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The Cellar #2
Lost Girls
NY Times, USA Today, Wall Street Journal Bestselling Author Bob Mayer
Over four million books sold. Translated into over a dozen languages.
An alias of prolific bestseller Bob Mayer—whose second novel with Jennifer Crusie, Agnes and the Hitman, is due in August (Reviews, June 4)—Doherty is a bestseller in his own right with his Area 51 books, among others. This terrific follow-up to Bodyguard of Lies continues to track the Cellar, a government organization whose task is to police rogue agents in the CIA, FBI and other U.S. bureaus. Maj. Jack Gant is called in from his South Carolina island home to oversee an investigation involving the abduction of Emily Cranston, daughter of Fort Bragg Special Warfare Center commander Col. Samuel Cranston. The motive for the abduction is revenge, and the perpetrators have been highly trained in how to carry it out—by the U.S. government. As related crimes pile up, Doherty delivers top-notch action and adventure, creating a full cast of lethal operatives armed with all the latest weaponry. Excellent writing and well-drawn, appealing characters help make this another taut, crackling read from Doherty. (Aug.)
Considered for option by Smokehouse, George Clooney’s production company.
Who polices the world of covert operations? Enter the Cellar, the most secret spy organization hiding deep within the United States.
Deep in the forests of Kentucky, a girl is held captive.
In Oklahoma, a young preschool teacher is murdered in front of her students.
In the Panhandle of Florida, a college undergrad is kidnapped from a nightclub.
These seemingly unrelated crimes catch the eye of the Cellar, the ultrasecret cell of operatives set up to police all other government agencies. Cellar operatives Gant and Neeley, along with profiler Susan Golden, must track down those responsible. But these are not ordinary criminals. They are a highly trained Special Forces sniper team. Crisscrossing the United States as new Cellar head Hannah Masterson calls the shots from up high, the Cellar operatives soon find themselves being targeted. Whoever is behind this knows the ultra top-secret Cellar's tactics all to well.
Underneath this web of death, deceit, and revenge lies an even more shocking crime . . . a conspiracy that powerful men will sacrifice their lives -- and the lives of their families -- to protect.
Over four million books sold. Translated into over a dozen languages.
An alias of prolific bestseller Bob Mayer—whose second novel with Jennifer Crusie, Agnes and the Hitman, is due in August (Reviews, June 4)—Doherty is a bestseller in his own right with his Area 51 books, among others. This terrific follow-up to Bodyguard of Lies continues to track the Cellar, a government organization whose task is to police rogue agents in the CIA, FBI and other U.S. bureaus. Maj. Jack Gant is called in from his South Carolina island home to oversee an investigation involving the abduction of Emily Cranston, daughter of Fort Bragg Special Warfare Center commander Col. Samuel Cranston. The motive for the abduction is revenge, and the perpetrators have been highly trained in how to carry it out—by the U.S. government. As related crimes pile up, Doherty delivers top-notch action and adventure, creating a full cast of lethal operatives armed with all the latest weaponry. Excellent writing and well-drawn, appealing characters help make this another taut, crackling read from Doherty. (Aug.)
Considered for option by Smokehouse, George Clooney’s production company.
Who polices the world of covert operations? Enter the Cellar, the most secret spy organization hiding deep within the United States.
Deep in the forests of Kentucky, a girl is held captive.
In Oklahoma, a young preschool teacher is murdered in front of her students.
In the Panhandle of Florida, a college undergrad is kidnapped from a nightclub.
These seemingly unrelated crimes catch the eye of the Cellar, the ultrasecret cell of operatives set up to police all other government agencies. Cellar operatives Gant and Neeley, along with profiler Susan Golden, must track down those responsible. But these are not ordinary criminals. They are a highly trained Special Forces sniper team. Crisscrossing the United States as new Cellar head Hannah Masterson calls the shots from up high, the Cellar operatives soon find themselves being targeted. Whoever is behind this knows the ultra top-secret Cellar's tactics all to well.
