The Cabal: A Kirk McGarvey Novel (McGarvey, 14)

I don't ever recall having an unfavorable review of a David Hagberg (or Sean Flannery) book, but The Cabal has to be one of his very, very best. No descriptive words are necessary as anyone reading this review knows Hagberg well enough to know what I am saying. Just enjoy! It is a shocker.

If you have read other McGarvey novels by Hagberg, it is more of the same. The writing is fairly simple and not suprising but it is enjoyable for easy reading.

I agree with those that believe that the Kirk McGarvey series by David Hagberg is something special. I have read every one of them and with the exception of Dance With the Dragon, there are just no weak links. This book clearly did not prove to be an exception. It may be the darkest and most pulse pounding of all of them as many bad things happen to the ex-CIA Director between the covers of this novel, but Kirk McGarvey doesn't get nightmares. He gives them to those who mess with him. To try and detail the plot would be a mistake as the reader needs to find his or her own way through the landmines that (literally) await the central character. Tightly written, great action and suspense and an ending which promises more to come. You will begrudge the time that you have to put this book down to do things like eat and sleep.

Loved the book! Could not put it down! Greeting ready to read the next one. Cannot wait to get started

The Cabal by David Hagberg was a real page turner with murder and mayhem at every turn.mcgarvey is a perfect secret agent.

Another great read! Kirk never fails to get involved in some interesting situations! A must read! On to the next one in the series

First off, let me say that I am a David Hagberg fan ... and this book as some reviewers point out is "ultra-fast paced" ... BUT that itself is a big part of the problem, since this mach 4 pace and action don't give the author the "novelistic space" that any author needs to slowly and interestingly build character ... AND establish plot credibility. And this last is why I gave this book 3 not 4 stars - even by the end of the book, I simply didn't feel very convinced that the motives and evil vision of "The Cabal" of bad guys (and they are painted well as scary bad) were all that clear, nor did I feel that what they were up to was even all that convincing or realistic. So the global politics context of the book was rather weak and disappointing and the bad guys were basically comic-book type stick figures. What I did like in regard to character development was how Otto and Louis were given bigger and more human roles, and how Kirk is still #1 in "the spy with integrity" competition! I also liked the way Hagberg pointed out the scary role that DOD contracters are being given in our various wars, such as Iraq. Don't avoid buying this book, however, just because I gave it a 3, if you're a Hagberg fan or (especially) if you like really fast-moving action thrillers!

The best Hagberg book to date. You won't be able to put this one down. Catch up on your sleep before you start.

Excellent Tale, really enjoy Macgiver stories.