Format: 351 pages, Hardcover
Release Date: October 14, 2025
Publisher: Thomas & Mercer
Source: Publisher
Genre: Espionage / Thriller
From the New York Times bestselling author of Matterhorn comes a heart-stopping thriller about a man who returns to a life of espionage to save the woman he loves and the City of Light.
Retired special agent Mac Dekker travels to Paris to propose to Ava Attal, once Mossad’s deadliest operative. After too long, life is good. But before he can propose, Ava leaves the table to take an urgent call. And never returns.
Mac launches a frantic search, spiraling through the city’s brightest and darkest places. People are lying, agents are dying, and he finds himself caught in the crosshairs of CIA shadows and enigmatic assassins while battling a wealthy, ruthless prince planning a truly terrifying act of violence.
With only hours to find Ava and save thousands of lives, Mac’s CIA training kicks in, along with his Is Ava truly missing, or did she come to Paris on a mission even more secretive than his own?
Retired special agent Mac Dekker travels to Paris to propose to Ava Attal, once Mossad’s deadliest operative. After too long, life is good. But before he can propose, Ava leaves the table to take an urgent call. And never returns.
Mac launches a frantic search, spiraling through the city’s brightest and darkest places. People are lying, agents are dying, and he finds himself caught in the crosshairs of CIA shadows and enigmatic assassins while battling a wealthy, ruthless prince planning a truly terrifying act of violence.
With only hours to find Ava and save thousands of lives, Mac’s CIA training kicks in, along with his Is Ava truly missing, or did she come to Paris on a mission even more secretive than his own?
The Tourists is the second installment in author Christopher Reich's Max Dekker series. Key Characters: Max Dekker, formerly of the CIA, was supposed to be dead after a car bomb 9 years ago. Ava Attal, a covert operative who worked for the Mossad. After kicking off the saga with Matterhorn—a mountain-climbing espionage tale inspired by Reich's own passion for alpine adventures—this follow-up shifts the action from snowy peaks to the glittering streets of Paris.
At its core, The Tourists is a classic man-on-the-run thriller with a romantic twist. Protagonist Mac Dekker, a grizzled ex-CIA operative in his late 50s, has traded black ops for a quiet life in the Swiss Alps, complete with a granddaughter and a budding romance. But when he jets off to Paris to propose to his girlfriend, the formidable Ava Attal—a former Mossad agent with a lethal skill set—over a candlelit dinner at the iconic Jules Verne restaurant in the Eiffel Tower, everything unravels.
Ava steps away for a mysterious phone call and vanishes into the City of Light, leaving Mac to piece together a web of deception that spans assassins, double-crossing CIA handlers, and a ruthless Middle Eastern prince with ambitions that could ignite a regional powder keg. As Mac races against the clock through Paris's labyrinthine alleys and beyond, he must confront not just external threats but nagging doubts about Ava's true loyalties.
The stakes escalate from personal heartbreak to a potential catastrophe threatening Europe's fragile peace, all while Reich weaves in flashbacks to Mac's past for added depth. It's a plot that zips along like a high-speed train, building to a crescendo of twists that feel both inevitable and surprising. Mac's internal conflict—balancing his desire for domestic bliss with the adrenaline-fueled instincts of his spy days—adds emotional weight, making his desperation palpable as he turns Paris upside down.
Ava Attal is a standout too: fierce, enigmatic, and unapologetically complex, she's no damsel but a force whose absence drives the narrative as much as Mac's pursuit. Their chemistry crackles with shared trauma and unspoken trust issues, elevating the story beyond mere action. Secondary characters, however, are more hit-or-miss.
The Middle Eastern prince antagonist is a compelling puppet-master with real-world echoes of geopolitical power plays, but some readers find him veering into caricature territory. CIA operatives and French authorities pop up as obstacles, providing solid foils. That said, across the series, these archetypes gain nuance, rewarding readers who commit to the full Mac Dekker arc.
Not a fan of the ending, but it apparently ensures that there will be a sequel in the near future.
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