The Deceived (A Jonathan Quinn Novel)

Battles' second book is perfectly paced, full of action, and even better than his first. Jonathan Quinn is a character I'm going to want to see again and again and again.

This is the International Spy Thriller at its best!

I recently discovered this author and read the first book, The Cleaner. I like this main character and Deceived did not disappoint. I like the action and the story line in this book. I would recommend this author to those who like Daniel Silva, Brad Thor and similar authors.

OK, apologies to Brett Battle fans in advance. I realize I'm going against the crowd on this one - twelve-out-of-twelve five star reviews is impressive, and was certainly enough to get me to spring for sixteen-and-change and more importantly, five or six hours of my time. I'd never heard of Brett Battles, had never read "The Cleaner", and was excited about adding a hot new thrill writer to my list. If I were to be charitable, I'd say that Battles and "The Deceived" is the funniest thriller/action parody since Maxwell Smart. Problem is, Battles is being dead serious in this melodramatic yawner of a "thriller" with all the depth and intelligence of a made-for-TV movie. The steely-eyed "cleaner", Jonathan Quinn, is about as believable - and intimidating - as Howdy Doody, while the dialog - even more flat and cardboard than the cast - makes that TV movie look like Hitchcock by comparison. It's forced, it's banal, and it's built on a themes so old that when told in stone tablet they were already feeling tired.

So our hero, Quinn, finds the body of an old pal and CIA operative, Steve Markoff, rotting in a shipping container that Quinn was dispatched to "clean-up". And clean up he does, but he's pissed, and in addition to avenging his dead bud, he at the same time will track down Markoff's missing girlfriend, obviously in danger as well. From that point on, a good portion of the book is consumed by pretty much everyone who crosses Quinn's path telling him to back off and forget Markoff, followed by Quinn's stoic response that runs something like "a man's got to do what a man's got to do." Over, and over, and over again. This tedium is broken by multiple competing teams of supposedly elite hit squads chasing Quinn down, but in their inability to pin down the undermanned Quinn, who we are told (again, repeatedly) is out of his element as a tracker (remember - he's only a "cleaner"), they come off looking less like Delta Force and more like a match between the Three Stooges and The Keystone Cops. Yeah, there's an explosion or two, some people get killed, a few more maimed, but the action serves only as a welcome diversion from the juvenile babbling between the characters. This is one of those books that you keep wishing will get better - that clever plot twists and good storytelling will trump flat characters and lame dialog - but trust me here - it only gets worse.

Look, I get no pleasure panning a book. I'd much rather be singing the praises of Ken Bruen's brutally violent poetic prose, of Danial Silva's headlines-brought-to life, Carl Hiaasen's caustic razor sharp wit, Duane Swiercynski's off-the-wall heroes and outrageously creative escapades, of Cormac McCathy's pathos ripped and twisted and reassembled, or James Lee Burke's moody and atmospheric, faintly supernatural, tales of the bayou. This is none of those - not even close - so take this as simply as a red flag - a warning not to be 'deceived" as I was hoping to find a new author with some chops and a hero to match.

Meanwhile, I'm still looking.

I am a audible listener and was very disappointed in the book. Several of the female characters are written to be inexperienced and won't heed Quinn's advise about the dangers. Then they get into trouble, he rescues them, they whine about being in trouble, and then wont heed his advise again. Some of it is explained at the end but not enough. And the performer gave those same females such terrible whining voices. I will give this series one more try and hope they get back to the quality of the first one.

After being impressed with "The Cleaner" I got this novel, also part of the same Jonathan Quinn series, and an addictive series it is. The Quinn character treads on similar territory as Tom Wood's Victor or Barry Eisler's John Rain, but with enough differences, y that it doesn't seem like some sort of copycat. Indeed, Quinn a most fascinating character. Not just some tough guy, but one with a brain and a conscience.

