The Saint Of Baghdad

CJ Brink #1

by Michael Woodman

As tough as Reacher and as smart as Bourne, CJ Brink is a broken hero who comes back from the dead with one thing on his mind—retribution.

A special forces veteran turned VIP bodyguard, CJ has seen it all. But nothing could have prepared him for the ambush in Iraq that left everyone else dead and CJ in a coma.

Eight years later he resurfaces, damaged but determined, and he wants answers. Someone set them up, but who? The only person who may know is Enya, the sister of the man he was hired to protect. She’s stuck by him throughout his recovery, but like every other player in this dangerous game, she has her own agenda. And the more questions he asks, the bigger the target on his back.

One thing is clear. Someone is afraid of what he knows, and they want him dead. The answers are buried somewhere in his own hazy memory. But can he uncover them before he’s the one buried?

Genres: Thriller

318 pages, Kindle Edition

Published December 31, 2018

About the author

Michael was a thriller-writing sensation in his teens. His first book, featuring an iconic 70s anti-hero, was a spy story with cheeky footnotes, including the London street addresses of MI5 and MI6. As these were unlisted at the time, that caused quite a stir.

Those early titles ended up on bestseller shelves on both sides of the Atlantic, but their young author was oddly troubled. His hero went on dangerous missions to exotic locations, but Michael had never been anywhere or done anything. Like those secret addresses, it had all come from research or imagination, and he wanted a real life to enrich his writing like the authors who inspired him. So he quit writing imaginary adventures and took off looking for real ones. Since then, Michael has traveled in over 50 countries and had extraordinary careers and adventures on four continents.

Besides his bestselling CJ Brink crime action series, Michael writes psychological thrillers, and he publishes political satire and literary fiction under pen names. Michael lives with his wife, Elizabeth, on a white mountain by a blue sea in Spain. You can visit him at michaelwoodman.com.

Reviews

[Denise · Rating 4 out of 5]

The sole survivor of a mission in Iraq gone very badly wrong, CJ Brinks is only now, eight years later, waking from the coma that incident left him in. Trying to piece together both himself and what went wrong back then, he begins to unravel a massive cover-up that someone will go to any lengths to keep him from digging into.

An excellent, complex thriller that is impossible to put down. Definitely looking forward to the next book.

[Jay Williams · Rating 5 out of 5]

I volunteered to read the second book in this series and received this volume as a bonus. I'm glad I did because you can't really appreciate the second book in this series as a standalone. The story begins with Brink in a coma after a very traumatic experience in Baghdad where he was tortured and witnessed the death of his best friend. The friend's twin sister nurses him out of the coma and helps him as he tries to recover memories and find how he was set up. The writing is clear and easy to read. The style is very good for a thriller. It provides good mental images without getting in the way. Although the next book deeps deeper into the story, I think this is the better of the two. The action travels from England to California with suspense and danger every step of the way. It ends with a standoff at an abandoned mine in Nevada. The characters are realistic and interesting, Bone of them are what they appear to be on the surface. I recommend both of the books in this series. CJ Brink is a powerful character.

[Pegboard · Rating 5 out of 5]

As the sole survivor of his squad, CJ Brinks is still recovering eight years later from a mission gone wrong in The Saint of Baghdad by Michael Woodman. Information was leaked and someone with a lot to lose is fearful of what CJ may remember. The death of his buddy, Alex, was difficult, but his ghost desires justice and continues to aid CJ. The unseen enemy is on the move again and it puzzles him as to whom he can trust.
 
The Saint of Baghdad is intensely fascinating as CJ Brinks gains memories and mobility again. Michael Woodman’s character demands attention and draws the reader in with the need to see his mission complete. Shaking the tree only forces the pace to quicken and the plot to deepen. Each person who enters CJ’s life could be his nemesis, with multiple conspiracies at hand. My favorite individual was Enya. Definitely a must read for military suspense genre lovers.    

[Cath · Rating 4 out of 5]

The main character is called C.J. Brink and we find him in a rehab hospital, having been in a coma for quite some time. This is after he and his team were kidnapped in Iraq, after the end of the war, whilst working as private security. They were tortured and put through quite an ordeal, in which CJ’s two friends were killed and the person they were to protect was killed elsewhere. CJ was the only one to survive and due to his injuries, it hadn’t been thought he would survive, never mind awaken and not be a vegetable.

Once memories begin to return to CJ, mixed up as they may be, with the visual presence of Alex one of his dead teammates around but that only he can see and speak to, the shrink tries to work with him as he tries to get back on his feet. One persistent visitor over all the years is Enya, the sister of Alex, who wants to know what happened and why he died. There were only a couple of other visitors, seemingly official representatives. Now that he has woken up, it seems he is in demand.

