Soft Target

Major Crimes Unit #1

by Iain Rob Wright

An SG Thriller Release

From UK's Top Selling Horror & Thriller Author, Iain Rob Wright

NOWHERE IS SAFE...
When a quaint village in the United Kingdom is stuck by a suicide bomber, the once proud nation is brought to its knees with grief. Yet that first attack was just the beginning of something much greater and much worse. Something that nobody could ever have predicted.

The days that follow will determine if the UK even has a future left, or if it will be reduced to anarchy and ashes.

The only person that stands between the people of the UK and its complete destruction is an angry, damaged ex-solider named Sarah Stone. Sarah despises her own country and what it did to her, which is what makes it so hard when she is forced to save it.

SOFT TARGET is the first in a series of books featuring acerbic protagonist Sarah Stone. It is a non-stop action thriller in the same vein as 24.

Genres: Thriller, Horror, Fiction, Thriller Suspense, Ebooks

254 pages, Kindle Edition

First published July 17, 2014

About the author

With over 50 novels written over 16 years, Iain Rob Wright is the well-respected British horror author with a reputation for reliably scaring his readers. His books have sold millions of copies worldwide, earned tens of thousands of reader reviews on Amazon and Goodreads, and are being translated into multiple languages.

He is currently best known for the Cursed Manuscripts shared horror universe, the apocalyptic Hell on Earth series, and many stand-alone chillers such as The Room Upstairs and Scrapbook.

J. A. Konrath, New York Times bestselling thriller author, claims, "Iain Rob Wright scares the hell out of me!"

Born and raised in England's West Midlands, Iain now lives in the beautiful, gothic County Durham with his family, 2 pugs, and a cat named Tigz. When he is not writing horror, he is reading horror, watching horror, or playing Stardew Valley.

WHERE TO START: If you have never read Iain Rob Wright before, try Witch - the first Cursed Manuscript and the entry point to the universe - or The Gates, the opener of the Hell on Earth saga. Both are available FREE with Kindle Unlimited.

For new releases, free stories, and the occasional confession of authorial despair, readers can find Iain through his author page on Amazon or by visiting his website (where you can download 6 of his books absolutely FREE).

Iain's work has been compared to Stephen King, Richard Laymon, and James Herbert - the three writers he credits with making him want to scare people for a living.

Reviews

[Candace Tidwell]

This book caught my attention after I saw a blurb on Facebook. I was intrigued so I snatched it up and started reading. I loved this storyline. I was glued from start to finish. The book is fast paced and full of action.
It's not very often I come across a female soldier as the lead and Wright did a phenomenal job writing about Sarah. Her life is not easy and she is constantly battling her personal demons but she is definitely kick ass. I cannot wait to jump into the next book.

[Jakob Hessius]

Well written

This is a wellwritten book even though the contenr doesn’t really speak to me personally. It’s more of acrimestoty than anyhing I have read by this author befor!

[Robert Robinson]

Definition of a popcorn thriller: completely cliched villain? Tick. Action protagonist who isn’t by the book? Tick. Branding of the book clearly inspired by TV show ‘24’? Tick. Definitely a plane read, a couple of Baileys deep.

[Ray Smillie]

I love Iain Rob Wright's horror novels and had been putting off reading this non-horror tale and really dhouldn't be surprised to find that I enjoyed it. Like his regular output there is rarely a lull in the action and the action hits hard in Soft Target. Was going to wait before reading book two but the ending means I want to know what happens next.

[Matthew Henry]

Boring, unbelievable and pointless

I kept trying to like the book and it kept finding ways to disappoint. The young teen girl can outshoot trained military folks. A women with numerous wounds and 1/3 of her blood gone seems always able to fight better than anyone else, except she sucks at shooting. No real plot. No character development. Just a bunch of words going no where.

[Chris Wells]

Iain Rob Wright is likely best known for his fantastic horror stories but I suspect he’d do a first class job writing in any genre. On the evidence of Soft Target it would seem I’m right. This book is a fast paced, high action thriller that’s a great read from start to finish. It’s brilliant fun with some totally over the top action scenes that would fit perfectly in the greatest of action movies. The story itself is very well thought through with a twist on the threat of suicide bombers. What if the attackers were the last person anyone would suspect? What if they were otherwise nice regular people? This is the part of the book that really hooked me, the imaginative story, and I guess that's what I like about all of this author's books. Give it a go and see a great writer trying something new and succeeding brilliantly.

[Joe Vitucci]

A former captain with a disfigured face is having a hard time, when she is looked up by a special group in the UK to help understand a recent terrotist attack. The same thing happens three more times in one day. The odd thing is, the terrorists are regular citizens. This special group has been defunded, and now they have to figure things out quickly with their limited manpower.
I enjoyed the story, but some of the antics could have been written by Marvel comics. A little farfetched in my opinion. However, it still is an interestint story.
I forgot one thing.
SEQUEL ALERT. For those that love sequels, this is good news. I prefer the story ends on the last page. Oh well........

[Cidney]

There's this young ex-army woman with half a face running round shooting people, headbutting them, getting shot at and knifed several times all in a matter of a few days, finding herself working in an underground bunker for some security service department or other, losing copious amounts of blood, and is still standing?? I half expected to see her running around dressed as superwoman.

