What readers think of The Bricklayer, plus links to write your own review.

I had just finished the Hunger Games series and was looking for something new that intrigued me like this series. Since my dad was a second generation bricklayer, I picked it up wondering how authentic the author's voice would be regarding the life of a bricklayer. Being a bricklayer is more a metaphor for ex-FBI agent Steve Vail. I could not put the book down...and it's not predictable!! Can't wait for the next book!!

Interesting plot. Great characters. Wonderful dialogue.

It doesn't get much better if you enjoy fast-paced mystery/suspense novels.

Noah Boyd has masterfully created one of the best ones I've read in awhile. He reminds me of the earlier James Patterson or Stuart Woods - in the days before those authors began using fewer words, wider margins, and bigger fonts and lines spaces and really crafted their stories and characters.

I like strong heroes and quick action, and this book filled the bill. Steve Vail is his own man, and he is smart and skilled. He gets out of tight places with imagination and creativity. I rated it only Good (4), because there were too many times when it was obvious that the FBI was not heading in the right direction! Dumb FBI vs. Smart Crooks combined with Dumb FBI vs. Steve Vail. However, that said, I would buy the next book by Noah Boyd sight unseen.

Noah Boyd's The Bricklayer begins fast-paced and exciting with a unique plot, combining intrigue with hair-raising adventures and graphic violence. FBI agents are dying, the Agency is being extorted for millions and high-profile individuals are being killed. Steve Vail, a bricklayer and former FBI Agent is recruited, to stop the criminals, by Agent Kate Bannon. Vail was known as an agent loathe to follow the rules and dismissive of FBI policy, but who knew how to track down the bad guys. Vail works quickly and is soon on the killers' trail. But the dialogue between Vail and Bannon is, primarily, sexual innuendo and suggestiveness which grows tiring as the story stagnates three-quarters of the way through. Tacked on plot twists seem formulaic and forced in an attempt to revive the story's former pace. Ultimately, it doesn't work and one is left feeling that the book should have ended sooner. Aside from Steve Vail, Boyd's intelligent, arrogant protagonist and Kate Bannon, the attractive, smart but insecure Agent, the characters are one-dimensional, flat and forgettable with the focus on the action. Perhaps if they had been more fleshed out, the last quarter of the book would have played out more realistically without a reliance on contrived plot twists. Ultimately, Steve Vail is an exciting new character whom fans can anticipate reading more about in future books from this series. My hope is that with experience, Noah Boyd will soon weave a tale that remains as riveting to the end as most, but not all, of The Bricklayer.

As I began reading I had some doubts since it started rather slowly in my opinion. I kept plugging away and boy did it get exciting ! A bit creepy too as the adventures were recounted. On a lighter note the male/ female interplay added interest. By the time I finished The Bricklayer I decided this read was time enjoyably spent. Looking forward to more Steve Vail.

One hundred pages into Noah Boyd’s The Bricklayer, first glance up, lost in a story full of suspenseful endings that kept on coming. Agent Steve Vail, both real and unreal in his dealings and his daring. Airy and intense bantering with both love interest and outlaws makes Vail a character to rush back to at every chance until the literal flirtatious last sentence.

Steve Vail, my new favorite rogue agent! Loved the fast paced twists and turns of this book, a good read for anyone that likes a mystery. I'm a big fan of Michael Connelly and John Sandford and I'm now adding Noah Boyd to my list of favorites. This book keeps you guessing and intrigued from page one.......enjoy!

Overall, I enjoyed "The Bricklayer." The book introduces a character who is somewhat similar to Parker's "Spenser" or MacDonald's "Travis McGee" in that he is smart, very good a snappy comebacks, and always keeps a portion of himself very private. The story is good in the level of detail that is presented, making it quite believable, although somewhat predictable at times. There were a couple of places in the book where I found myself to be ahead of the characters. And I found it interesting that the women in the book were very strong characters. I would read another book in the same series. In general, a good, diverting read.