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CIA assets compromised in war-torn Ukraine. The Agency has given up protecting them. Can Travis recover their identities before more innocents lose their lives?

Faced with the knowledge a CIA agent and friend will have to cross into the Ukraine alone in the midst of war, Travis puts aside his anger at the Agency and joins her. As they search for a missing list that has put more than five hundred critical assets in danger, Travis comes across the unthinkable…

The list isn't what he thought at all.

310 pages, Kindle Edition

First published April 14, 2023

75 people are currently reading
22 people want to read

About the author

K.J. Kalis

50 books122 followers

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5 stars
185 (64%)
4 stars
66 (23%)
3 stars
26 (9%)
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5 (1%)
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 35 reviews
Profile Image for Meenaz Lodhi.
1,037 reviews89 followers
August 21, 2023
An authentic page turner! Outstanding and exciting, I couldn’t put the book down, with all the unnerving twists and surprising turns.
A well developed story with great characters.
I highly recommend this book.
Profile Image for Richard Bacon.
18 reviews5 followers
April 21, 2023
Timely and Engrossing

For those familiar with the previous Travis Bishop novels, no introduction will be necessary. For others I can explain briefly that Bishop is currently a horse trainer, but one who has some baggage. He was formerly with both Delta Force and the CIA. He left both those organizations with a hearty "good riddance."

Now a former colleague has arrived at his ranch with a strange request. A list of CIA assets in Ukraine needs to be recovered. The majority of the assets have already been compromised, captured, tortured, and killed. However, Elena believes there are still 173 who, while not safe, have not yet been captured.

This story can be divided into the parts: Travis becoming convinced to go to Ukraine with Elena to find the list; the difficult journey into Ukraine; and the dangerous trip getting the list out of Ukraine.

An overriding theme of the book is the moral duty of the strong to protect the weak. Travis Bishop is at heart a sheepdog, ready to lay down his life for his sheep. We see that repeatedly throughout the narrative. Bishop may not always succeed, but he is ever ready to carry on for those he sees as his charge.

As I write this review, the book was only released one week ago. So there are still a few (very few) misspellings or typos in the Kindle version. Do not allow that fact to dissuade you from getting this latest novel from accomplished author K.J. Kalis.

Richard in Texas
Profile Image for Michelle.
1,677 reviews19 followers
May 8, 2023
Absolutely fantastic!

Heart pounding, at times gut wrenching yet always an edge of you seat thrill a minute read. Just when Travis Bishop thought he was finally out, the CIA in the form of an old friend Elena Lobranova drags him back into the work of spies, lies and danger. She’s alone on a mission to save 173 lives and Travis much to his dismay can’t in good conscience let her go alone into a war zone. So the two set out to find a list. Except nothing goes right and they are forced to improvise from day one. When tragedy strikes Travis must reach out to old friends/ contacts and dig deep to avoid the Russians and get back safely to the US.
I was hooked from page one. An exceptionally well done spy thriller! Definitely will check out earlier books in the series to see what other adventures Travis has been on!.

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
Profile Image for Martin Pingree.
1,028 reviews16 followers
May 15, 2023
Travis Bishop is an ex military/CIA operative who trains horses now. When an old CIA friend asks for his help to try and save a list of CIA helpers in Ukraine he is torn at first because he left the CIA for good. The agent who asks for his help is going by herself whether he goes or not. He goes with her and soon finds out that things are worse than he thought and he soon becomes targeted by an old nemesis. As usual nothing goes as it should and getting out alive may not be possible.
Profile Image for Judy.
3,327 reviews
April 20, 2023
The 173 by KJ Kalis
The Travis Bishop Thrillers Book Four
Travis Bishop is content working with horses. He left the CIA and wants nothing more to do with it. So when his friend, Elena Lobranova, calls on him to join her on a mission, he says no. But, she had left the flash drive with photos of many dead CIA assets in Ukraine. They were at risk because of a list with their names.
The faces of the dead from the drive have Travis changing his mind. For Elena, the woman who’s like a sister to him. It was supposed to be a quick trip in and out. Right. What could go wrong did.
This book is written from Travis’s POV only. I couldn’t put it down until the end. Well written and full of action.
https://justjudysjumbles.blogspot.com...
50 reviews1 follower
April 23, 2023
Travis is again wrangled into helping a friend from his CIA days, but this time gets stranded in Ukraine being hunted by the KGB when his friend is killed. Despite a few (less than 10) pronoun/tense/grammar errors the prose is fast moving, grabbing the reader and not easing until Travis is able to relax a little.
9 reviews
April 19, 2023
another fascinating read

