James R. Hannibal: The Gryphon Heist

By Kelly Bridgewater

Talia Inger is a rookie CIA case officer assigned not to the Moscow desk as she had hoped but to the forgotten backwaters of Eastern Europe--a department only known as "Other." When she is tasked with helping a young, charming Moldovan executive secure his designs for a revolutionary defense technology, she figures she'll be back in DC within a few days. But that's before she knows where the designs are stored--and who's after them. With her shady civilian partner, Adam Tyler, Talia takes a deep dive into a world where only criminal minds and unlikely strategies will keep the Gryphon, a high-altitude data vault, hovering in the mesosphere.

Even Tyler is more than he seems, and Talia begins to wonder: Is he helping her? Or using her access to CIA resources to pull off an epic heist for his own dark purposes?

In this Ocean's Eleven-meets-Mission Impossible thriller, former tactical deception officer and stealth pilot James R. Hannibal offers you a nonstop thrill ride through the most daring heist ever conceived.

From Goodreads

My Thoughts:

The Gryphon Heist by James R. Hannibal is labeled as a suspense novel and the synopsis sounded promising, so I picked up the book to read. The idea of a rookie CIA agent named Talia Inger who has never been on an assignment but as passed all her skills and knowledge test was a different take on a heroine. Especially being a woman. For some weird reason, I thought the story would be told from a male's point of view, but it wasn't. Not that it cheapen the story; Just thought that would work better. Anyways, Talia is shown to have flaws and that makes her a more reliable character. There is no romance in the novel, which I really enjoyed. The plot definitely has its moments of high action, but there were many different occasions of Talia waking up and coming in the gathering room sometimes for breakfast, sometimes alone, sometimes to see the dawn. Really awkward. I did enjoy the danger of trying to free the Gryphon data vault in the mesosphere. It was a unique and not done yet cast of characters. All past thieves or assassins. Enjoyed watching them use their skills for good. There really isn't much spiritual elements to chew on. The mention of God comes from Tyler, Talia's partner, and readers are still left in the dark about how much it changes him. Overall, The Gryphon Heist by James R. Hannibal has its moments of uniqueness, but filled with repetitive scenes, the story became okay. I'm not writing off Hannibal yet as a suspense novelist; he could surprise me with the second one.

I received a complimentary copy of The Gryphon Heist by James R. Hannibal from Revell Publishing, but the opinions stated are all my own.

My Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars

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About the Author:

From Amazon

As a former stealth pilot, James R. Hannibal is no stranger to secrets and adventure. He has been shot at, locked up with surface to air missiles, and chased down a winding German road by an armed terrorist. He is a two-time Silver Falchion award-winner for his Section 13 mysteries for kids and a Thriller Award nominee for his Nick Baron covert ops series for adults. His first Christian thriller, the Grypyhon Heist, releases Fall 2019 from Revell. James is a rare multi-sense synesthete, meaning all of his senses intersect. He sees and feels sounds and smells and hears flashes of light. If he tells you the chocolate cake you offered smells blue and sticky, take it as a compliment. (Taken from Amazon.)