Underneath this web of death, deceit, and revenge lies an even more shocking crime . . . a conspiracy that powerful men will sacrifice their lives -- and the lives of their families -- to protect.
253 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 2007
About the author
Bob Mayer
167 books47.9k followersBesides my own interests, I read whatever my wife tells me to read-- she's a voracious reader and has wide-ranging tastes as my reviews show (she also always has the TV remote and she's always right about what to watch). I read a lot of nonfiction, mostly for research. Some of my favorite books are Lonesome Dove, Mystic River, LOTR, and an array of science fiction classics including the Foundation series. Our house is covered with books, although I finally broke down and started reading eBooks, strangely enough on my iPhone. Since I carry it pretty much everywhere, it means I always have an entire library of books with me.
I'm a West Point graduate, former Green Beret and a New York Times Bestselling Author. I've sold over five million books. My newest series begins with New York Minute, a thriller set in New York City in 1977.
I love using history and science in my books. My Area 51 series pretty much had me rewriting our entire history of civilization.
I'm a West Point graduate, former Green Beret and a New York Times Bestselling Author. I've sold over five million books. My newest series begins with New York Minute, a thriller set in New York City in 1977.
I love using history and science in my books. My Area 51 series pretty much had me rewriting our entire history of civilization.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 61 reviews
October 29, 2013
In light of other books I've been reading lately, and the shift in my personal thinking about book ratings, I'm bumping this up from 3.5 to 4 or maybe 4.5 stars. I'm not sure if it's in the "elite" catagory, but it's clearly better writing than I've found in books that I've liked and rated similarly. I think it deserves to be seen in a better class of books than first pubs and good but...s
Well written interesting story, kept my attention which is hard...SQUIRREL!" and in hindsight, which is ultimately 20/20, it deserves a higher star rating than I initially gave it. The review below is otherwise unchanged.
Slot this one higher than Icarus Rising below Ice-Hunt and on par Jeramy Robinson's Pulse, mybe a quarter star below "Event." If you follow me. ... on with the review!
For those who like a good crime story, this is a good read. For those of you who like a good Spec-ops action adventure, this is a good read.
So, it's a good read.
It seemed to start in the middle of the story, like there was another novel somewhere connected to this one. That was easy to get over. The story moved quickly, lots of suspense.
Synopsis - When good guys go bad.
What happens when the people trained in specialized "Black Ops" missions turn on us? People that are just not safe to have loose in the world? We call on specialists to hunt them down and neutralize them.
The duaghter of a high minded military type gets abducted and it's likely one cog in an act of terrorism that seeks the very heart of the inteligence and anti-terrorism agencies in the US. Called in are a special group of individuals who work for an agency that nobody has ever heard of, save at the highest levels in the government, and even then, most only know if it by reputation.
The odd, and fatally ill head of the organization, in the middle of training his own relief, puts together an improbable team of a profiler, not just any profiler, and two special operations killers. They take up the trail as the body count builds. BY the end, they shake the pillars of the government to see what corrupted snakes fall out of the tree.
Characters
Very interesting characters, but a little bit too much on the 2 dimensional side. Again, with the characters, it seemed that they were all caught up in a plot that started before this book, that we never got to read. Jack, Golden and the smokin'-hot assasin babe all work well. Generaly 2 dimensional characters tend to come with this type of action adventure. Each of these had some very intersesting back stories and, they did seem to fit together in a broader tapestry by the end of the story.
Generally, I'd say that the roles for female characters allowed for strong women and was not demeaning, generally, even allowing for different strengths and weaknesses. I'm not sure I'd give an A+ for female roles, but likely a B-. Which is better than many books.
Supporting cast and villains could have used some support. Whee the main characters were two dimensional with stories that did not fit in the frame, the villains were interesting, but under nourished. THey could have used a little more development. Again, this had the feel of a 2nd book in a series. Written as if we should already know something about the characters.
