A highly secretive US government agency is at the center of Daniel C. Davis’s novel THE ORGANIZATION: Operative Nova. The titular character is a rookie agent whose father (a former agent of the same shadowy Organization) was killed following an intelligence breach when Nova was eight years old. Her debut mission, given to her by a man known only as Handler B, is to “eliminate” an American bureaucrat whose corrupt dealings constitute treason (the Russians are coming, again) and have made him a national security risk. Nova, who was instructed to abort the mission under certain circumstances, passes her first test with flying colors. Her star begins to rise within the Organization.

Davis’s capable prose is appropriate to the novel's genre, best categorized as an espionage thriller. The descriptions, taut and concise, succeed in heightening the narrative's drama: “The shotgun blast erupted from the shadows behind the storage shelves. Torres went down hard, crying out as buckshot tore through his shoulder. Nova spun, weapon tracking, and saw Marcus Anthony stepping out from behind a stack of crates—mid-thirties, scarred face, pump-action shotgun already racking another shell.”

THE ORGANIZATION is divided into three parts, with each one revolving around an individual mission. While the first and third parts conform to what readers can expect from a spy/political thriller, part two is incongruous. Nova’s mission involves a local human trafficking case, which would seem to fall outside the purview of a top-secret intelligence organization chiefly concerned with national security. As we read, the mission’s narrative purpose becomes apparent, but the whole episode sticks out like a sore thumb anyway.

A further concern is the book’s violence. It will come as no surprise that Nova and her fellow agents operate outside of the law, but their penchant for vigilante justice (i.e. murder, including of unarmed people) risks alienating the reader—especially given that they’re portrayed unambiguously as righteous and heroic. There’s a hint of Mickey Spillane at times, without the calculated sleaziness.

Although its merits are negated to an extent by these narrative issues, THE ORGANIZATION still has enough style to keep readers interested.

Despite a flabby, borderline schmaltzy midsection and a questionable approach to justice, THE ORGANIZATION: Operative Nova is buoyed by Daniel C. Davis’s efficient style and sharp turns of phrase.

~ Michael Howard for IndieReader