In addition to interesting characters such as Quinn, and his associate Orlando and his apprentice Nate, another strength of this book is the plotting. Battles does a masterful job of keeping the reader engrossed in the tale, all while throwing some clever plot twists now and then. I thought I had figured out the surprise, only to be surprised myself at the end. Well done, Mr. Battles! I'll be very eager to read more books in this series

Brett Battles THE DECIEVER is a great book, fast paced, exciting and full of wonderful details about how spies do their business. It's got all the hallmarks of a great thriller including exotic locales, neat gadgets, believable violence, people who aren't whom they appear to be and, oh yes, a little bit of sex just to keep us interested.

The plot, well, the plot, as is often the case in books like this, doesn't really matter. For the first three hundred or so of its three hundred fifty-eight pages no one, including the characters, have any idea what's happening and neither will you...fortunately it doesn't matter in the least, just go along for the roller coaster ride but watch out for that last dip - it's a lulu! We first met Jonathan Quinn in THE CLEANER and I for one am thrilled to renew his acquaintance. In THE DECIEVER one of Quinn's few real friends is killed and Quinn sets off in search of his missing girlfriend. Along the way Quinn and his team, Orlando, an electronics expert who is a match for Quinn in every way, and his apprentice Nate chase after the girlfriend with stops in Houston, Washington D. C., San Francisco and Singapore. I won't give you the details but there's some great chase scenes, a few gunfights, some second story work and lot's of interesting details of spy craft that will keep your eyes glued to this book well after your bedtime.

Brett Battles has a bright future as a thriller writer assuming he doesn't lose his center. I sincerely hope to see many more books featuring Jonathan Quinn but the ending of THE DECEIVER leaves an opening to take this series in a very different direction moving into the realm of Robert Ludlum rather then continue charting his own very different direction. This, in my opinion, would be a mistake. The Quinn books do indeed exist in a byzantine world of spies, assassins and conspiracies but they're more about the process and tradecraft then they are about the details of the plotters and their plots. Quinn reminds me of Richard Stark's Parker, a cool professional who overcomes every obstacle regardless of the odds not because he's a superhuman but because he simply knows how (and shares the fascinating details with us, the readers).

I had never heard of Brett Battles before I found this book at Borders one day, but it looked like the type of book I like to read periodically. And I must say, I really enjoyed this! I devoured the entire book in a day.

The Deceived is the second book by Battles that features Jonathan Quinn, a professional "cleaner." Although I hadn't read Battles' first book, I didn't feel as if I missed anything; this one pretty much stood on its own. One day Quinn is hired to remove a body found in a shipping container. He finds out that the body is an old friend's, and he feels compelled both to figure out what happened to him and to track down his friend's girlfriend to let her know. And that's about when everything goes haywire.

Great action, great characters (I can definitely see this as a movie) and an enjoyable read. I will find Battles' first book, The Cleaner, really soon!

Brett Battles's debut novel, 2007's THE CLEANER, introduced a unique character in Jonathan Quinn. Quinn is a "cleaner," who comes in to quickly, quietly and efficiently clean up a mess --- more often than not, one involving a body --- that someone else has made before it's discovered. Battles probably could have turned a number of interesting, even intriguing, scenarios along just these lines into several novels before appreciably varying his theme. That he has chosen to throw an early change-up into THE DECEIVED, his sophomore work, is but one reason that it's such a joy to read.

THE DECEIVED begins with Quinn on the scene of a rather grisly job. The setting is a busy Los Angeles shipping port, and the task is disposing of a body that has been in a shipping container for far too long. Accompanied by Nate, his apprentice, he takes the job in stride, at least until he discovers that the body he has been hired to get rid of is that of Steven Markoff, a man to whom he owes his life. Quinn is well aware that he cannot get emotionally involved in what he's doing, yet he feels a debt of honor to Markoff that he can never fully repay.

Compelled to balance the scales for his murdered friend, Quinn tries to contact Jenny Fuentes, a woman with whom Markoff had a relationship. Fuentes, who works for James Guerrero, a maverick U.S. Congressman, has mysteriously taken a leave of absence, and everyone seems markedly secretive about her whereabouts. When Quinn visits her home in Houston, he finds that she is gone and narrowly escapes losing his own life in the process. He also meets Tasha, who identifies herself as a friend of Jenny's and who believes that Jenny is in mortal danger as well.

