The Outside Man (Matt Drake Book 2)
Don Bentley
Berkley Pub
March 2nd, 2021
The Outside Man by Don Bentley is the second book of the Matt Drake series. As with Nelson DeMille’s books it has action, suspense, humor, and especially sarcasm. Fans who miss reading a DeMille book every year should try a Bentley novel.
I got the idea for the story from my professional background as an Army Apache helicopter pilot, a troop commander in Afghanistan, to an FBI Special Agent, and a member of the Dallas Office Special Weapons (SWAT) team. I got to meet some very interesting people. Some of them have done jobs I had Matt Drake do. For instance, those that worked overseas did it under a false name. One of those folks I spoke with said after setting foot on US soil they felt safe. I thought about that and wondered what would be interesting if that did not happen. After returning to US soil the enemies found a way to follow them back home and threatened everything they held dear. This is where The Outside Man plot comes from.”
The book opens with an intense action scene as a bunch of Jihadist terrorists attempt to assassinate Matt Drake, a former DIA operative in broad daylight on an Austin Texas street. With the help from his partner and best friend Frodo, Matt finds out who is behind the attempt. It seems that a powerful Washington swamp bureaucrat has teamed up with a ruthless terrorist known as “The Devil.” They deal in everything from drugs to sex trafficking. Both have crossed paths with Drake in the last book, Without Sanction. Drake fights for his and his family’s life, knowing that he must take them down now.
“Nelson DeMille is a huge influence on me. I had written three novels that did not sell before the first book in this series. Mark Greaney writes incredible books, but I am not Mark Greaney, and will never write as good as he does. So, I thought about what voice could I give Matt. Then I thought how Nelson can write a scene with his main character John Corey going grocery shopping that is really funny. He has an engaging voice. After reading him, I decided to write in the first person with a witty self-depreciating protagonist. DeMille is a huge influence on me and my writing style. My goal is to have a main character that is a little quirky and maybe make the reader chuckle.”
Bentley is a thriller author that can compared to the best, Mark Greaney and Nelson DeMille. This novel starts out literally with a bang and never lets up from there.
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