Word Building -
For a modern action adventure with dual themes, this was interesting. I liked the "Super Secret" agency. Though those are often "Cliche" this one had a unique feel for things that may not actually be unique (I call that good writing). Again, there seemed to be a lot missing that se should have been able to read about how they formed and chose the members of their teams, but what we got was interesting and fun.
The military aspects, though over dramatized to build drive the plot, were generally realistic enough, as were the support agencies that the characters had to deal with. The Spec-Ops world was fun to unravel, though, not likely realistic.
Make no mistake, this was action adventure, espionage and crime fighting rolled into one book. That in itself was very well done and interesting. Cops that worked like para-military spec ops types... or para-military spec ops types who worked like cops.
Villains- You'll get the idea that there is a conspiracy somewhere early on, but the webb was fairly written, well concealed and, though they were not particularly unique, the story read like these were fresh ideas and they fit well with the plot.
Plot
Swift paced, exciting, tense, with lots of action (though it was mostly at the end of the story). I found the crime - story side well done, and well folded with the para-military interests. For me, it wasn't so much the plot that made the story work as the skilled sense of pace, timing and a complex problem that made the read memorably enjoyable.
The authors style and skill made up for thin villainry and the sense of jumping into the middle of the story. The story was well concieved and executed, and complex.
Warnings -
1) Plenty of violence - killing bad men talking and doing bad things, tough good guys doing bad things, and innocent victims falling pray to well oiled preditory killing machines. The scenes were not gratuitus, but wll managed, and, necessary relative to the plot. The violence was about what you might see in a movie on television, and should easily be managed by most normal adults.
2) Sensitive victims. The victims here are women and children (well, initially anyway). Generally we are not exposed to "live" violence against them, but there is discussion of, hints about, and plenty of back story to let us know what happend to them. Nothing outrageous or unmanagable.
3) there is a sense of waking up in the middle of a series rather than diving into the first book. Hang with it. By the end, you'll at least understand how the past motivates the characters, even if you never get to know what really happened. If you give up in the begining because you can't connect with the characters, you'll miss out on better chances later in the story.
4) The author appears to blame serial killers on their poor mothers. I'm sure there is some research available that supports this but I had trouble swallowing it as it was presented. On one hand, it was allowing a female to have an equally important supporting role as a villain, on the other, it cast blame for bad behavior on a group that may not be responsible for everything.
5) This is about a vigilante' organizatin. I'm not big on, and don't espouse to the idea that some people are above the law or some how so different from normal criminals that they need special handling. That is one of the premises of the book, that "it's okay" to kill these people without a fair trial. I just think that even serial killers need a fair trial.
bottom line-
Good story, tight, complex and well executed plot. Though perhaps not a "new idea" the story is presented in a "Fresh" way and reads like new ideas. A good story, told by a skilled author. The characters sometimes seem either too much from a can, or too thin to look real, but those moments are temporary and the overal complexity and timing make up for those problems. The author allows for strong female roles, though I worried in the begining about the possibility that they may not be.
Well written interesting story, kept my attention which is hard...SQUIRREL!" and in hindsight, which is ultimately 20/20, it deserves a higher star rating than I initially gave it. The review below is otherwise unchanged.
Slot this one higher than Icarus Rising below Ice-Hunt and on par Jeramy Robinson's Pulse, mybe a quarter star below "Event." If you follow me. ... on with the review!
For those who like a good crime story, this is a good read. For those of you who like a good Spec-ops action adventure, this is a good read.
So, it's a good read.
It seemed to start in the middle of the story, like there was another novel somewhere connected to this one. That was easy to get over. The story moved quickly, lots of suspense.
Synopsis - When good guys go bad.
What happens when the people trained in specialized "Black Ops" missions turn on us? People that are just not safe to have loose in the world? We call on specialists to hunt them down and neutralize them.
