Customer Reviews

White Shotgun: An FBI Special Agent Ana Grey Novel

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I can't believe we read the same book. There's a reason this is going for four bucks used. Overwritten, so-pleased-with-myself prose; inauthentic characters; completely implausible plot. Bottom line, this book is just incredibly dumb. Wait for it to hit the remainder bin and then send it to your cousin in prison.

I have been to Siena numerous times, but never with F.B.I. agent Ana Grey. In the past when I've visited this beautiful city I've been nothing more than a naïve tourist, but April Smith's book, White Shotgun, showed me people, places and things in an exciting and far more interesting Siena.

While on vacation status in London with boyfriend Sterling McCord, Grey is witness to a brutal shootout. Before she can wipe off the debris, Grey is being sent by the bureau to Italy to gather intel on the husband of her recently discovered half sister, Cecilia Nicosa. Everything in Ana Grey's world is deep and complex -- from friends, family and lovers to the bars she visits and we are continually exposed to both the beauty and ugliness of Siena and its people.

April Smith's characters are superbly crafted and her research is spot on. She introduces us to a mafia that no doubt exists and I hope to never encounter. The leader is known as "The Puppet," and I'm not going to reveal why, but I assure you it has nothing to do with weakness.

I spent a few years of my life reading and reviewing crime fiction on a weekly basis and I love the genre. I always enjoy a well-written story about a tough cop or P.I., but Ana Grey is much more. She's a complex, believable and ultimately far more compelling character than usually found in even the best thrillers and crime novels. As a narrator, Grey shares her love life, professional expertise, sense of smell and wry wit with her readers, who she steadily draws in to a realistic and desperate world.

This is Smith's fourth (and definitely the best) book in the Ana Grey series and my only grievance is that I wish she wrote more frequently.

Ok I'll admit that I just started the book an hour ago and so far I'm not impressed. It starts off with the Chef and his black and white Australian sheepdog driving in a car. Excuse me...it's Australian Shepherd not sheepdog. Then it says "The dog's tail went up..." Excuse me again but the Australian Shepherd is a tailless breed. [...] Now the author could have meant Australian Cattle Dog which does have tails but they are not black and white.

Nit picky I know but it shows a lack of research.

I'm going to give it a single star for now and I'll change it later if the story impresses me enough.

OK, let's be fair. The year's just a bit more than half over and there could be another great crime novel ready to appear. Let's put it this way: if White Shotgun is not at least shortlisted for MWA's Edgar Award, there is no justice.

Ana Grey is in Siena, just before Palio. After escaping a drive-by shooting in London that nearly killed her and her ex-Delta Force lover, Ana is united with a half-sister she did not know existed. The half-sister has called out to her, telling her that she is due a small inheritance of a couple thousand euros. She knows, however, that Ana is a special agent in the FBI. Why is that important? How can Ana be of help to her?

The half-sister is married to an Italian coffee magnate whose mafia-related mistress has recently disappeared, dissolved in a boiling vat of lye. What has the husband been up to? And what about their son, who turns up with multiple stab wounds in a Siena alley?

Before these questions are answered we will be re-introduced to Ana's lover, who works for Oryx, an elite mercenary force, based in a warehouse near Heathrow. And before the assaults on her sister's family are over we're going to need some of her lover's colleagues for a special operation.

The canvas encompasses London, Siena, the slums of Calabria and the stretch of sea between the mainland and Sicily. The principal focus is Siena and April knows it like the back of her hand. And its neighborhoods. And its foods. And its criminal elements. And its Palio.

I have enjoyed April Smith's novels from the beginning. Each one of them, in hardcover, rests on a special shelf. This may be the very best of a very fine lot. Characters, plot, setting and themes are all done to perfection. Two bits of advice: be prepared to read it through once you start and be prepared to thirst for wine and espresso while you read.

And to the MWA awards panel: get the Edgar award ready.

On leave from the FBI, Special Agent Ana Grey and her lover private security expert Sterling McCord are in London when her handler Mike Donnato calls from Los Angeles asking her to visit the Embassy. The FBI Legat in London Sheila Kuser asks her go to Siena, Italy to meet her half-sister Cecilia Maria Nicosa nee Sanchez of El Salvatore, who Ana had not known existed until the Fed call. The FBI wants Ana to meet Cecilia in order to investigate her wealthy coffee importer spouse Nicoli whose mistress vanished allegedly due to a White Shotgun murder.

Meanwhile Siena prepares for the Palio gala culminating with the legendary horse race between the city's wards. Someone stabs Nicosa's son Giovanni and Cecilia vanishes. Ana and Sterling trust no one local as they prepare to locate and rescue Cecilia before she becomes a White Shotgun victim.

The latest Agent Grey FBI thriller (see Good Morning Killer and Judas Horse) is an exciting European caper starting with a mass shooting in London and continuing on the continent. The complex story line is fast-paced and filled with suspense as the paternal siblings meet while family war breaks out in Italy. Though connecting the dots seem a bit convoluted, readers will appreciate Ana's European vacation.

Harriet Klausner

The character and author have developed into star material. Very well written. Couldn't put it down, and now it is being read by family members.

"White Shotgun" is an amazing read and would make an extraordinary movie. The story follows Ana Grey, FBI agent and intriguing heroine through a mesmerizing adventure in Sienna, Italy and surrounding areas. There are vividly rendered and beautiful expressive descriptions of Sienna, Palio and the Italian lifestyle that add an extra dimension to this novel.

While the action is fast-moving, the characters are developed, unusual and fascinating. April Smith is a keen observer and there are many levels to enjoy about this book. If you love a good thriller, nuanced characters and the added element of modern Italy as a fascinating backdrop, this is the book for you.