This book, in typical Travis Bishop style, tells the tale of a conflicted man. His strong dislike and lack of trust of alphabet agencies versus the need to support the people he cares about, even if it means leaving his life on the ranch. We would all be lucky to have a friend like that. Once again, a real thriller with the twists and turns of a wild out of control roller coaster.
Profile Image for Kim.
518 reviews5 followers
June 5, 2023
Lone Star cowboy to the rescue!

Travis Bishop, a native Texan, just wants to be left alone to enjoy his ranch and his horses after spending years of his life protecting his country in the military and the CIA. That hasn’t gone too well so far. One thing after another keeps pulling him back into the intelligence industry at great personal cost, and he has had enough. When an old CIA friend asks for his help, though, he cannot bring himself to do anything but reluctantly pack a bag and head out once again. What was supposed to be a quick trip in and out of war torn Ukraine takes a decidedly more complicated turn, as such things always do. What follows is a white-knuckled roller coaster ride riddled with peril at every turn that had me holding my breath as I flipped page after page of this emotional thriller. I highly recommend this series and this author to anyone who enjoys taut, action-packed, spellbinding adventures.
235 reviews1 follower
April 18, 2023
Travis is talked into helping a CIA agent in a quest to find a list of undercover CIA assets. The trip to the Ukraine quickly becomes a problem, the Russians are also after the list. How to find the list, and get it back to the US is the basis of this action-packed story.
3,005 reviews44 followers
May 27, 2023
This is book four of the Travis Bishop Thrillers series and Travis finds himself once again caught up in the CIA web, as an old friend Elena asks him for his help. Elena’s contact in Ukraine is responsible for a list of CIA assets in the now war torn country, a list that the CIA for some reason, have no actual copy of. She hasn’t heard from her contact for some three months and is getting worried about him and his family. Her bosses at the CIA have written off these people, including the rest of the list, with some three hundred plus already being executed and dying in horrible conditions, as far as she could find. The lives of the remaining one hundred and seventy three assets could quickly be passed to their enemies and their lives forfeit it nothing is done. Elena can’t stand to allow her contact and the list to be abandoned and has plans to travel in country herself, telling her boss she is looking for a new coordinator over there. She drives up to his performance horse training ranch and isn’t exactly welcome. He told the CIA he was out after the last betrayal of his former friends and colleagues within the organisation, once and for all. Even though she tries to show him evidence of what has been done to some of the assets, he interested in being dragged into the mess the CIA creates.

She leaves the USB with the images on, behind in his war room and after he finishes for the day, he can’t ignore it and looks at it again and wonders about the chances of Elena going it alone and whether he can live with that fact! He ends up going to the only accommodation in town and finds her as she was leaving. She quickly adds him to her travel plans and they have to make the dangerous journey into Ukraine, over the Moldavian border. Once into Ukraine, the journey is not as simple or as straight forward as they hoped, with dangerous gangs roaming the roads and war damage everywhere! It also seems like an old adversary of Travis and Elena is on their heels and has somehow found where they are. Upon finding Eli’s farmhouse, Travis is shocked by what he finds. The list is not a paper copy like he expected, but something far more dangerous to transport. Somehow he needs to get back to the States, but it seems the Russians are after them at every step and want that information desperately, to stop their enemies. A dangerous journey that meets problems at every step and almost gets the best of Travis! A difficult time for Travis as he longs for the peace of his ranch and his horses, looking forward to getting back to what he does now and not what he keeps getting dragged into from the past. Thought it might have ended ever so slightly differently, but then he really isn’t that sort of guy. Still one danger out there that seems to want a piece of Travis, so will have to wait and see how that pans out. I received an ARC copy of this book from BookSprout and I have freely given my own opinion of the book above.
559 reviews10 followers
December 29, 2023
Retired CIA agent is persuaded to help his buddy one more time in Ukraine - 5 stars

Travis Bishop, having fully retired from the CIA, is enjoying his life as a horse trainer at his ranch in Texas. His partner in The Company, Elena Lobranova, drops by showing pictures of CIA assets who were murdered in Ukraine. Of the 500 known assets, 327 have recently been assassinated. Elena wants Travis' help to stop the losses.

