The telling is the message no matter the genre: meter sets the tone, rhythm marks the pace and surprise fuels desire. So it is in Tim Tigner’s Pushing Brilliance, his first book in the Kyle Achilles thriller series.

Tigner is a master of the “game-changer,” the turn of events that destroy the status quo and sends the protagonist in unexpected directions. In Achilles’ case, these new directions are devastating and without any easily imaginable resolution. This is the desire of all writers and especially thriller writers, but Tigner shows us all his true talent in the exhaustively conceived, wholly unexpected, and completely believable resolutions he invents to save Achilles and set him back on his feet.

But the fun and imagination don’t stop with two or three of these changes of direction. Indeed, Pushing Brilliance pulls the reader into a world of international intrigue that turns a new corner throughout the telling.

Coming from a wealthy family, Kyle Achilles is an Olympic biathlete who was injured, has recovered his strength through rock climbing, and was recruited by the CIA for clandestine work. He also quit the CIA and took up free-style rock climbing to clear his mind and to find a new life.

The great thing about Achilles is his calm manner and the growth that he accepts as he takes on the top Russian strategist and the Russian Premier. Against insurmountable odds and with the analytic help of Katya, a mathematician who will take a bite of life to survive, Achilles faces evil head-on.

This is a fast-paced, imaginative, and completely credible tale woven with pacing bent on increasing the reader’s heart rate and satisfying one’s desire to see impossible knots untied.

I’m halfway through Kyle Achilles book number two, The Lies of Spies, and can say that what was wonderful in Pushing Brilliance has continued and even increased.

Tim Tigner’s Pushing Brilliance is well worth reading. Just be prepared to grab his other work as well. You won’t be disappointed!

Check out Pushing Brilliance on Amazon at https://www.amazon.com/Pushing-Brilliance-Kyle-Achilles-Book-ebook/dp/B01H9DSUAW/ref=sr_1_2_sspa?crid=37GFACT0TVOMT&dchild=1&keywords=tim+tigner+kyle+achilles+series&qid=1588177734&sprefix=Tim+Tigner%2Caps%2C173&sr=8-2-spons&psc=1&spLa=ZW5jcnlwdGVkUXVhbGlmaWVyPUEzTlc1U05NQVIyQzNBJmVuY3J5cHRlZElkPUEwMjU0MjIzMUY5M1VGQ1FPMUdTSSZlbmNyeXB0ZWRBZElkPUEwNjg4MzQxMkpUVFk5SERDTU9GMiZ3aWRnZXROYW1lPXNwX2F0ZiZhY3Rpb249Y2xpY2tSZWRpcmVjdCZkb05vdExvZ0NsaWNrPXRydWU=