Quinn's quest for closure on Markoff's behalf takes him to Washington, D.C. and then to Singapore, guided only by a series of numbers and letters that Markoff scrawled --- in his own blood --- on the inside of the shipping crate where he met his slow and painful end. Quinn and Nate are shadowed by a mysterious and deadly team who seems to have the ability to locate them at will, while they --- with assistance from Orlando, an enigmatic beauty from Quinn's past --- doggedly retrace Markoff's final days. What they discover, however, reaches far beyond Markoff's murder into a plot whose goal is so far-reaching that it has the potential to change the course of current events.

THE DECEIVED is full of plot twists and surprises --- many more than its predecessor --- with the result being that the promise that Battles exhibited in THE CLEANER is met and far surpassed. His plotting is complex yet extremely sure-footed, so that the action never gets bogged down by the details (or vice versa). Most of what you think you know about the book by the time you are halfway through it is wrong, but Battles plays fairly throughout, avoiding the type of "Scooby-Doo" ending that occasionally plagues the denouement of novels in which the identity of the prime mover is cloaked in mystery. He also neatly sets up a potential conflict for Quinn that can sustain the series for several books to come.

All of these elements --- and more --- combine to make THE DECEIVED a certain contender for 2008's Top Ten lists.

--- Reviewed by Joe Hartlaub

THE DECEIVED, Brett Battles' second Jonathan Quinn book, takes off like it's been shot from a gun, and then it accelerates. And, remarkably, it also presents us with a cast of fully rounded characters; often, when a book moves this fast, the characters are little more than smears on the narrative's wall.

From the opening scene, when Quinn shows up for a job only to discover the body of an old friend, through to the action-piled-on-action closing sequences in steamy Singapore, Battles never once dilutes the urgency and momentum of the story. Quinn, whom we met for the first time in THE CLEANER, is not only convincing, but also convincingly smart. I think there are few more disorienting effects in fiction than meeting a character who's supposed to be smart, who the author tells us is smart, and who everybody else describes as smart, and who . . . isn't. Quinn is genuinely smart, and that helps us believe in him and in everything that happens to him.

Battles is also extremely good at setting the scene and making the setting part of the story. The most successful literary settings (I think) not only contain the characters, but also reflect them. Whether Quinn is in the bone-dry desert or the humid sultriness of Singapore, there's an interaction between setting and character that made the whole story richer for me.

Other than Battles, the only writer I know of right now who's as good at this kind of red-zone tension is Lee Child. That's good company to be in. And since Lee Child sells lots and lots (and lots) of books, let me say that you're going to love Brett Battles if you like Lee Child. Buy this book.

Jonathan Quinn, the "cleaner" introduced in the book by that name released a year ago in hardcover but just recently in paperback, is back in a follow-up in this terrific new series. He is a freelancer whose job is to discreetly clean up crime scenes and the occasional body after the bloodshed. International in scope as was the first book, it takes the reader from Los Angeles to Houston, Texas, to Washington, D.C., and finally to Singapore. This time, the job becomes personal when the body he is called in to dispose of is discovered to be that of Steven Markoff, an old friend and a man who had saved Quinn's life, who he hadn't spoken to in six months. The man had been CIA, but had recently taken early retirement. So why had he now become the target of an assassin? That becomes Quinn's obsession, believing in the rule that "the debt to someone who saved your life can never be repaid in full."

When Quinn decides that he must tell Markoff's girlfriend, Jenny, about Steven's death, he opens up a Pandora's box: Jenny, who had been working for the Majority Whip in the House of Representatives, has disappeared, and Quinn feels duty-bound to find her, an extension of his debt to Markoff. He is again assisted by his apprentice, Nate, and Orlando, a woman who has become his closest and most trusted friend. The plot becomes complex as Quinn explores secrets within secrets to a pulse-pounding conclusion.

This second book in the series goes into somewhat more detail on Quinn's training years during his apprenticeship, all of them engaging. There are twists and turns and James Bond-like action. Mr. Battles is a masterful storyteller, and the reader is kept on the edge of his [or her] seat throughout. "The Deceived," as its predecessor novel, is highly recommended.