CJ wants answers as to what happened. Why were his team ambushed and taken by such a large force, how did they get in place so quickly? CJ has lots of recovery still to make, especially mentally, as his ghostly companion shows. Other events in the hospital lead him to realise his life is in danger and he needs to find out the truth about his fatal mission and who was responsible for their capture. It seems there are many hands in that pot and CJ has to take his own action, aided by Enya and a journalist.

This story ramps up the action, spinning back and forth between current day and memories of his past and the events around his team’s kidnapping and torture by terrorists. The two women seem to have agendas of their own, which may be of concern. CJ has questions of those in charge of the security detail, he and his team were sent on all those years ago. Did they know the mission had been compromised? And if they did, why were his team sacrificed?

Some parts of the story are a bit confusing, possibly due to the apparent memories problems of CJ as he comes out of his coma. There is tons of action throughout the book and that kept me going. I received an ARC copy of this book from Hidden Gems and I have freely given my own opinion of the book above.

[Tony Parsons · Rating 5 out of 5]

2009, Baghdad Iraq. As Hussein Ahmed (recruiter, propagandist) uses his webcam as Jihadi Jill (British), & the jihadi’s are about to torture Alex Solo (narrator, USMC 3 Commando Brigade), Christopher “CJ” James (aka Crazy James, 3 Commando Brigade, British, Royal Marine), Declan O’Brien (twin brother, USMC 3 Commando Brigade, IT), & 2 Boers.
Surrey, London, England. Enya O’Brien (Declan’s twin sister) realized CJ (former USMC) suffered from PTSD. She had taken him under her wing.
Dr. Sam (neuroscientist), & her team would use CJ for their Project CJ neuroscience guinea pig.

1-day at the hospital someone tried to stab CJ with a syringe full of who knows what. He found Benjie (night nurse) dead in the dumpster.
Canbury Gardens Kingston Bridge (River Thames). Why did CJ go see Phillip Masterson (British, husband/father, Tratfors, ex-army officer)?
What happened when CJ went to Sami’s Gourmet Kebab House?
CJ next stop was Phillip’s daughter Ophelia Masterson 6th family birthday party.
LA, CA. Next stop for CJ Sean Kowalski (former US Army Ranger) house.
Jihadi Jill got his kicks by tying CJ’s hands behind his back & hoisting him up over an open door.
Later Leila Rose (journalist) introduced herself to TJ.

What about Rumble Bee?
What was Sean up to?

I did not receive any type of compensation for reading & reviewing this book. While I receive free books from publishers & authors, I am under no obligation to write a positive review, only an honest one. All thoughts & opinions are entirely my own.

A very awesome book cover, & great font/writing style. A very well written thriller book. It was very easy for me to read/follow from start/finish & never a dull moment. There were no grammar/typo errors, nor any repetitive or out of line sequence sentences. Lots of exciting scenarios, with several twists/turns & a great set of unique characters to keep track of. This could also make another great thriller movie, or better yet a mini TV series. There is no doubt in my mind this is a very easy rating of 5 stars.

Thank you for the free Connlaswell Publishing; HiddenGemsBooks; Author; PDF book
Tony Parsons (Washburn; MSW)

[Viga Boland · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was none too sure when I purchased this book that it would be my kind of reading, not being all that into MI6, ex-marines, CIA and all that kind of intrigue. But as I found myself as perplexed as CJ Brink was when he started to come out of a coma in a hospital as to how he ended up there and why he was struggling so hard to remember things, not to mention the lovely Enya who kept coming to visit him and seemed to know him too well, my curiosity was aroused.

From the moment Brink was out of that hospital, determined to track down down the people and events of his past, and trying to remember why he kept seeing himself running, covered in blood and holding the severed head of one of his comrades, like CJ, I wanted answers. Well talk about hooked! In only 48 hours, I had run in his bloodied footsteps, hoping he wouldn't land back in hospital or worse yet, buried inside an abandoned mine with Enya by his side.

The Saint of Baghdad is complicated, but riveting and gripping. The tension mounts all the way to the finish and like the protagonist, I felt exhausted at the end. But I also felt thoroughly satisfied with how cleverly the author plotted the novel and brought it all to a logical close. Strong characterization and plenty of dialogue add to the excellence of the writing and best of all, few past-times satisfy more than a book you just can't put down! Well done.