The duaghter of a high minded military type gets abducted and it's likely one cog in an act of terrorism that seeks the very heart of the inteligence and anti-terrorism agencies in the US. Called in are a special group of individuals who work for an agency that nobody has ever heard of, save at the highest levels in the government, and even then, most only know if it by reputation.
The odd, and fatally ill head of the organization, in the middle of training his own relief, puts together an improbable team of a profiler, not just any profiler, and two special operations killers. They take up the trail as the body count builds. BY the end, they shake the pillars of the government to see what corrupted snakes fall out of the tree.
Characters
Very interesting characters, but a little bit too much on the 2 dimensional side. Again, with the characters, it seemed that they were all caught up in a plot that started before this book, that we never got to read. Jack, Golden and the smokin'-hot assasin babe all work well. Generaly 2 dimensional characters tend to come with this type of action adventure. Each of these had some very intersesting back stories and, they did seem to fit together in a broader tapestry by the end of the story.
Generally, I'd say that the roles for female characters allowed for strong women and was not demeaning, generally, even allowing for different strengths and weaknesses. I'm not sure I'd give an A+ for female roles, but likely a B-. Which is better than many books.
Supporting cast and villains could have used some support. Whee the main characters were two dimensional with stories that did not fit in the frame, the villains were interesting, but under nourished. THey could have used a little more development. Again, this had the feel of a 2nd book in a series. Written as if we should already know something about the characters.
Word Building -
For a modern action adventure with dual themes, this was interesting. I liked the "Super Secret" agency. Though those are often "Cliche" this one had a unique feel for things that may not actually be unique (I call that good writing). Again, there seemed to be a lot missing that se should have been able to read about how they formed and chose the members of their teams, but what we got was interesting and fun.
The military aspects, though over dramatized to build drive the plot, were generally realistic enough, as were the support agencies that the characters had to deal with. The Spec-Ops world was fun to unravel, though, not likely realistic.
Make no mistake, this was action adventure, espionage and crime fighting rolled into one book. That in itself was very well done and interesting. Cops that worked like para-military spec ops types... or para-military spec ops types who worked like cops.
Villains- You'll get the idea that there is a conspiracy somewhere early on, but the webb was fairly written, well concealed and, though they were not particularly unique, the story read like these were fresh ideas and they fit well with the plot.
Plot
Swift paced, exciting, tense, with lots of action (though it was mostly at the end of the story). I found the crime - story side well done, and well folded with the para-military interests. For me, it wasn't so much the plot that made the story work as the skilled sense of pace, timing and a complex problem that made the read memorably enjoyable.
The authors style and skill made up for thin villainry and the sense of jumping into the middle of the story. The story was well concieved and executed, and complex.
Warnings -
1) Plenty of violence - killing bad men talking and doing bad things, tough good guys doing bad things, and innocent victims falling pray to well oiled preditory killing machines. The scenes were not gratuitus, but wll managed, and, necessary relative to the plot. The violence was about what you might see in a movie on television, and should easily be managed by most normal adults.
2) Sensitive victims. The victims here are women and children (well, initially anyway). Generally we are not exposed to "live" violence against them, but there is discussion of, hints about, and plenty of back story to let us know what happend to them. Nothing outrageous or unmanagable.
3) there is a sense of waking up in the middle of a series rather than diving into the first book. Hang with it. By the end, you'll at least understand how the past motivates the characters, even if you never get to know what really happened. If you give up in the begining because you can't connect with the characters, you'll miss out on better chances later in the story.
4) The author appears to blame serial killers on their poor mothers. I'm sure there is some research available that supports this but I had trouble swallowing it as it was presented. On one hand, it was allowing a female to have an equally important supporting role as a villain, on the other, it cast blame for bad behavior on a group that may not be responsible for everything.