The story itself was sound, well apart from the towns being in the wrong counties, and I could easily see this being made into a film, a cross between James Bond and Superwoman. But what really did sink it for me was the ending, I just hate it when I have to buy the next book to see who kidnapped her.

[Harvey Wickens]

I thought this was a really fun read! Was like reading a Hollywood blockbuster movie! Lots of people saying the concept was unrealistic, but you’re reading a fiction book remember 😂 anything is possible in the authors head and yours if you just let it be! I enjoyed Sarah’s adventure the whole way through and am currently reading the second! The ending felt a little rushed, however the climax was great! (Also definitely had some really thought provoking moments about the world we love in today) I wouldn’t say it was a masterpiece of any sort, but it doesn’t try to be! A fun good short read! Lots of action and made me chuckle a few times too! I look forward to exploring more of Iain’s books! (I also liked it enough to purchase a physical copy)

[Matt Egan]

A truly enjoyable terrorism thriller

Soft Target is the first book in the Major Crimes Unit series by Iian Rob Wright. The book comes as somewhat of a surprise, as Wright is one of my favorite authors of horror novels. The book features Sarah, an ex-soldier, left scarred during her service in Afghanistan. The book is fast paced and every bit as flawlessly executed as one would expect from Wright. It you enjoy thrillers of any kind, you'll love Soft Target, so I can recommend it to everyone. 5/5 stars!

[Uwe]

Maybe it is the way of writing of this Author, maybe he just writes what get in his mind. I found it pretty ridicilous to call an Antiterror Unit “Major Crime” and a group of 5 poeple, not one really trained for the job, working out of an underground facility build for thousands .......
The stories about Afghanistan could be close to a kind of reality, but the behaviour of the main character is just ridicilous.
Doesn’t matter, for me a story full of violence and unorganized action ........

[Jo]

Could be happening right now. Captain Sarah Stone is a very bitter British veteran. She lost her husband, her child, and was scarred for life in the war against terrorism. She has no love for her country or for anyone at thos point in her life. She is just existing until she is approached by someone asking for her help from the Major Crimes Unit (MCU). Then the action begins. Looking forward to the next book.

[Wenzel Roessler]

A nice first book in the Major Crimes Unit series, this really lays the groundwork and then builds upon the premise in a most satisfying way. The way author shift the focus from the current day story to the backstory is well done. My only complaint is the lead character, everything she says is a sarcastic comment, it is like watching "Mom" or "Rosanne" in which every line is a funny and bitter little quip.

[Kat]

Terrifying but insightful

Terrifying not only because this can become reality but is reality and happing now. Insightful in how and what our countries are doing to combat the terrorists. This is one book that is going to stay with me for a long time! I can't wait to read the next in the series.

[Silver Surfer]

Well, this from a well known, well established horror writer and a rewrite to boot makes an all action crime thriller all the more incredible. But is it good? My god it’s better than good to me anyway, cos right up my street. With a feisty female lead and god is she feisty. This is a very good thriller action all the way. You just can’t put it down. Highly recommended.

[Orkney Dean]

What a ride!

Iain Rob Wright is a talent beyond compare. A fantastic range of characters in this thriller so brilliantly written in a story that just won't stop. Enough praise from me, I'm starting the sequel right away.

[Donna]

Thriller

Kind of a political thriller and more. A well written story about a girl, actually a woman, who has lost everything in her past and gets the rare opportunity to fight back. Great characters with real world horrors.

[Tina]

😊

I am used to Iain Rob Wright books of horror, terror and unimaginable disturbing scenes. This being a book on crime I expected something really different but all named beforehand still applies when it comes to war and terrorism. Brilliant book 🙌.

[MimiAmi]

This is an exciting adventure filled with danger and tense action. I’m looking forward to reading book 2 in this series. I highly recommend Soft Target, as well as, all of Iain Rob Wright’s greatly entertaining works.

[Petrina Binney]

Fifteen eye-rolls and a fair few misplaced apostrophes, but a solid story with memorable characters, and an interesting genre-switch from the author. I know I started out with nitpicking there, but I did enjoy the story.

[Shelly Trolian]

Great book!

I am a big fan of Iain Rob Wright, and this book does not disappoint! I can't wait to read the next one!

[Mrs L T Carver]

Book was a very good read,

[fred jones]

A good story with an excellent sarcastic damaged and scarred lead character. Good premise, some of the dialogue seemed a little stilted but a good read

[Marmalade]

Not the normal horror fest I've come to know and love from this author but a great thriller book, Captain Sarah Stone is not a woman to be messed with!

[Debby]

Good start to the series

This was my first book by this author & I liked it. Not my normal genre but it was nice change & I enjoyed it.

[Monroe Bryant]

Not bad, a little far fetched with the helicopter scenes but ok. Also a cliffhanger, which I don’t really like but I have all four books to read.

[AJRXII]

Sarah is a bit of a shithouse in all honesty for an elite soldier. 🤣

[Sean Harding]

Ridiculous book which has some entertainment value but is too absurd to ever think about again.

[Starfly]

It was good to start reading the Major Crime Unit books. This provided the background story on Sarah Stone who is a lead character in this series.

[Toni]

Took a chance on this as had read the author's boxsets.
Good book. Bit unknown to me. Usually a horror or historical book reader.
Read it, enjoyed it and went on to read other 3