[Mike Parsons · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Saint of Baghdad by Michael Woodman is a genuinely exciting and intriguing story by an expert story-teller. The writing is mature, the characters complex and believable, the final showdown a treat of twists and surprises. The main character, CJ, is an ex-marine, who has seen far more than his share of combat and terror in Iraq. Having been double-crossed in Iraq, losing his best friend in awful circumstances, being held by terrorists, CJ wants answers: who betrayed the unit, who was responsible for so many gruesome deaths, who is now accountable for the mess of his war-torn life? Other people in the novel bring absorbing perspectives to the narrative: Enya, the sister of one dead soldier – ambiguous and encouraging in equal measure; Leila, a journalist who appears too capable by half; Kowalski, the cruel and devious enemy; and others from CIA to MI6.

It’s a great story, full of interest, full too of surprises and twists to the very end. The final show-down is exceptional. With the Iraq War as background and returning point, revenge and justice on the table, hallucinations and strong dialogue, the novel is much bigger than you think! Well worth the read, it had me gripped from beginning to end. Highly recommended!

[Grady · Rating 5 out of 5]

‘When my brain healed, what went wrong?’

A fascinating bit of info on author Michael Woodman explains why he writes so well in what appears to be his first noel. Secret? He has been writing since high school but altered his career to explore the various exotic spaces into which he places his characters. Now, after extensive travel, he writes from Spain – and judging from this initial new novel, he is a polished professional.

And so we meet CJ Brink in Iraq in 2009, a British soldier taken hostage with his fellow soldiers by terrorists, sustaining physical as well as mental wounds in a terrifying sequence of events. Jump to 2017 and CJ is in London and CJ continues to recover, baffled by the events of the past and their meaning. His compulsion to uncover the apparent conspiracy that befell his fellow soldiers drives him to explore politicians, spies, the dark colleagues with whom he worked as a hit man, and the head spinning details of that venture fill the pages with one of the most involving thriller/suspense novel to surface in the recent past. The characters are visibly realistic and the action is described with immense skill.

CJ Brink is bound to continue and become the new action hero of a promised and welcome series. Recommended.

[Sanjin · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the first book of the series and I can say that it holds a lot of promise. It sets up our main hero, C.J., war veteran who is the only survivor of his squad and has some real physical, emotional and mental scars from the time in battle. The author took his time in developing all of that and I am really glad, book like this needs a strong protagonist or else the series can quickly fall to pieces. The plot is somewhat standard military thriller suspense stuff, with something from the past suddenly popping up and giving our hero a hard time, not to spoil too much. The pacing is sometimes a little off, with some really fast and exciting parts and some really long and slow. Maybe the author tried to create a welcome balance that is often severely lacking in thrillers, but it doesn't quite flow like it should. But that is a minor thing that someone maybe won't even notice. For the first book of the series, it hits most of the right marks and sets us up for more. Looking forward to it.

[Linda Reads · Rating 3 out of 5]

Compelling, thrilling, surprising story of honor, courage and deviousness with caution…
Intriguing story which starts with an ominous beginning and ends pretty much the same. CJ is coming out of a “coma” after tragic events in Baghdad. He’s helped along the way by Enya, the sister of his protectee on his last mission. What transpires is one edge-of-your-seat scene to the next interspersed with some unneeded longer narratives.
Some parts of this story I loved and others I snoozed through. Why do we need to know step-by-step of some computer operation they’re devising? Or, the same for cracking the password? Another problem I have is the timeline. I don’t get it. How long was he a prisoner? How long was he a patient? I just don’t see the UK medical system allowing him to languish as a vegetable for years.
The biggest bonus of this book was the beautiful and poignant prologue scene with Alex singing. Being an American patriot, it brought me to tears. I volunteered to review an ARC of this book through BookSirens and I give it 3.5 stars because the good parts were really good.

[Valery · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Saint of Baghdad (CJ Brink #1) by Michael Woodman is a fantastic start to what hopefully will be a solid series. C.J. is a wounded war hero from Britain, having endured torture and unspeakable circumstances in war. As ex-military he is struggling to recover physically, but more importantly mentally. As he recovers, he decides to investigate what exactly happened to his team of comrades. A conspiracy seems to have been in the works, and as convoluted as it seems, C.J. wants to find out the details. The writing is expansive, fully exploring C.J.'s character after everything that has happened to him. He just doesn't know what to believe. Full of suspense, intense characterization, solid dialogue and a fast pace, this tale will keep you reading well into the night. A good action novel, full of intrigue and twists and turns, you won't regret picking up this book. Highly recommend.

[Julius Blitzy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I learned about this book from my friend. He was delighted with the reading, and I decided to
check out what impressed him so much. I decided to start by reading the summary and reviews. I
was really interested in this story after!
I recently finished reading and I can say that this is a very strong story, with the main character,
who overcame a lot of difficulties in 2009 year, which helped him to make his character hardy
and penetrative. Even after such a long time it is difficult to recover, because of such a life
experience that CJ has gained. This experience after helped him in 2017, when he wanted to
restore the whole truth of what happened. But it could intervene someone. It was very interesting
to watch the life of CJ, I empathized him and wanted him to be the winner at the end. I really
liked it! I advise everyone to read to understand my delight.