Jonathan Quinn is an independant free- lance "cleaner". What that means is that Quinn disposes of bodies that people need to make disappear. So when Quinn goes to the LA shipping docks for a job, no one is more surprised than Quinn when he reconizes the body as a former CIA agent and friend Steven Markoff. Markoff's body was stuffed into a barrel but inside the barrel is some writing that looks to be some type of code. Quinn is off to figure out the mystery behind why his friend was killed. Also Markoff had a girlfriend named Jenny that Quinn is determined to save. Quinn finds himself in Singapore in the middle of an international cat and mouse game that could make matters worse for the US.

Quinn is one person you don't want to mess with, when it comes to "cleaners". All the characters in this book were strong, which is why this book was so good. This is my first book by Brett Battles and I can tell you that it was an outstanding book. I enjoyed the fast pace of The Deceived and thought the storyline was believeable and filled with action. You can bet I will be checking out The Cleaner by Mr. Battles. The Deceived reminded me of The Bourne Identity. I can't believe that I have never heard of Mr. Battles till now. Watch out all you reader fans of thrillers that will keep you going till the last page with a few twists thrown in the mix as you just might find yourself like I did falling fast and hard for Brett Battles and his books.

As a CIA Cleaner, Jonathan Quinn has only one restriction as he rids corpses that must vanish without a trace; his one personal decree is to insure nothing can ever trace in even a remote way to him; he must "disappear" once the job is done.

His current assignment is to clean up the violation of his basic rule of survival. At a Los Angeles port, a shipping container arrives holding a special cargo; inside is CIA agent Steven Markoff, who once saved his life. Quinn knows that besides cleaning the mess, he must inform Steve's girlfriend, Jenny Fuentes that he is dead and find who sent him this corpse as a special cryptic message. To Quinn's shock, Jenny is missing and many people want her to stay vanished, which means killing Quinn and his two cronies.

Quinn and his buddies globetrot to Europe following clues that ultimately leads to what appears to be an international conspiracy focused out of Singapore. However, he needs to turn to additional underworld help to close in on his main adversary. At an incredible pace faster than the speed light in spite of stunning plausible twists, fans will relish this electrifying thriller that in many ways is more political than espionage (though some might say all espionage is political).

Harriet Klausner

Jonathan Quinn is a cleaner, excelling at making things disappear. He doesn't let things get personal. That is, until he is hired to get rid of a body that happens to be a friend of his. Now, he has made it his personal mission to track down his diseased friend's girlfriend, who is mysteriously missing.

With even more suspense than "The Cleaner," Battles has developed his characters and spun a story with incredible twists. Quinn is ruthless when it comes to his job, but he remains loyal to his friends. And once again, Quinn must travel the globe to track down the answer to his mystery. And along the way, he stumbles upon a nefarious plot of espionage and assassinations. Joining Quinn once again is his trusted sidekick and protégé Nate, as well as Orlando, his unrequited love interested and long-time friend, both adding other dimensions to Quinn's character. But I have to say that the strength of the novel is the action and suspense, which are the qualities that make spy novels and movies great. It's edge-of-your-seat excitement that will keep you up into the wee hours of the morning.

Great characters, exotic locales, intense suspense, political espionage, unforeseeable twists, and deception - this is an adventure series that every reader will enjoy.

Three Brett Battles novels and three one sitting thrillers isn't bad at all! As a matter of fact, I turned off my telephone's ringer and ignored knocks at the door while reading this one. Indeed, the plots and the villians are rather James Bondian, but Jonathan Quinn isn't. He does get on the wrong track imperiling his apprentice Nate and girl friend Orlando more than once, but this isn't due as much to his flaws as to the flaws in the system. Like imagine playing chess if some of your pieces become your opponent's pieces, or some of you opponent's suddenly are yours. It would be rather complicated, no? You'll notice that I'm not giving away much of the plot here. Others have done that, and anyway, I feel the less you know what to expect from this novel, the better. I will warn you that this doesn't quite fall into the category of realistic spy fiction and if you don't find fun in rather grandiose and unlikely conspiracies, you just might not like the Jonathan Quinn books. As for me, I find them to be fantastic fun and give them my highest recommendation.