5) This is about a vigilante' organizatin. I'm not big on, and don't espouse to the idea that some people are above the law or some how so different from normal criminals that they need special handling. That is one of the premises of the book, that "it's okay" to kill these people without a fair trial. I just think that even serial killers need a fair trial.
bottom line-
Good story, tight, complex and well executed plot. Though perhaps not a "new idea" the story is presented in a "Fresh" way and reads like new ideas. A good story, told by a skilled author. The characters sometimes seem either too much from a can, or too thin to look real, but those moments are temporary and the overal complexity and timing make up for those problems. The author allows for strong female roles, though I worried in the begining about the possibility that they may not be.
March 1, 2012
Great read, but it would have better if I had read Bodyguard of Lies first. There are some characters brought forward that were probably back storied in the first book.
The second distraction, as mentioned elsewhere in the reviews, is the incredible number of errors. Characters misnamed, words used incorrectly or just plain misused. Example 'of' instead of 'for', 'considerable' instead of 'considerably'. Well, you get the idea.
I will go back and read the first of the series and then move forward from there.
The second distraction, as mentioned elsewhere in the reviews, is the incredible number of errors. Characters misnamed, words used incorrectly or just plain misused. Example 'of' instead of 'for', 'considerable' instead of 'considerably'. Well, you get the idea.
I will go back and read the first of the series and then move forward from there.
September 23, 2012
I enjoyed this book, but it read like a film screenplay, everything was like a set piece put together bit by bit, even the pace of the book was like a film, starts slow and quickens to end crescendo.
Despite that, the characters are fleshed out enough, with bits left out for later books, but its like a chinese meal, satisfying at first and then when you think about it, you realise that maybe there should have been more.
The story is of a kidnapped girl of a special ops commander and other sundy deaths of person linked to a botched drugs job, and the secret unit sent to investigate and "sanction" those carrying it out.
As I said at the biginning, I did enjoy this book and will no doubt read some others of Bob Mayer's as I believe he has a diversified range of titles to explore, just not too sure on the "screenplay" type of writing.
Despite that, the characters are fleshed out enough, with bits left out for later books, but its like a chinese meal, satisfying at first and then when you think about it, you realise that maybe there should have been more.
The story is of a kidnapped girl of a special ops commander and other sundy deaths of person linked to a botched drugs job, and the secret unit sent to investigate and "sanction" those carrying it out.
As I said at the biginning, I did enjoy this book and will no doubt read some others of Bob Mayer's as I believe he has a diversified range of titles to explore, just not too sure on the "screenplay" type of writing.
October 27, 2020
terrific follow-up to Bodyguard of Lies continues to track the Cellar, now running by Masterson . Neely and. Maj. Jack Gant is called in from his South Carolina island home to oversee an investigation involving the abduction of Emily Cranston, daughter of Fort Bragg Special Warfare Center commander Col. Samuel Cranston. The motive for the abduction is revenge. Starting with a screwed up op in Columbia and continues thru the US. Mayer delivers top-notch action and adventure, creating a full cast of lethal operatives armed with all the latest weaponry. Excellent writing and well-drawn, appealing characters help make this another taut, crackling read from Mayer. Can't wait for the best book in this series.
February 10, 2022
I read this book because I enjoyed Shane and the Hitwoman (The Organization #1). I read Shane and the Hitwoman because I love, love, love, love Agnes and the Hitman. This is action and adventure. There's a lot of dead bodies. I like the story. Hannah is taking over from Nero as the overseer of the agency that polices all the other agencies. If there's a bad guy in the FBI or CIA, they're going to be found by The Cellar. Justice will be delivered. The book brings the characters from Bodyguard of Lies: The Cellar: Policing of the World of Covert Operations into new positions in the continuing story.
March 13, 2024
Grim but fascinating
The inner type workings whether real or imagined deal with dark people, places, and actions. The plotting & characters are excellent plus you can there is a lot of actual knowledge put to use. Hate reading about the H using such & such weapons inaccurately. The was one inadvertently funny description thanks to auto correct where a victim described a kidnapper as having a dessert (baklava) on his head instead of a balaclava. The suspense and solutions kept me reading really very good book but book one more enjoyable read.