Against his better judgment, Travis agrees to help on an "all-expenses-paid 'vacation'" in Ukraine in the midst of the Russian "special military operation". As readers, we get a safe seat while Travis and Elena go to a hot war zone where Americans are the targets of nearly everyone. While it should be a quick get-in get-out, nothing goes as planned.

In fact, almost everything goes casters up. We learn that even when it is late winter in Texas, Ukraine only has two seasons: winter and not winter. After entering Ukraine, bad weather, bad roads, roving gangs, and a ghoulish KGB officer make the going especially difficult.

There are a few helpful residents, but the task of retrieving a list of known CIA assets is an increasingly difficult and deadly affair. A full day's horseback ride toward the border which should be a treat for Travis and company is more of a worry about being tracked and recognized by satellite overflights which adds fear to the journey.

Travis has to generate plans on the fly and make changes almost constantly while on the run. This gripping tale of an all-expenses paid trip to the land of winter and not winter is not to be missed. Hint: You will fully understand the book's title even if you are not a math wizard.
436 reviews4 followers
May 18, 2023
Okay, well, first off, I did really enjoy this book for the most part. It was well written, flowed well, and increased with momentum with each ensuing chapter. I would recommend it. However, I couldn't give it five stars for the following reasons. Ok, pause, spoiler alert, continue only if you don't mind finding out what's going to happen ahead of time. First, and for a purely personal reason, how on earth could you kill her off in the middle of the book? Ugh! I was so disappointed that that had happened. I was really looking forward to the two of them working together and maybe sparking some kind of romance between them. Oh well. . .And, second, when I read a book that is tied to a historical event, especially one that is ongoing, I really prefer that it be consistent with the facts. It kept mentioning that there were Russian soldiers marauding through the land between the Moldovan/Romanian border and Odessa when they never actually made it anywhere near that area. Yes, an errant missile or two would have hit that sparsely populated area, but the bulk of the damage would have been to the actual city itself and, certainly, there were no bands of roving Russian soldiers or KGB agents roaming the area. Yes, I know it's just fiction, but it made it hard to follow the story knowing that it didn't actually happen that way. Anyway, those were my pet peeves and the reason I couldn't give it a five-star rating. Otherwise, I thoroughly enjoyed reading this story!.

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
460 reviews2 followers
May 23, 2023
How Does One Find A Secret List of Foreign Assets in Ukraine?

Travis Bishop is a horse trainer in Texas. He's also ex-military and ex-CIA. When a close friend from the CIA shows up at his Texas home asking for help, Travis's first response is a speedy, emphatic NO! But Elana Lobranova won't accept that answer. She heads back to her hotel for the night before heading back to Washington DC. But she leaves the flash drive of Ukraine assets who have been murdered. There were more than 500 such assets. Now, only 173 are left. There's a master list of all the assets. But there's been no contact with the primary recruiter for months. Travis has been badly burned by the CIA. Several times, in fact. But Elana needs his help, and Travis's conscience won't let him remain unwilling to help.

What follows are several days of assassination attempts, marauding Ukrainian thugs, Russian KGB killers, and various other "untimely distractions." Travis endures and prevails because the "list" isn't a written list, as Travis had hoped. It's "recorded" in the memory of a 14-year-old girl. The only remaining family member of the Ukrainian recruiter. Travis realizes that he can't walk away from this child, leaving her to fend for herself. He does all he can to get her out of Ukraine and to the United States, or she will be interrogated by the Russians, then killed. But his connections to the CIA are burned. Can he get Lina to safety? One hundred seventy three lives depend on him being able to. This thriller is a strong 10 out of 5 stars!
Profile Image for David.
619 reviews14 followers
May 29, 2023
This is the first book I have read from this author but it won't be the last. Travis Bishop is a retired, or so he thought, CIA agent living on his horse ranch in Texas. He is lured back into the game by a former colleague who has a simple mission she needs his help with - salvaging a list of names of agency assets who are being targeted by any number of potential assassins. One catch - the list is in Ukraine. Quickly in and quickly out. Easy peasy, right? Well, not so much.
Things happen. Lots of things, and most are bad. Just when you think Travis is Scot free, the worm of fate turns. The fun is seeing him get out of one sticky wicket after another.
What kept me from giving this one five stars was some repetition of facts already stated. This was noticeable but not enough to detract appreciably from my enjoyment of the book.
Profile Image for Betti.
1,414 reviews37 followers
May 10, 2023
As a former military and part of the CIA, Travis Bishop is now the proud owner of Travis Bishop Performance Horses. He loves being on the horse, cleaning in the barn and just breathing in the clean air! Then a former coworker arrives and besides the flood of memories brings feelings of guilt and more.