The Quinn stories get better with each new book in the series. I had read numbers 4 and 6 before deciding to begin at the beginning. I've found the first two books a bit long on description, but still fast paced enough to be enjoyable. The characters are interesting. I'm anxious for Nate to "come into his own."

The Deceived by Brett Battles is the second book in a series with undercover "cleaner" Jonathan Quinn.

Like the first book, The Cleaner, The Deceived is the story of spies, counterspies and murder. You never quite know who the bad guys are - or the good guys for that matter. But, if you like a James Bond type of adventure novel then this book and the author's first book is something you should read. Personally, I thought the first book, The Cleaner, was much more exciting then The Deceived. Like the first book, The Deceived doesn't offer much for the average reader to identify with - its good guys killing bad guys and vice versa.

I felt neutral about the first in the Jonathan Quinn series, The Cleaner, but decided to read the second one. I really enjoyed this one - more character development and a plot that moved along at a good pace with enough twists to make it interesting.

The story was interesting, the setting and description of place are interesting, but the characters, and their relationships to each other ,are one dimensional and disappointing.

Case in point, the protagonist, Quinn, has an Apprentice, Nate. After being mentioned, Nate appears every now and then to make a random smart aleck comment to which Quinn responds dismissively. Periodically Nate asks a question or tries to participate in the conversation and Quinn cuts him off. Quinn occasionally orders Nate to bring a car to a particular corner at a particular time, etc. but beyond that there is zero relationship between Quinn and Nate, zero interaction between the two, no mentoring going on. Nate isn't a real person in the story. What's the point of including him at all.

This is an earlier battle book hopefully his character development gets better with practice

Battles plunges us into the secret life of a “cleaner”, people who are hired by various government organizations to clean up scenes where a person or persons have been murdered. Jonathan Quinn is a “cleaner”. He gets emotionally involved when the victim is a personal friend.
The book has many twists and turns and certainly gives the reader a run for his money. It’s a unique approach to a crime story.

Although I had not read The Cleaner before reading The Deceived, I did not feel lost, as the storyline here stands on its own. Brett Battles gives you enough of the characters' backstory to know how everything fits together, without making you feel like you're enduring a TV series "flashback" episode. The plot is intricate enough to generate reader interest and leave room for surprises and developments, but it's not so complicated that you get lost in it. And as for the surprises -- I'm not one who tries very hard to predict endings, so maybe I'm intentionally obtuse, but there were twists at the end I definitely didn't see coming.

The narrative drives this story, not the dialogue. Battles does a good job of painting the scenes and describing the action without pelting the reader with unnecessary details. He leaves room for your imagination. The dialogue is at times simplistic, but this is easily overlooked because too much nuance in the dialogue would interfere with the flow of the action. And while there certainly is some James Bond-like typecasting with the characters, Battles adds a little depth to the ones central to the story. Besides, this book is more about suspense and adrenaline rather than soulful introspection. And by that standard, The Deceived delivered and left me wanting to read the other books in the Jonathan Quinn series.

WARNING: Do not start this book unless you have a clear schedule. It will be virtually impossible for you to put this down once you're past the first page. Battles' second entry in the Jonathan Quinn series is a terrific thriller full of action, personality, and plot twists. The pacing is lightning-quick, and the dialogue cracks like a whip.

Highly recommended...but don't start reading at a traffic light!

We compare to determine quality, don't we all? Compared to the cleaner, this one was not as good. But it kept my interest. It amazes me how Quinn is good at one thing - cleaning up other peoples messes - and he always ends up as a sleuth. The back story continues, which I like. I wish he would be a give bit more description on his settings like in the cleaner. And I do like he is not masochistic as Childs' hero. Quinn is genuinely empathetic towards his cohorts, like Nate. Some good chapters towards the end. Kind of knew where he was going with the plot on this one too.

I loved The Cleaner and snapped The Deceived from the shelf on the day of its release. I wasn't disappointed. The character currently calling himself Jonathan Quinn is back. This time an old friend turns up dead and his girl friend goes missing. Quinn is on the case, with his apprentice Nate. Later his pal/lover Orlando joins them. Another shadowy female, Tasha, is there as well, but it is not yet clear whether her goal is to help or to hinder. The principal settings are L.A., Houston, San Francisco, Washington, D.C. and Singapore, with the bulk of the scenes in the latter. There is also a flashback scene in a scary Scandinavian wood. In short, this is the return of the world of The Cleaner--an international spy/crime/thriller set in multiple locations, some of them exotic, with a jackhammer plot, beaucoup techno gear, little sleep, nonstop action and an ongoing game of 'who do you trust?'

