The Echelon Vendetta

David Stone is a former British army infantry officer. Much of his service was in Germany, both with and alongside soldiers of the Bundeswehr in peacetime and .
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The writing of David Stone is just so smart and witty. This author is stupendously underappreciated, nevertheless, he has worked his way to the border of genre masterpieces. Not felled by sickness, I hope. Anyway, what I like best is the realism of the protagonist, spy-guy Dalton. His interaction are very tangible and engaging.

One thing that sets the character apart is that Dalton's angst is not so wimpy and weirdly moralistic as what I routinely encounter in this genre, neither is his realism merely cynical. The character, here, as in the other three novels, really feels the tension, the dimension, that goes with life-and-death undertakings.

Dalton does not indulge the deaf and lazy ruthlessness of other spy-guys. He is not oblivious to the fact that hard actions put integrity at stake, yet the human default into virtual inaction -- just going with the flow -- has already capitulated. He was sent in to clean up after the death in Tuscany of his friend and fellow agent Porter Naumann. The brutal murders begin to pile up. Dalton searches for the thread that ties things together. His quest brings him back to remote parts of the U.

This was a fairly interesting read that moved along reasonably well. Though I could have done without the paranormal aspects particularly the ghost of Naumann playing, for my taste, a bit too much of a role. Nevertheless, a good plot. Lots of sub-plots to keep it interesting. Just what I like. My husband and I both loved it. Even though disc nine was missing we still were able to follow to the end. The seller was very apologetic and refunded our purchase price, so if anyone out there has another copy we would be interested, just to her disc 9.

One person found this helpful. A determined hero tracking a ruthless killer with several surprises. Enjoyed the story and I will read more from this author. This novel runs along at quite a frenetic pace and keeps the reader glued to the pages waiting to find out what happens next. For a first novel it is very good and I hope to see more from Mr. It is pretty much standard thriller fare, with a bad guy killing a bunch of supposedly good guys and a weary spy with his own demons trying to catch him.

Stone plots this story very well and the characters are a cut above most spy novels. Be warned that there is some fairly graphic violence and several very brutal murders so this is not for the faint of heart. One minor point is that several of the secondary characters have some type of cancer, mostly attributed to the use of tobacco products.

Could the author be trying to make a statement here? It doesn't really take away from the story, but I found it a little strange. In any event, it is a very good book. I'm combing the lists of books trying to find more by David Stone.


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He keeps the adrenalin pumping as he tears around the world. I'm a big fan of Micah, and Mandy, and any women he creates. My only disappointment is that for some reason the 5th book, set in Prague was never published and David Stone author seems to have disappeared. See all 65 reviews.

The Echelon Vendetta

Most recent customer reviews. Published 1 year ago. Published on July 21, Published on December 6, Published on June 11, Published on April 19, Published on November 15, Published on November 2, Published on July 10, Published on September 3, Amazon Giveaway allows you to run promotional giveaways in order to create buzz, reward your audience, and attract new followers and customers.

Learn more about Amazon Giveaway. Set up a giveaway. Customers who bought this item also bought. The Final Hour Victor. A Time To Die Victor. There's a problem loading this menu right now. Get fast, free shipping with Amazon Prime. Your recently viewed items and featured recommendations. View or edit your browsing history. Get to Know Us. English Choose a language for shopping. Amazon Music Stream millions of songs. Amazon Drive Cloud storage from Amazon. Alexa Actionable Analytics for the Web. When you start off a book with your main character, a government agent--drunk, drugged, depressed, and just a little suicidal--it's difficult to get your bearings.

But once you get past the rush of altered state scenes and scenarios, the plot grabs a hold of you tightly. I do not say this lightly--this book is terrifying, especially for a series in the Jason Bourne genre of international men of mystery. The nemesis here isn't some tired sophisticated man of letters with a brilliant wit and sharp When you start off a book with your main character, a government agent--drunk, drugged, depressed, and just a little suicidal--it's difficult to get your bearings.

The nemesis here isn't some tired sophisticated man of letters with a brilliant wit and sharp tongue. The bad guy here is just plain evil. Like the evil they warn you about in the scariest of ghost stories. The horrors he visits upon his victims crosses the line past sadism if that's possible. When facing up against that kind of antagonist, the book can't help but take on a supernatural edge to it. And I think it's better for it. It pushes this book from just another government agent procedural into its own sub-genre--a cross between international action thriller and horror.

Nov 14, Chuck rated it did not like it. This started out with the discovery of a CIA operative's body being found in Cortona, Italy and an overlong discussion regarding the murder, between our hero, a CIA cleaner, and an Italian police detective. Our hero then travels on to Venice where we learn in great detail what he has for dinner and the wine he enjoys. Then on his walk back to his hotel he is accosted by a pair of would be muggers and he nonchalantly cripples them both while singing "People".

