (Lee Child )

"Panic is a ride down the roaring rapids. Jeff Abbott has put together a hell of a page turner." (Michael Connelly )

See all Editorial Reviews

Customer Reviews

3.9 out of 5 stars

(103)

See all 103 customer reviews

“ Adrenaline is a great fast paced novel, which is pretty much non stop action from the first to the last page. ” James N Simpson | 25 reviewers made a similar statement

“ I dislike books that leave too many loose ends. ” Pamlia | 15 reviewers made a similar statement

“ Although I have a TON of fiction books to read, I liked this one enough to purchase the next book and will begin reading soon! ” RW | 13 reviewers made a similar statement

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

52 of 58 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Doesn't Wrap Up Everything By the End, but a Great Fast Paced Action Read! November 20, 2010

By James N Simpson

Format:Paperback

Adrenaline is a great fast paced novel, which is pretty much non stop action from the first to the last page. The only downside is that is clearly the start of a series, by this I mean that even though the majority of the issues in the novel are resolved by the end, a few things aren't. It's still enjoyable as standalone read but you're sort of hooked to now wait in anticipation for the next novel in the series to see those things resolved.

This novel is a little less Harlan Coben style, than Panic and some of his other independent stand alone storyline novels, more like a David Morrell far fetched well trained military/secret agent operative main character than an everyday guy type through the eyes read. It's not realistic (although it is considerably more so than some of Abbott's other work) but that doesn't mean it's not just plain fun.

Basic plot of Adrenaline is a former in the field secret agent type, Sam Capra has settled down to a life of briefing his organisation (known as The Company) on threats to the Western world. He's got a heavily pregnant wife named Lucy whose only days away from giving birth and the biggest risks he now takes is his morning runs through British council estates where he enjoys using the rooves, railings and other parts of those estates as an obstacle course. However during a morning presentation he receives a call on his mobile, his wife is on the other end and tells him he must come down and meet her on the street right now. Since she's heavily pregnant he can get away with this, but as he hits the street his building explodes. He sees his wife being held captive in a car, a man with a scarred face beside her fleeing from the scene. No one believes she has been kidnapped, and it's not long before normal police interviewing is replaced by a needle and Sam awakens in a Polish prison where he is tortured and questioned in the hopes he will confess the details and give up the information on the whereabouts of those responsible. The Company tell him that he either must have known with all his training that his wife was a traitor or he is completely useless as an agent because the signs are always obvious. Sam doesn't want to believe the answer is either of those things and is determined to do whatever it takes to find his wife and would be born now child and to do that he'll have to get to the bottom of the bombing as well.

1 Comment |

Was this review helpful to you?

Yes

33 of 38 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars Fast Paced thriller August 14, 2010

By N. Brett VINE™ VOICE

This has both the good things and the flaws in the author's writing. A replay of elements of previous plots and a pace that goes so quickly that you almost miss the holes in the story.

But it's not 'bad', it is a 'read and forget' thriller, ideal for holidays and journeys and certainly not too taxing.

CIA operative escapes a bombing and finds himself under scrutiny and his pregnant wife the main suspect in the bombing. Our hero goes rogue (with the help of a mysterious organisation) to track down his wife and prove her innocence. A flaw returns from previous books as he turns from a CIA operative (with undercover experience) into a Jason Bourne type who can outsmart and outfight everyone. As our rogue operative gets closer to the truth, he finds there may be very few he can trust....

Like I said, this is an 'okay' thriller, it won't tax you but it should entertain you enough for a couple of hours. Billed as "Sam Capra 1", we may see more of this character, and I won't be sorry if we do.

Comment |

17 of 19 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars Pretty good, but not uniformly so July 8, 2011

By E. Jacobs TOP 1000 REVIEWER

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase

Recently a lot of books in the spy/ thriller genre have started to run together in my head, but this one is an exception. It was well-written and suspenseful, with several twists that actually did surprise me. There were some limitations to the book, however, which kept me from giving it a higher rating.

This is the story of Sam Capra, a CIA spook whose world gets turned upside down when he narrowly escapes as his office is bombed by a man who has also kidnapped his pregnant wife, Lucy. Sam is immediately considered suspect by the CIA since he is the only one who survives the bombing, and the story is off and running. He is desperate to find Lucy and their unborn child and has to rely on every tool in his arsenal to do so.

The book seemed to ebb and flow for me. There were sections of really rapid-fire, intensive excitement followed by some more tedious segments, and the narrative seemed to meander on for just a bit too long. In addition, there is some science in this book that borders on the ridiculous and really strained my ability to suspend disbelief. I did find the characters to be almost uniformly terrific, though I have to admit that I enjoyed Mila, a mysterious woman in whom Sam has met his match, more than Sam himself.

Probably one of the bigger annoyances to me upon completion of this book was the major unfinished story arc, which sets up the next book in the series. We already know what Sam's next mission will be, but it seemed gratuitous to leave that thread just dangling. I would've picked up the next book based on the strength of the characters, but the latest habit of series-writers to leave a book unfinished annoys me and knocked this book down a star.

Taken together with its myriad pros and cons, this book earned an average rating from me.