Death of a Spy

Mark Sava, Book 4

By: Dan Mayland

Narrated by: Mark Boyett

Length: 8 hrs and 48 mins

Publisher's summary

Mark Sava is thrown into the fight of his life when an unresolved Cold War mystery involving his first love collides with a present-day Russia on the march.

Life has never been better for Mark Sava, the former CIA station chief of Azerbaijan. He's recently married, has a newborn daughter, and the launch of his spies-for-hire business in Central Asia has been a great success. Then he gets a call from the US Embassy in Tbilisi, Georgia - one his employees, seventy-two-year-old Larry Bowlan, has died of a heart attack.

Bowlan was also Sava's first boss at the CIA, so Sava feels a responsibility to personally recover the remains of his friend. He hops on a flight to Tbilisi, visits the hotel room in which Bowlan died, and is shocked when he discovers an oil painting that depicts a woman he knows all too well...

So begins four of the most violent and blisteringly personal days of Sava's life as he struggles to protect his future, and the future of a country he loves, by fighting demons from his past.

©2014 Dan Mayland (P)2015 Dan Mayland

Worth a listen

Mark Sava is a former CIA agent and now runs a spies-for-hire business in Central Asia. The circumstances that send him off to investigate an employee's death is a bit weak given his home situation, but travel around locales rarely (if ever) used in novels is different enough to get attention. The plot is not particularly intriguing.

Mayland's Mark Sava reminds me of Barry Eisler's John Rain. Mayland's writing is not as entertaining, particularly when comparing descriptions of scenery and challenging circumstances in which characters find themselves. Even so, the Sava series is entertaining enough to spend a credit.

Mark Sava Gets Even Better!

Dan Mayland has done a really good job of expanding Mark Sava as a character as well as reprising a few almost likable anti-heros.

Sava is a believable spy that remains smart and rugged without being overstated. Even better, Mayland's well-researched stories are spun from credible current regional tensions involving the likes of Russia and Iran.

Finally, Mark Boyett's performance adds to the richness of the characters and story, in general.

If you like books of this genre, Death of a Spy is a novel well worth your time and money.

WOW! A wonderful espionage series just got better

I've listened to the Mark Sava series out of order. First Book 3, then #2, now #4, and soon #1. I awarded Books 2 and 3 four stars. The Death of a Spy is a solid 5 star listen!

Mark Sava is an ex-CIA station chief in Azerbaijan who is who currently lives with his recently married wife and their infant daughter in Kyrgyzstan. Most of his work comes from the CIA. Sava is asked by the CIA to go to Baku, Azerbaijan to look into the death of the current CIA station chief who was Sava's mentor in the CIA. Sava's life is at risk as he fights Russians who are determined to take back Azerbaijaan (which they lost in 1990 when the Soviet Union fell).

The suspense is non-stop!

I highly recommend Death of a Spy!