The Exile [Hardcover]

Andrew Britton (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 1, 2010

For the President of the United States, the horror of life in West Darfur just hit too close to home. His niece Lily, a nurse caring for Sudanese refugees, has been murdered by a corps of fearsome government-backed militia. Any response will destabilize the region and threaten the security of the world. America is out of options. Except one: Ryan Kealey. Kealey, ex-Special Forces, former CIA, has finished trying to save the world. But now the government has revealed its trump card, the one thing Kealey will risk everything for. Spurred to action, Kealey is plunged into the centre of a conspiracy that runs from the lawless streets of Sudan to the highest levels of American government. Brimming with intrigue and danger, "The Exile" pulses with high-stakes gamble after gamble, as one man navigates a tenuous web of international relations that could collapse at any moment.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Near the start of Britton's uneven fourth spy thriller to feature ex-CIA agent Ryan Kealey (after The Invisible), Janjaweed militiamen brutally murder Lily Durant, an American nurse working at a refugee camp in Darfur and the niece of the U.S. president, David Brenneman. Gen. Joel Stralen, a close friend of Brenneman's who considers the CIA a rival to his own Defense Intelligence Agency, seizes the chance to sideline political rivals and to justify armed retribution against Sudanese dictator Omar al-Bashir, suspected of ordering the attack on the camp. Meanwhile, CIA deputy director Jonathan Harper asks Kealey to investigate covertly. Kealey's quest for truth spans Africa, but few will be surprised when the operative finds answers closer to home. While Britton realistically portrays intelligence as a group effort, he doesn't make the best use of Kealey's time on stage, devoting a puzzling amount of space establishing his hero's credentials with a South African bodyguarding sequence.
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Product Details

• Hardcover: 400 pages
• Publisher: Kensington (July 1, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0758242697
• ISBN-13: 978-0758242693
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.5 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #227,585 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Andrew Britton was born in Peterborough, England, in 1981. He spent his formative years in the UK and Camlough, County Armagh Ireland, a small village which is home to most of the family on his mother's side. In 1988, his family immigrated to the United States, taking up residence in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Just before his junior year of high school, Britton moved to Raleigh, North Carolina, where he currently resides.

Britton graduated from Leesville Road High School in 1999 and immediately joined the U.S. Army. He served as a combat engineer for three years. During that time, he was assigned to the 1st Engineer Battalion at Fort Riley, Kansas. In the summer of 2001, he received orders for Korea, where he served with the 2ID, the famed 2nd Infantry Division. He was honorably discharged as a specialist in 2002.

Less than two months after separating from the armed forces, Britton began taking classes at Wake Technical Community College, transferring to the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in the fall of 2004. As an undergraduate at UNC, Britton studied economics and psychology. His education has been on hiatus for the past year, though he intends to return to school as soon as his schedule allows.

Apart from writing, Britton enjoys reading, traveling, and the occasional beer at the local bar.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars The Exile, July 2, 2010

By 

rsasdr (chicago) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Exile (Hardcover)

I was really looking forward to this book. Andrew Britton's previous novels were supberb thrillers. Good writing, which is rare to find in thrillers these days. Strong characters that more than just cardboard cutouts. Great villains. Tight plotting. Sadly, the author passed away either writing this novel or shortly after completing it. Most likely, the publisher had someone touch up or finish the manuscript.

The storyline and characters are great. The president's niece, an aide worker, is killed in Darfur. Ex-Special Forces and CIA operator Ryan Kealey is manipulated into coming back into the fold to investigate, and he unravels a conspiracy that reaches back to Washington, DC. A really dark, cynical tale with some interesting characters.

But the writing and plotting leave a lot to be desired. At barely over 300 pages, it's extremely short for a Britton novel. However the story itself is much more complex than the previous books. This book reads more like a firt draft and at many chapters, I felt like I was reading more of a detailed outline than a completed novel. There's lots of subplots and numerous characters, but not sufficient space to fully develope all these different plots and characters. I was left with the feeling that Andrew intended for there to be a lot more than what this book has.

It's not a bad book and is still better than a lot of other recent thrillers I've read, including Vince Flynn's last one. If Andrew had been able to put enough time and energy into this novel, I have no doubt I'd be giving it 5 stars. There's the potential for a really great novel here. I just hope the publisher doesn't continue to release sub-par books with Andrew Britton's name on it.

If you enjoyed the previous three books, you'll like this one, but you probably will be a little disapointed.

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars exciting espionage thriller, July 1, 2010

By 

Harriet Klausner - See all my reviews
(#1 Hall OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Exile (Hardcover)

In Darfur, the Janjaweed militia attacks a refugee camp where they brutally kill American nurse Lily Durant. However, Lily is not just another American in the wrong place at the wrong time; she was the niece of President David Brenneman.

Defense Intelligence Agency General Joel Stralen sees an opportunity to gain an edge over his unit's prime rival the CIA. He pushes strongly for punishing Sudanese leader Omar al-Bashir, as he swears to his close friend he has slam dunk information the attack was not random. The vicious dictator ordered the assassination of Lily. CIA Deputy Director Jonathan Harper asks former operative Ryan Kealey to investigate before Stralen rushes America to judgment.

The latest Kealey espionage thriller (see The American, The Assassin and The Invisible) is an exciting action-packed tale in which the DIA and CIA argue merit of a retaliatory strike like Reagan ordered against Gaddafi. Fast-paced, fans of the series will enjoy accompanying the hero to Africa and back though the story line is somewhat sub-genre standard as Kealey once again affirms spying is a team sport, if one wants to obtain the information and live

Harriet Klausner

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Enjoyable Summer Thriller, July 3, 2010

By 

Carlbarry (Michigan) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Exile (Hardcover)

This is the first book in this series I've read so I can't judge it in comparison to those that came before it. But I thought it was exciting and very well written with excellent characters, and like a previous reader I felt it was much better than most other thrillers on the market today. I will definitely buy the earlier novels by Andrew Britton.