He then strolls on to his hotel, open This started out with the discovery of a CIA operative's body being found in Cortona, Italy and an overlong discussion regarding the murder, between our hero, a CIA cleaner, and an Italian police detective. He then strolls on to his hotel, opens another bottle of wine on the balcony, is bitten by a spider and cuts his arm severely trying to extract the poison while talking to the autopsied body of his deceased CIA associate. At this point I chastised myself for wasting my time on this swill when I have an unread Joseph Finder book in my book bag.

I shut it down after sixty pages and am now enjoying the Finder yarn. Jul 29, Priyanka rated it liked it.

It's been a while since I last read this book. It was indeed a gripping read. Micah Dalton is a very interesting literary character. I enjoyed this hallucinogenic experience. I recommend this to all the readers who are fans of Jack Reacher. Aug 08, Louise Loveland rated it liked it.

First part of the book is clunky and slow to get going. But got much better as it got to the end. I may give the second one a go to see if that is good all the way through! But in no rush to read it either. This novel becomes muddled and pointless fairly quickly. It seemed liked the author couldn't decide whether he wanted to write a ghost story or one about drug induced mysticism or a serial killer slasher novel.

I was hoping for an espionage thriller but it failed miserably in that regard. Aug 22, Dwight Simmons rated it it was amazing. Characters and descriptions were awesome! The author kept me in the story from beginning to the end! Aug 29, David Weinfeld rated it liked it. Mica Dalton is the CIA hero of the story.

The Echelon Vendetta (Micah Dalton, book 1) by David Stone

Jan 13, John Marsh rated it really liked it. This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. Got book as either free or reduced price on Kindle. But when his colleague and friend Porter Nauman turns up dead in an idyllic Tuscan hill town, as a result of an apparent and unimaginably gruesome suicide, Dalton can't help but ask questio Got book as either free or reduced price on Kindle.

Stalworth, Micah Dalton's boss in Langley unbe known to Dalton leak's Porter's name to the murderess Pinto who is out to avenge his sister and sister's daughter murder. The group that were involved in the urder were known as Echelon. Daton teams up with one member but all including Willard get knocked off. He follows the trail and finds the story that an individual uncovers dodgy dealings that is Pinto's sister and husband and gives the info to a reporter who also ends up in trouble.

After Venice and London the scene is almost entirely played out in Indian country and isolated places in the US. Pinto is into drugs he is mad and ruthless. A rapist and murderer. He also leads an Indian cult based on their gods and drug highs. Porter had also got concerned for illegal funding of inhuman operations of two ships used to interograte against hiuman rights terror suspects like Gitmo.

Micah executes Jack Stalwarth his boss and that is where the book ends. The story line is good too grusome for my liking and too drawn out but nonetheless a good plot. Aug 08, Lynn rated it liked it. This book was VERY violent, so know that before diving in. I just ordered the next two in this series from my book club because I am completely taken by the protagonist, Micah. He is messed up, but believable, and he has an ironic wit about him that is appealing. I liked it that he was a thriller hero for whom everything wasn't black and white, because it is pretty unbelievable that folks involved in international espionage would not deal in shades of gray.

I had to get beyond a couple things: And he sees a photo of Jane Fonda and mutters that she should have been tried for treason. I guess I believe the second one--right wing people would be inclined to join the CIA. It just seemed gratuitously placed. Micah is a CIA Cleaner, meaning he goes to fix up messes. And he is sent to investigate the apparent suicide very violent and bloody of an old friend and fellow operative. Only it was not a suicide, Micah learns. He chases the murderer across Italy and back to the United States where the murderer has violently killed the family of the old friend too.

The plot builds slowly. Besides, who thinks the CIA obeys rules? Only it was a clumsy kill--a multicar pileup. They killed a bunch of other people too.

Well, they killed two of the wrong man's kin, and it is he, a native American cult leader with Special Ops training, who is killing all of the CIA men involved. Micah is dosed several times with a powerful hallucinogen, and is visited by a ghost or hallucination? And the author completely floored me by the ending. All along, we think Micah has an estranged wife, or ex-wife, who the ghost tells him he has to go visit.

But in the end, we find out she is on life support. He lets her go in a very sad scene. Micah is intriguing and I will read the next two! It says more about me than the author to admit I was expecting this book to read stupidly, but surprisingly it doesn't. It's not quite a cerebral work, but it's a step in the right direction: The next time I'm in the mood for some lighter fiction, I will keep David Stone in mind.

