First Kill (Kirk McGarvey Series #24)

by David Hagberg

Overview

Renowned thriller writer David Hagberg continues his New York Times bestselling Kirk McGarvey series with this riveting origin story for the CIA assassin in First Kill.

It is the beginning of Kirk McGarvey's career as a CIA black ops officer. Fresh out of the Air Force OSI, he receives his first assignment: assassinate a Chilean general known as the Butcher of Valparaiso, a monster who has tortured and killed more than one thousand dissidents at a soccer stadium in Valparaiso.

McGarvey manages to cross the border over the mountains from Argentina without being discovered, and even makes his way to the general's remote compound. But the odds are stacked against him. Chile's National Intelligence Agency, the ANI, has been warned of his approach and wants him to fail—and someone back home in Washington is working to make sure he does.

For this newly-minted assassin, killing the butcher is only the beginning.

At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781466834385
Publisher:	Tor Publishing Group
Publication date:	05/07/2019
Series:	Kirk McGarvey Series , #24
Sold by:	Macmillan
Format:	eBook
Pages:	352
Sales rank:	148,321
File size:	4 MB

About the Author

David Hagberg (1947-2019) is a New York Times bestselling author who wrote numerous novels of suspense, including his bestselling thrillers featuring former CIA director Kirk McGarvey, which include Abyss, The Cabal, The Expediter, and Allah’s Scorpion. He earned a nomination for the American Book Award, three nominations for the Mystery Writers of America Edgar Allan Poe Award and three Mystery Scene Best American Mystery awards.

He spent more than thirty years researching and studying US-Soviet relations during the Cold War. Hagberg joined the Air Force out of high school, and during the height of the Cold War, he served as an Air Force cryptographer.

David Hagberg (1942-2019) was a New York Times bestselling author who published numerous novels of suspense, including his bestselling thrillers featuring former CIA director Kirk McGarvey, which include Abyss, The Cabal, The Expediter, and Allah’s Scorpion. He earned a nomination for the American Book Award, three nominations for the Mystery Writers of America Edgar Allan Poe Award and three Mystery Scene Best American Mystery awards. He spent more than thirty years researching and studying US-Soviet relations during the Cold War. Hagberg joined the Air Force out of high school, and during the height of the Cold War, he served as an Air Force cryptographer.

Editorial Reviews

06/17/2019

A prequel, Hagberg’s exciting 24th Kirk McGarvey thriller (after 2018’s Face Off) chronicles the CIA operative’s first sanctioned assassination “and how it deeply affected the rest of his life—and ultimately, the price just about everyone close to him paid.” A superbly fit 28-year-old McGarvey excels at the Farm, the CIA’s training facility near Williamsburg, Va. He soon attends a meeting in Washington, D.C., where he’s given a major assignment: to kill Chilean Matias Varga, an army general in the Pinochet regime. Varga’s evil exploits rival those of his hero, Nazi doctor Josef Mengele. As McGarvey’s CIA handler tells him, “You’re on your own, Kirk. In this business you’ll always be on your own.” The nascent assassin learns the truth of this and then some as he begins to see the conflicting political motives that are at play. Besides various Chileans and Russians, a mole inside the CIA is intent on making sure that McGarvey’s mission fails. Hagberg nicely balances the assassination story with the hunt for the mole, and those looking for fast, uncomplicated, escapist entertainment will be satisfied. Agent: Susan Gleason, Susan Gleason Literary. (May)

Publishers Weekly

“Hagberg’s books should be required reading in Washington.”
—Stephen Coonts, New York Times bestselling author of The Art of War

“Hagberg edges out Tom Clancy for commander of our uniquely American, military based thrillers and espionage novels: high-concept plot, non-stop action, insider knowledge of how things work out there in our complicated, high-combat world.”
—James Grady, New York Times bestselling author of Last Days of the Condor

“Hagberg runs in the same fast, high-tech track as Clancy.”
—New York Daily News

“Hagberg consistently delivers thrillers that truly thrill, with an uncanny ability to anticipate future headlines. Skill, experience, knowledge and a dedication to quality long have been hallmarks of his novels.”
—Ralph Peters, New York Times bestselling author of Judgment at Appomattox

“Hagberg is a master.”
—Larry Bond, New York Times bestselling author of Arctic Gambit

“If you want yesterday’s headlines, read The New York Times. If you want tomorrow’s read David Hagberg.”
—Ward Larsen, USA Today bestselling author of Assassin’s Code

From the Publisher