The inner type workings whether real or imagined deal with dark people, places, and actions. The plotting & characters are excellent plus you can there is a lot of actual knowledge put to use. Hate reading about the H using such & such weapons inaccurately. The was one inadvertently funny description thanks to auto correct where a victim described a kidnapper as having a dessert (baklava) on his head instead of a balaclava. The suspense and solutions kept me reading really very good book but book one more enjoyable read.
May 7, 2018
Lost Girls is the second book in The Cellar series. While this can be read as a standalone, I highly suggest that you read the previous book Bodyguard of Lies first. There is violence. While I wasn't that impressed with the first book, this book exceeded my expectations. It is rare that you read a book in this genre that has not only one, but two, strong female characters in the lead.
December 5, 2023
LOST GIRLS: THE CELLAR by Bob Mayer did not live up to my expectations. There was just too much going on at the beginning which left me confused and bored to the point that found myself skimming through the text. On top of that, the text was littered with typos and missing words. I did finish the story and found the last 25% of the book riveting and suspenseful. Read at your own risk.
December 19, 2023
Fast-paced thrill ride!
An ongoing page turner that has action from beginning to ending. The author does a fine job detailing betrayal amongst military men, then try to to get revenge all on their own. I expect to read more from this author as the writer had me reading this during the wee hours trying to get to the end of a great story!
An ongoing page turner that has action from beginning to ending. The author does a fine job detailing betrayal amongst military men, then try to to get revenge all on their own. I expect to read more from this author as the writer had me reading this during the wee hours trying to get to the end of a great story!
February 7, 2024
I thought this one was a little darker than the first book. Just as much "bad" stuff happens, but some of it due to mistakes by the good guys, which made it harder to read. I missed the ladies Neeley and Masterson. I thought their presence would be more prominent, but Dr. Golden and Jack Gant were interesting lead characters. I just wasn't as invested in them.
July 20, 2017
Good read
Fast, credible and well written. Imperfect heroes doing a job that has to be done. Villians that once were "good" guys and the treachery that turned them. Very believable characters.
Fast, credible and well written. Imperfect heroes doing a job that has to be done. Villians that once were "good" guys and the treachery that turned them. Very believable characters.
September 14, 2017
Good book
This was a very exciting book characters were very real I have an idea that a lot of this is absolutely true and either has happened or could happen we need an organization like the cellar
This was a very exciting book characters were very real I have an idea that a lot of this is absolutely true and either has happened or could happen we need an organization like the cellar
November 22, 2017
Its was okay for me but not really my type of book. More for men I think. Army stuff , CIA , sniper kind of stuff . Higher ups were kidnapping kids and threating to kill them if their fathers didn't do what they wanted . Lots of secrets and traitors stuff going on.
June 15, 2017
Fantastic!
Mayer draws you in with great characters and a fast paced story. I've enjoyed each of his books that I've read!
Mayer draws you in with great characters and a fast paced story. I've enjoyed each of his books that I've read!
October 17, 2017
Great action
This book kept you guessing. Plot had so many different variables to it. Kept changing all the time. Very good.
This book kept you guessing. Plot had so many different variables to it. Kept changing all the time. Very good.
December 12, 2017
Just like the first book in the series, it is sometimes hard to know who are the bad guys. But a very interesting read. I enjoy a book when the ending remains a mystery until the end.
April 9, 2018
Good as usual
Another great book by Mr. Mayer. I love his style and characters. You get the feeling that you are living in their shoes. Crisp clean writing and great story line.
Another great book by Mr. Mayer. I love his style and characters. You get the feeling that you are living in their shoes. Crisp clean writing and great story line.
August 26, 2018
Decent read, little simplistic, but keeps adding in plot twists as you get closer to end.
August 4, 2019
A good book.
May 29, 2020
Good read
Page turner exciting stuff written with experience look forward to reading more of the same read in one go. Good yarn
Page turner exciting stuff written with experience look forward to reading more of the same read in one go. Good yarn
July 4, 2020
I found this book interesting, military ops CIA FBI, Kept me reading
August 10, 2022
Not for weak stomachs.