Jan 05, Stephen Holtman rated it really liked it. The book deals with a CIA cleaner who has to stop a bad guy who wants to play a deadly game of cat and mouse after killing a friend of his. I will start off by saying that the writing in this book was great. It was able to make the story easy to follow while still being able to keep the reader guessing at every turn. The action portion of the story was probably the best way to keep the reader guessing at every turn.

The action portion of this book was the best way they could have done it without The book deals with a CIA cleaner who has to stop a bad guy who wants to play a deadly game of cat and mouse after killing a friend of his. The action portion of this book was the best way they could have done it without compromising the dramatic ones. It was so great how it gave off the feeling of a highly intense and entertaining story. The writer did a great of having both the main and background caratchers going despite the length. I know that it is hard to juggle so many caratchers while simutaously trying to keep the action kept at such a breakneck speed has to be tough.

But the writer does such a masterful job at it. The dramatic parts were able to hold their own also. The only bad part about the story was that the female caratchers seemed to suffer from female video game caratcheritis which is when they seem like they are going to be hardcore and strong and end up being more of a hinderance. Besides that it was a great book. Dec 03, Miles rated it it was amazing. David Stone's Micah Dalton series provides cleverly written tales from an imaginary covert world. The Echelon Vendetta is first in the series, but I read it after first reading the fourth book in the series.

It introduces our protagonist Micah Dalton ex-special-ops super spy. The tale spins happily from Italy to London to the American West. Unusually for this genre, the plot revolves around a mysterious and villainous master of peyote, and Dalton's hallucinatory relationship with his dead friend David Stone's Micah Dalton series provides cleverly written tales from an imaginary covert world.

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Unusually for this genre, the plot revolves around a mysterious and villainous master of peyote, and Dalton's hallucinatory relationship with his dead friend. While spy novels are typically very concrete, Stone has the ability to enter the fugue states of a drug addled mind and describe a situation as experienced by the drugged individual, and yet enable us to imagine what is really going on too. The stage is well set for the next book in the series. For the frequently clever writing and dialogue and exciting imaginings of covert expertise, together with a nicely odd Carlos Castaneda influenced peyote theme, this is a good night-time read.

Apr 27, Cloakndagger rated it liked it. Dalton beat the cr-p out of Gavro after Gavro tried to cut him with a knife. Throughout the book, I struggled to read past the hyperboles, similes, dangling modifiers, compounded compound sentences, etc. Detailed descriptions of scenes, scents, thoughts, and actions are all great when done with moderation but I think the author over-spiced this book.

Too bad, it became too distracting. It's a technique best suited for romance novels and not for what is supposed to be a fast-paced novel. Very good reading minus the distractions. Even writing as David Stone, Carsten Stroud's books are solid entertainment. The Micah Dalton series was written several years ago, and this first in the series is exciting and packed with lots of intrigue and interesting characters.

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There's also a bit of a supernatural element here, and Stone Stroud definitely excels in providing that subtle vibe that isn't full-blown supernatural but leaves you wondering and sure but not quite sure because, in this case, it could all be attributed to halluci Even writing as David Stone, Carsten Stroud's books are solid entertainment. There's also a bit of a supernatural element here, and Stone Stroud definitely excels in providing that subtle vibe that isn't full-blown supernatural but leaves you wondering and sure but not quite sure because, in this case, it could all be attributed to hallucinogens.

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It's all so excellent! The description and dialogue are snappy with an underlying tone of dark humor mixed in. The gory scenes and crude language are there, but they fit with the story and the characters. Real life is one damn thing after another. Feb 24, Matt Crumpton rated it liked it Shelves: At first this book is really hard to get into. Chapter 3 is pages long and the whole time I am thinking 'what in the heck does this story have to do with the CIA and spy stuff'.

Then at the end of the chapter there is a nice little twist and the story just takes off from there. The story was not what I expected. I do not consider it to be a spy novel. More of like a mystery novel with a CIA ag At first this book is really hard to get into. More of like a mystery novel with a CIA agent investigating a murder. Indian mysticism and conversations with ghosts have there place in this novel. If you like a good spy novel this might not be the book for you.

I know I was disappointed. However the very ending of the book was great, and had a nice little twist. Plus Stone sets up for more Micah Dalton stories with the promise of them being more of the traditional espionage genre Oct 26, Annabelle rated it really liked it. I really liked this book. For one thing Stone uses really long sentences, and they work.

He uses lots of really rare and apt adjectives, and they work. What I really liked about this book was the altered states. Micah Dalton, a CIA cleaner, is in Venice and is dosed with a mixture of peyote and datura, and starts having visions. His dead colleague was murdered in a particularly gruesome way, and he comes often to give Micah advice. We, the readers, like Micah, as he is tough, vulnerable, super I really liked this book.