(Russian industrial complex in Siberia)

Ten years ago, I was fortunate to come across Terry Hayes’ first novel I AM PILGRIM.  The novel was riddled with suspense with constant shifting plot lines, well developed  characters, exceptional background information and exquisite detail developed with tremendous depth.  It was a spy thriller that was almost addictive as Hayes led you from one scene to another keeping you on the edge of your seat.  Once I completed the novel I soon learned there would be a follow up effort in a year or two.  Much to my chagrin it took almost a decade for Hayes to complete his next novel, THE YEAR OF THE LOCUST.  Hayes is a movie producer with a flair for constructing prose for thrilling spy novels.  He is an expert in developing cliff hangers that seem to repeat after each of his short chapters.  His latest effort replicates the strengths of his first novel, and I must say it was worth the wait, though I would request if there were a third novel on the horizon we did not have to wait another ten years for it to appear.

The star and narrator of THE YEAR OF THE LOCUST is a CIA operative with nom de guerre of Kane, though his real name is Ridley Walker.  Hayes immediately draws the reader into his web of suspense as he describes the public execution of ten people, a few of which were CIA operatives embedded in Iran who were victims of a public hanging.  It appears a US agent turned out to be a Russian spy who outed these individuals to the Tehran regime.

After searching for the double agent identified as Magus and failing to locate him, CIA Director, Richard Rourke, code named Falcon turned the mission to locate Magus to Kane.  Kane had a special skill set, the most important being a specialist in entering what are called “Denied Access Areas” places under hostile control such as Russia, Syria, North Korea, Iran, and the tribal zones of Pakistan.  Magus was an expert in disappearing and hiding, but so was Kane, and his target was kind enough to teach him a new technique which would eventually save his life.

Hayes’ approach is to keep the action moving as it seems as if Kane goes from one treacherous situation to the next, not allowing the reader to catch his breath.  Kane’s next secret mission is to rendezvous with an informer within one of the world’s most dangerous groups, the Army of the Pure a fundamentalist, anti-western, and violent organization – another reincarnation of ISIS.  The meeting was to take place in the Denied Access Area – where the borders of Iran, Afghanistan, and Pakistan meet with the informer who had information concerning a major event that would emulate its darkest predecessors.  The informer was a courier, who was also an air conditioning repair man and technician.

The courier provided a photo of Abu Muslim al-Tundra, a military commander of the Army of the Pure who was supposedly killed by an American bomb.  He had been head of al-Qaeda in Iraq, a founder of ISIS, and on his back was a tattoo of a locust.  Hayes’ excels at developing the background for each character and their role in the plot, with al-Tundra is being no exception as the author explains his road to being a master terrorist.  In addition, Hayes is very attuned to integrating historical events into his story.  Historical references are accurate and important.  For example, American distrust for the Pakistani intelligence service and overall direction of the government in Islamabad.  Other references include; how Pol Pot might have never become a genocidal killer, Union Carbide’s Bhopal disaster, oil discoveries in Baku, Azerbaijan, and many others.

Hayes is a master at describing the technology behind Kane’s spy craft.  Weapons and equipment are laid out for the reader including their development and use.  The CIA’s attempt to kill al-Tundra with hell fire missiles fired from across the Iranian border into Iran and deceive its Russian air-defense system is a case in point.  Further, his knowledge of submarines, stealth warfare, and weaponry is impressive, and reflects a tremendous amount of research that went into authoring the novel.

As in his first book, Hayes develops a series of interesting characters.  First, and most important is Ridley Kane, but others play an important role including Dr. Rebecca McMaster, an ER doctor who lives with Kane.  Laleh, an Afghan woman who Kane saved from execution, who later would reciprocate by doing the same for him.  Richard Roarke, CIA head, an old school operator.  Lucas Corrigan, CIA Head of Human Resources who was “the man with eyes as green and cold as river rocks,” a Ph. D and Psy.D whose father was CIA Station Chief in Saigon during the 1975 evacuation.  Madeline O’Neill, a CIA analyst who tracks terrorists and is an expert at creating back stories for Kane’s missions.  Clayton Powell, the CIA Archivist.  Bill “Buster” Glover, a CIA Assistant Director.  Baxter Woodward, a physicist who met Kane on “a submarine that didn’t exist, a craft that had been designed to disappear, was ready to set sail for waters unknown.”  Yosef Faheez, the third richest man in Pakistan and bankroller of terrorist operations.   Clifford Montgomery, President of the United States. Ghorbani and Bahman, two Blackwater operatives embedded in Iran.  Aslan Kadyrov, known as “the Rifle,” is in charge of Russia’s large earth mining complex in Siberia called the Baikonur Cosmodrome.  Lastly, Roman Kazinsky, the real name of al-Tundra who turned out to be Russian and former Spetsnaz in addition to being a devout Muslim. 

(Terry Hayes, author)

As the reader you must pay careful attention to Hayes’ construction of the novel.  He switches from scene to scene and mission to mission very artfully, but quickly.  He creates a number of scenarios for Kane to confront and resolve.  From searching for a traitor who divulged the agents embedded in Iran resulting in their execution, the search for the world’s most dangerous terrorist, being aboard the USS Leviathan, a stealth submarine which experiences disaster below the Indian Ocean.   Lastly about two-thirds into the novel Hayes surprisingly pivots morphing his story into a Covid like apocalyptic salvation story which results from Kazinsky’s plan to use Russia’s mining operation in Kazakhstan at the Baikonur plant to spread siber spores that would transform the world as an instrument for his vengeance.

Aspects of the novel may seem a bit far-fetched, but Haye’s credibility as an amazing storyteller allows the reader to carry on.  A number of Hayes’ characters are sarcastic, and this allows the author to inject a good amount of humor into dark situations that keep the reader entertained.  The book has all of Hayes’ amusing elements: astuteness, clear-cut and intelligent writing; believable characters even if their missions are hard to digest; a complicated plot; lessons in history, geography, cultures and politics; and an incisive look, professionally and personally, into the mind of a spy.  Further, in THE YEAR OF THE LOCUST things occur that pull the storyline together. It’s one thing to buy into the great research and detail behind creating a spy’s so-called “legend,” his claimed background supported by documents and memorized details. It’s another to come upon individuals in the most unlikely places as a convenient way to integrate disparate elements of the story.  In closing I would request that the author does not wait another ten years to publish his next spy thriller.

(Russian industrial complex in Siberia)