Aftershock (Pendulum 3)

“The action is nonstop, hardly allowing for the reader to take a breath between scenes.”

Book three of Adam Hamdy’s Pendulum trilogy continues the fast-paced narrative of the first two volumes, while ratcheting up the suspense to an almost unbearable point as a sinister mastermind proves to be a powerful adversary for the irregular trio of allies who stand against him.

The Foundation, an insidious enterprise whose members are buried within the organs of every government with the goal of eventual domination, has been wounded by the actions of various countries’ task forces, members of its command council killed, and its power curtailed. But the Foundation is still alive and more dangerous than ever.

No one knows this better than its three principal enemies: Patrick Bailey, head of the Met’s task force; John Wallace, a freelance photographer; and FBI agent Christine Ash, head of the Bureau’s task force.

As leaders in the struggle against the Foundation, Bailey, Wallace, and Ash are targets. Three Foundation members wearing their paramilitary Pendulum masks kidnap Bailey and his wife, Melissa. They hang Melissa from the roof of a building opposite the Houses of Parliament as a sign of the Foundation’s retribution against those who stand against them.

In a superhuman effort Bailey escapes and rescues Melissa but is seriously wounded himself. Despite his injuries Bailey discharges himself. He has a goal: Find the men who kidnapped him and Melissa.

John Wallace is meeting with Steven Byrne and his lawyer at Riker’s island. As the former head of a security company whose flagship security software had mined information for the Foundation.

Byrne is facing life in prison and will accept whatever penalty the criminal court gives him. Civil suits will strip him of assets, but Wallace, holding Byrne’s power of attorney, still controls the Donal Fund for a few more months. With luck Wallace will have time to execute the plan he and Byrne concoct, a plan that each hopes will offer them redemption for the harm they have done.

Agent Christine Ash already has experience as a target. She was captured and tortured by members of the Foundation. As a result Ash trusts no one; in her experience everyone is capable of betrayal.

“As she looked around the brightly lit briefing room, she reminded herself that none of these people could really trusted . . . Given the right incentive, they would all betray her.”

Maybe even Reeves, her second-in-command of the task force, is not to be trusted. Only Reeves has seen her piercings: bolts and nuts that protrude from her arms. She wonders if he has told anyone. Only she knows that her piercings are especially designed to ensure she stays safe.

Fighting the Foundation is a matter of avoiding or surviving betrayal. Bailey visits a Foundation member in prison whose insinuations about Melissa goad Bailey into a fight with the prisoner.

The prisoner dies as a result of the fight, and Bailey is taken off the case. He is now alone in his search for the kidnappers. He must choose to stand aside or go rogue.

Christine Ash leads a raid on a lodge in a Vermont forest based on information of an informant. She leads her task force, as well as other law enforcement into an ambush that leaves six agents dead. No longer useful to the Foundation, her imprisoned informant will die.

The informant gives Ash one piece of information: somewhere the former head of the Foundation hid a membership list. If Ash can find it, she can bring down the Foundation.

Since she has learned that Wallace has been visiting Byrne at Rikers Island, she is certain he knows where the list is. She is certain Wallace and Byrne are doing something for the Foundation. She tricks him into a meeting, drugs him, and spirits him away. Christine Ash is as capable of betrayal as any Foundation member.

On the run, Bailey has no job, his family will disown him, the police want him for murder. His only allies are career criminals, once childhood friends. “This was what he was now. This was his life . . . Running. Hiding. Evading.”

New characters in the person of Beth and Arno, con artists and murderers, find a place with the Foundation. Arno is almost supernaturally adept at manipulation, and the Foundation and its unknown leader need his skills.

The action is nonstop, hardly allowing for the reader to take a breath between scenes. The characters are not made of cardboard as so many are in thrillers. Christine is sympathetic even as her character deconstructs, nearly rendering her as amoral as the Foundation.

Bailey is almost a broken man, held together by his desire to take down the Foundation and punish those who nearly killed Melissa. Once a heroic police officer, he is now driven as much by revenge as for justice.

Wallace is horrified by what Christine Ash has become, and sees his redemption slipping away unless he can persuade Ash he is not working for the Foundation.

The action scenes require suspension of disbelief as it is doubtful even a Navy Seal could execute some of the physical feats done by the characters. That is not necessarily an impediment to one’s enjoyment of the book, as one expects superhuman actions in a thriller.

The plot is complex with action scenes ending in cliffhangers weaving in and out of the narrative. As many thriller writers use this particular narrative technique to keep the reader involved, Adam Hamdy is more successful than most at using it.

Aftershock is not a stand-alone thriller; it is very much part of a trilogy. One is advised to read Pendulum and Freefall, the two preceding volumes.