Product Description

Meet Jonathan Quinn: a freelance operative with a take-no-prisoners style and the heart of a loner. His job? Professional “cleaner.” Nothing too violent, just disposing of bodies, doing a little cleanup if necessary. But in Brett Battles’s electrifying debut novel, Quinn’s latest assignment will change everything, igniting a harrowing journey of violence, betrayal, and revenge.

The job seemed simple enough: investigating a suspicious case of arson. But when a dead body turns up where it doesn’t belong–and Quinn’s handlers at “the Office” turn strangely silent–he knows he’s in over his head. With only a handful of clues, Quinn scrambles for cover, struggling to find out why someone wants him dead . . . and if it’s linked to a larger attempt to wipe out the Office.

The Cleaner

Quinn’s only hope may be Orlando, a woman from his past who’s reluctant to help but who may hold the key to solving the case.  Suddenly the two are prying into old crimes, crisscrossing continents, struggling to stay alive long enough to unbury the truth. But as the hunt intensifies, Quinn is stunned by what he uncovers: a chilling secret . . . and a brilliantly orchestrated conspiracy–with an almost unimaginable goal.

Furiously paced, filled with superbly drawn characters and pitch-perfect dialogue, The Cleaner puts a powerful twist on all our expectations as it confirms Brett Battles’s place as one of the most exciting new talents in suspense fiction today.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #819666 in Books
• Published on: 2007-06-26
• Released on: 2007-06-26
• Original language: English
• Dimensions: 9.51" h x 1.25" w x 6.37" l, 1.31 pounds
• Binding: Hardcover
• 368 pages

From Publishers Weekly
Displaying an enviable gift for pacing and action, Battles's debut novel is a page-turner that may remind some readers of the cult TV spy series Alias. Ex-cop Jonathan Quinn now works for a shadowy U.S. intelligence agency known merely as the Office, erasing all traces of violence and mayhem when an operation goes south. During an apparently routine assignment to look into a fatal fire that claimed the life of Robert Taggart, a viral biologist, in his Colorado home, Quinn finds evidence that Taggart was murdered, and that discovery is followed by an attempt on Quinn's own life. While Quinn survives, he learns that the Office's top operatives have been killed in near-simultaneous attacks. Quinn, who makes a compelling protagonist, heads to Europe to track down the mastermind behind the scheme. Admirers of quality espionage fiction can look forward to a new series worth following. (July)
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From Booklist
Jonathan Quinn is planning an early retirement. He works sporadically for an agency called the Office. He makes nearly a million a year, but he doesn't even know what branch of government funds his employer. Military intelligence? NSA? He's a contract "cleaner" who tidies the scene of a completed operation so the locals don't suspect that anything unusual has happened. It's less dangerous than operations, and that suits him. So he's surprised when an assassin attempts to kill him in his home. He must disappear temporarily. But loose ends from his last assignment nag him, ultimately thrusting him into an operation filled with violence, revenge, and betrayal. Battles hits for extra bases in his first novel. The Cleaner is a tightly written page-turner, filled with tradecraft and offering as much action as a James Bond film. The threat Quinn must neutralize may be a bit over the top—again in the Bondian manner—but fans of derring-do will happily suspend disbelief and enjoy a wild ride. Gaughan, Thomas
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Review
“A page-turner.”—Publishers Weekly