Too many people were killed for no reason. The book was very descriptive thus my heading. Made for a happy ending.
Too many people were killed for no reason. The book was very descriptive thus my heading. Made for a happy ending.
January 17, 2024
Almost gave up reading because I was having a hard time keeping up with the plot. Stayed with it and semi enjoyed it.
February 24, 2017
Taunt and disturbing.
Well-written thriller. If there isn't a real Cellar, Mayer makes you believe there could be and kinda creeps you out at the same time.
Well-written thriller. If there isn't a real Cellar, Mayer makes you believe there could be and kinda creeps you out at the same time.
February 19, 2017
We learnt
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 22, 2017
Buried in the shadowy depths of the U.S. government is a secret organization charged with policing all the other government agencies that operate in the shadows. Called The Cellar, its mission is to track down rogue covert operators, and eliminate the threat—with extreme prejudice, if necessary.
Lost Girls is the second installment in best-selling author Bob Mayer's The Cellar series. Major Jack Gant, a former special operations soldier now working for The Cellar, joins a female Cellar operative, Neely, and FBI profiler Dr. Susan Golden in tracking down a rogue special forces sniper team. The sniper team is attacking family members of government agents they believe abandoned them in Latin America after a botched counter-drug operation. In tracking the sniper team, the Cellar trio peels back the layers of government secrecy to expose corruption at the highest levels of the country's covert agencies.
It goes without saying that Bob Mayer is one of the best, if not the best, writers of stories featuring special operations. A West Point graduate and retired Green Beret, Mayer brings to his stories a realism that is detailed without being pretentious or boring. His books are action-driven yet feature well-developed characters that rise above the cardboard heroes often found in similar books. Indeed, in Lost Girls, Mayer makes it clear there a very thin line divides the bad guys from those we usually consider the good guys.
Lost Girls is the second installment in best-selling author Bob Mayer's The Cellar series. Major Jack Gant, a former special operations soldier now working for The Cellar, joins a female Cellar operative, Neely, and FBI profiler Dr. Susan Golden in tracking down a rogue special forces sniper team. The sniper team is attacking family members of government agents they believe abandoned them in Latin America after a botched counter-drug operation. In tracking the sniper team, the Cellar trio peels back the layers of government secrecy to expose corruption at the highest levels of the country's covert agencies.
It goes without saying that Bob Mayer is one of the best, if not the best, writers of stories featuring special operations. A West Point graduate and retired Green Beret, Mayer brings to his stories a realism that is detailed without being pretentious or boring. His books are action-driven yet feature well-developed characters that rise above the cardboard heroes often found in similar books. Indeed, in Lost Girls, Mayer makes it clear there a very thin line divides the bad guys from those we usually consider the good guys.
August 30, 2016
THE LOST GIRLS is Book 2 in The Cellar series, perhaps the last one as I see no more listed on BOB MAYER'S website. Book 1 is called THE BODYGUARD OF LIES. The Cellar is located 300 feet beneath the headquarters of the National Security Agency (NSA). It polices the alphabet agencies of the United States' police (Federal Bureau of Investigation or F.B.I.) and intelligence agencies such as the Central Intelligence Agency (C.I.A.). Their agents, when on scene, supersede the authority of any other agents on site. Mayer is the author of 60 or so books now including spy thrillers, science fiction/fantasy, alternate history and books on writing.
The Cellar series feature "good guys" Tony Gant, his girlfriend Neeley, Jack Gant Tony's twin brother, Mr. Nero longtime head of The Cellar, Hannah Masterson heir apparent to Mr. Nero and more villains than you can shake a stick at. The villains include rogue members of Delta Force, black market activists in Europe, Drug Enforcement Agency (D.E.A.) turncoats, Colombian Drug cartels, a rogue Cellar agent and evil top officials of the C.I.A.. The chases take you to France, German and the United States (from Maine to Texas and many places in between).