The writing is a bit more polished than in The Cleaner but occasional lapses are not distracting. Lee Child has a new competitor. Highly recommended.

Looking for something else and found this author. What a find!!! Excellent. The story moved and no jumping back and forth trying to remember some sub plot. Great characters and a nice un "X" Rated love entity - well done. I will find the date sequences and read all of Jonathan Quinn and hope Orlando is included.

After reading Battles first book in about 36 hours, I knew buying the second book was going to potentially throw my schedule into a tailspin. So I bought it and saved it for vacation week. It was a great read for sitting on the beach, on airplanes and before bedtime. It was equally hard to put down and I really had to ration it out so it would last me at least the first week of my vacation.

As with his first, Battles' book was fast-moving, adventurous, technically-detailed and with just the right amount of heart and romance/passion. Battles characters continue to unfold and reveal themselves in new and interesting ways which make this reader look forward even more to their further adventures.

I'm waiting for book three...

KC

This book brings out new elements of the great character of Jonathan Quinn and takes us on the best suspense ride yet of this GREAT series about the cleaner J. Quinn. This one is hard to put down as we follow Jonathan and other characters trying to stop an assassination attempt. It is a great story with excellent twists!

This book is well written but unfortunately that does not come across very well in the audiobook. The narrator has chosen a voice and tone for Quinn in this book that makes him sound like a dumb buffoon. I'm very surprised that the author bought off this sad performance. I would have rated the book much higher if not for the narration. If you buy this book, stick to the text version.

Book two in the Jonathan Quinn series treats us to another fast action, world-wind tour with Jonathan Quinn, his apprentice Nate and long time friend, Orlando. Quinn decides to go against his instincts when he investigates the death of his former colleague and friend, Markoff while globetrotting for Markoff's missing girlfriend, Jenny. Brett Battles does another marvelous job of drawing us in from beginning to end. The Deceived is definitely not short on action or twists and turns. Good luck trying to guess the outcome of this thriller. -Suspense Magazine

The Deceived is definitely a thriller and Battles has no trouble keeping up the pace or making his book engaging. The main character, Jonathan Quinn, is a professional "cleaner". When Quinn is called about a dead body in a shipping container he is shocked to discover that the dead body is his friend Steven Markoff, a ex-CIA agent. Quinn now has to find Markoff's girlfriend Jenny in hopes of discovering why Markoff's body was sent to him and why he was killed. And what he finds along the way is quite surprising.

The idea of a cleaner, someone who erases all traces of a violent crime such as removing dead bodies was too interesting to pass up. The author's writing style is as good as his book idea, causing me to fall in love with Jonathan Quinn. Love that character!

The second book moves the reader deeper into the Quinn's psyche when he's called to dispose a body who turns out to be Steven Markoff, a friend and former CIA agent. Soon he discovers Markoff's girlfriend, Jenny, is missing. Now he must find Jenny before she ends up like Markoff. The closer he gets, the more dangerous the mission becomes.

The biggest surprise was the ending where Quinn took the law in his on hands. This might not fly well with readers, but it gets two thumbs up from me.

THE DECEIVED is the perfect follow-up. It's mixture of "The Camel Club" and Michael Sloan's "The Equalizer". I just loved it!

A five star because of thumbing through more current thrillers and not finding them at all thrilling or even worthy of turning the page. Same Old Same Old. Late though I am in discovering Brett Battles, I find his writing concise and spare. No wasting of words he runs not walks the reader through entertaining pages that somehow also inform. A skill I admire. Quinn is real from the start. Now I must start at the beginning of the many lives of Jonathan Quinn and read the Cleaner with the joy of knowing I have so many more Battles words to come in the series. I am late to the game, but if you want to play anway get all of his books and keep on reading. Summer is almost here.