Review: Collission of Evil

Collision of Evil, the first novel by John J. L Beau, published last month, is a pretty good first novel.

It starts with an American hiker in the Bavarian Alps being attacked and killed from an unseen assailant in a field. The German police Kommissar investigating the case contacts the victim's brother, who takes vacation time from work to come ID and collect the body. It turns out he wants to help investigate the murder case. Why? Well he's CIA of course. But we don't find out he's CIA at first, and not really until the book has already gotten a good start.  Eventually, the CIA agent unofficially pulls in help from his department to help track the murderer, who happens to be an Islamist terrorist. The terrorist, along with his cell, is planning a horrible attack on Oktoberfest, and it's up to the Kommissar and the CIA to find the terrorists before Oktoberfest becomes more than a drunken brouhaha.

This is John J. Le Beau's first novel. His author blurb says he's ex-CIA. Except for some minor annoyances and coincidences that serve to move the story along or provide info to the characters to advance their knowledge, this is an enjoyable book.