Action abounds throughout the two books. I am looking forward to reading other books by Bob Mayer.
GO! BUY! READ!
The Cellar series feature "good guys" Tony Gant, his girlfriend Neeley, Jack Gant Tony's twin brother, Mr. Nero longtime head of The Cellar, Hannah Masterson heir apparent to Mr. Nero and more villains than you can shake a stick at. The villains include rogue members of Delta Force, black market activists in Europe, Drug Enforcement Agency (D.E.A.) turncoats, Colombian Drug cartels, a rogue Cellar agent and evil top officials of the C.I.A.. The chases take you to France, German and the United States (from Maine to Texas and many places in between).
Action abounds throughout the two books. I am looking forward to reading other books by Bob Mayer.
GO! BUY! READ!
April 12, 2020
Implausible as the story is, I could have enjoyed it anyway. There's all sorts of military type things going on and explosions and things to figure out. Unfortunately, the one thing I do know something about the author got so wrong that I my eyes kinda ache from all the rolling they did. The author has a young woman whose been kidnapped shackled to a tree, a manacle on her ankle. She strips the underwire from her bra and uses it to try to pick the lock, repeatedly folding "the thin wire" to ... hell, I don't know because the author obviously did no research on underwire bras at all. Sadly, this turned into a major plot point, as the author couldn't let go of this, so I couldn't get away from it and pretend like it hadn't happened. Kinda undermines his credibility in all area since this is the easiest thing to research in the entire book.
It didn't make a fan out of me, so I can't see me reading any more of his books.
It didn't make a fan out of me, so I can't see me reading any more of his books.
December 5, 2016
Lost Girls (Cellar book #2) by Bob Mayer)
John Gant is gone, a victim of cancer, and Neeley and Masterson are on their own. Jewelry knows she has to find John's insurance packet to stay alive. She heads to Jesse's, John's ex-wife, to determine if the packet or it's catche location is there. Then, the girls start disappearing and the Cellar is calling. The new mission, find the girls and their abductors before they are all killed. Masterson is tapped to help Nero, put together a new team, a profiler, Jack Gant (John's twin brother), and Neeley. The action is tense, twisted, and deadly. Jack, a lone wolf operative, is forced to work with the two women, and only Neeley is skilled and the learning curve is steep. The targets are rouge special operations men and they're out for revenge. Surrender is not an option and their targets are high level operatives in the government. Thanks for another great read.
John Gant is gone, a victim of cancer, and Neeley and Masterson are on their own. Jewelry knows she has to find John's insurance packet to stay alive. She heads to Jesse's, John's ex-wife, to determine if the packet or it's catche location is there. Then, the girls start disappearing and the Cellar is calling. The new mission, find the girls and their abductors before they are all killed. Masterson is tapped to help Nero, put together a new team, a profiler, Jack Gant (John's twin brother), and Neeley. The action is tense, twisted, and deadly. Jack, a lone wolf operative, is forced to work with the two women, and only Neeley is skilled and the learning curve is steep. The targets are rouge special operations men and they're out for revenge. Surrender is not an option and their targets are high level operatives in the government. Thanks for another great read.
September 8, 2011
Decently written well paced story. A rogue special forces outfit and an outed operative team up to
rend havoc on U.S. Intelligence folks that wanted them dead.
Where they got Governmental finances/resources to launch this revenge strike
(other than money from the drug cartel that imprisoned them)
I always wondered about. Plus, outright killing top Government officials as a sanctioned activity
to solve money laundering at a National level seemed a stretch.
The story did work on the surface. It kept me interested.
rend havoc on U.S. Intelligence folks that wanted them dead.
Where they got Governmental finances/resources to launch this revenge strike
(other than money from the drug cartel that imprisoned them)
I always wondered about. Plus, outright killing top Government officials as a sanctioned activity
to solve money laundering at a National level seemed a stretch.
The story did work on the surface. It kept me interested.
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