Joining Elena in a trip to warn assets in a war torn country, there are so many things that could, and would go wrong. You will not be sorry you picked up this nail-biting thriller. Will either of them live to tell the story?

Received through Booksprout, these comments are my own and were in no way solicited.
23 reviews
May 17, 2023
How can you stand back when your old agency’s collaborators are being systematicly killed? When a friend asks for help how do you avoid returning to a life left behind? Travis travels to Ukraine and immediately runs into trouble as the body count climbs. Fabulous storyline with realistic characters, tragedy, compassion, friendship, loyalty, and hope. Definitely a must read for fans of action adventure. Too many close calls to count.
258 reviews1 follower
May 27, 2023
When a former colleague comes to the ranch asking Travis to put aside his easier life, to save CIA agents, he must quickly decide if that is something he has no choice in.
From cover to cover, there is no letup in the action with many surprises built in.
Even a country under siege in real life that others are including in their novels helps to make this thriller stand as opposed to taking anything away from it.
Profile Image for Billie.
5,790 reviews71 followers
May 30, 2023
This is a wonderful addition to this thrilling series!
Wonderful well written plot and story line that had me engaged from the start.
Love the well fleshed out characters and found them believable.
Great suspense and action with wonderful world building that adds so much to the story.
Such a thrilling read that I couldn't put it down.
Can't wait to read more of these.
Recommend reading.

I read a complimentary advance copy of the book; this is my voluntary and honest review.
523 reviews9 followers
April 23, 2023
This is an utterly enthralling and gripping book, primarily taking place as it does in war torn Ukraine, a place we hear much about in the news, but which this book brings to life in such a realistic way. The amount of action which takes place in such a few days with Travis constantly on the move is breathtaking. A very enjoyable book.
557 reviews4 followers
May 10, 2023
Right, first Travis Bishop book I have read and I can tell you it will not be the last. I thought this was an excellent thriller, with always something going on to an ending i didn’t see coming. This was a very intriguing thriller one which had me engrossed from the start to finish. Highly recommended.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
15 reviews
January 14, 2025
True friendship

Travis is living his best life when a friend from the past asks him to help her with a mission. Against his better judgement he can’t tell a good friend no. Will that decision come back to haunt him.
Don’t start this book with the intention of putting it down quickly.
What a GREAT BOOK
2 reviews1 follower
April 21, 2023
Loved this book. How conflicted Travis was and this page turner followed the characters through much peril without giving the plot away as when you start reading you don't realise where it is going. Would they make to safety. Couldn't put it down and finished book in record time.
22 reviews
August 29, 2023
What a GREAT story!

The whole series is wonderful! Full of action and adventure. I highly recommend you start at the beginning and read the series in order. Each book builds on the last, and has spoilers.
4 reviews
January 20, 2024
action packed with a great and topical storyline

This is a great read it is fast moving with a story line that really brings home the current real events in Ukraine and I liked the emotions it invoked. I couldn’t put it down.
722 reviews4 followers
November 22, 2024
Travis steps in it again

Seems like a guy who has trouble making decisions would stay out of it. A past friendship get him back doing a CIA job that turns ugly, can he complete his mission.
48 reviews2 followers
December 1, 2025
a good read

A really good read,this is my second Travis book ,and was just as good as the first,a quiet horse farm, action / adventure/spying violence just my kind of book,looking for number 3book.thank you.
123 reviews
April 22, 2026
I'm about 30 pages in and I'm done with this character. It's such a lame excuse to bait Travis in and Only he can do it.
Apparently the Director is abandoning his people because it's too dangerous, come on, this is the CIA!
9 reviews
April 26, 2023
Could be shortened by 60 pages by leaving out all the minor details about rooms and furniture plus all the repeats of his past CIA involvement
18 reviews
May 17, 2023
Really enjoyed this book. Warmed to the main characters. Kept me guessing until the end. Particularly liked the current day setting. Looking forward to the next in the series
Displaying 1 - 30 of 35 reviews