I was really looking forward to reading this one, I have seen many of the television shows made from Chris Ryan’s books so thought it would be good to read for a change. My only problem is it took so long for me to actually really get into the story. As there is obviously a lot building up to the missions etc. So none of the real action started until after 100 pages in, but once it did the story began to fly quicker.
The story is pretty up to date especially with Putin in Russia. As the story begins Sergeant Major Luke Carter finds himself having to go to Perth, he has been asked to recruit a couple of guys, he has no idea what the mission is but has to try and sell it to the Australians all he knows is it is highly sensitive and on foreign soil.
When back at base the team of four are initially told they are going to Ukraine to train others, but this mission soon changes to them going to Minsk the job is to assassinate a man who is very close to Putin. Was the initial job real? As things look a little too put together to have suddenly change. But as the action starts will things go exactly as planned. Just as they finish, and think they are done they are thrown straight into another job, where some things may not go quite as planned. The team have no idea who they can trust even more so after mission two when they are sent on a third mission. Can they trust the guys in charge? Or is there someone closer that is selling them out. Towards the end the stakes become higher and the team seem compromised, can they make it out? Was the job set to fail from the start? Who could be the traitor? You will find yourself travelling from the UK to Perth, on to Belarus, Switzerland, Russia, stopping at Germany France and Turkey. So quite a few places.
Once I got into the story the pace picked up, I whizzed through the second half of the book. At times holding my breath wondering if Carter, Beach, Lazarides, and Dempsey with the aid of Volkorova would escape from each mission, the one in Minsk was all going to plan until it wasn’t due to one small thing. Overall if you like a good action read, with a mixture of lies and subterfuge, then this will appeal to you. After all it is written by a man who has seen these types of situations so knows what he is talking about.
This is well plotted, with a good mixture of characters both good and bad. There are times you will find yourself gripped as the action plays out, wondering if things would go as planned, then the pace would slow a little, build up again until the final scenes which will have you gripped. A ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💥💥💥💥💥 read.