[Mar · Rating 5 out of 5]

Intense thriller does not even begin to describe this book. The Saint of Baghdad (CJ Brink book 1) is the first in the series and, oh boy!, does it deliver! I’m already scrolling to look for the other books of Michael Woodman. I was completely blown away by the quality of the writing delivered here. Fast paced but with an attention to detail and to perfectly time every turn and twist that is not common at all in this digital era. You can tell there was a lot of work invested in this book and it really pays off. You can feel the tension, the pain, the doubts, the arch of the characters and how their choices impacted their life now. Incredibly well-written, this is a book that gives us the readers great moments and a feeling of loneliness when it ends.

[Ravin Maurice · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. Michael Woodman has crafted a fast paced, tense, gripping story of espionage that will keep you well up past your bedtime.
CJ Brink is an interesting character, a man who is the only survivor of a crazy incident in Baghdad. He spends years in a hospital trying to piece himself back together, but still wanting answers. But he is a former military contractor, and other people want answers too and they will stop at nothing to get them.
Readers who like espionage books and something not as swauve as James Bond but just as cool will surely like this novel. I can't wait to see what happens next.

[John · Rating 4 out of 5]

This first book in the C J Brink Series by Michael Woodman was a thrilling action story combined with an emotional roller coaster ride of highs and lows for both the character and the reader. It is also a story of how far someone will go to seek revenge for the betrayal of them, as well as how far those people will go to cover up what actually happened. It is a fun hide-and-seek type of game CJ plays with his adversaries. It is also a story about the recovery and redevelopment of an individual physically, emotionally, and mentally. I am looking forward to reading book 2. This is a voluntary review of this book which was included in an ARC from HIdden Gems Books.

[Caitlynn Akin · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Saint of Baghdad, follows CJ Brink, the lone survivor after a battle with the terrorists that had taken him. After years of struggling with recovery, CJ gets back on his feet and quickly down to business, working to uncover the conspiracy behind his team’s kidnapping. Full of action and suspense, this novel takes you down many twists and turns and leaves you wondering who to trust. The author did an excellent job of conveying CJ, an ex-military man from Britain that is still mentally troubled by his experiences.

[T. Vand · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Saint of Baghdad follows the main character CJ Brink. CJ is ex-military and suffered emotionally from some of his experiences including suffering from survivor's guilt. CJ decides to investigate the conspiracy behind what happened to his team.

The story tries for a lot of action and suspense but doesn't quite hit the mark. Some of the scenes drag on with too much exposition that overpowers the suspense of the story and pulls the reader out. The plot is solid, however. This was an okay book. If it was tightened and a lot of the purple prose were removed it would be a solid story.

[Corrine Cassels · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a really entertaining, intense action novel. The hero, CJ, is quite a character and reminds me a little bit of Jason Bourne. This book is out of my normal comfort zone, but I found it thrilling. Anyone who enjoys a good action novel with a bit of intrigue, lots of violence and twists and turns would definitely enjoy this story.

[Archie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting Read!
A mystery thriller with an abundance of suspense and action exposing the corruption. The story revolves around C.J. a wounded war hero and his dangerous and adventurous journey to find the truth. The story is fast paced with detail explanations that really pulls the reader in for the ride with C.J. The plot is intense, thoughtful and gripping from start to finish.

[Caryl Miller · Rating 5 out of 5]

Gripping plot with a hero that makes you really care

This was a unique plot with a special kind of protagonist. CJ was easy to cheer for and his grief was totally believable. The author writes with intelligence and assumes the reader will keep up. Very refreshing. Can't wait to read another by Woodman.

[Alan Bartle]

I read many books of this genre and I thought it was awful, though I did continue to see what the ending was like and that was equally disappointing. The action scenes were over elaborated and I skipped most of them as I tried to hurtle to the end as painlessly as possible. I found the whole plot implausible. Sorry reading other reviews others enjoyed the book, but it just wasn't for me.

[Ev · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Saint of Baghdad

A hard story to get into, but as you get deeper into it you find more to lead to keep your interest. I would have liked to see the characters developed more in the beginning.

[Shirley Anderson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Could not stop reading until done. Wow!!

Lots of spy action. Great relationship writing. No idea on how plot line would play out. Great LA scenes as well as Nevada desert locations. Characters clearly drawn. I will find more by this author. Thanks.

[Ramona · Rating 3 out of 5]

Unsettling

I don't think I ever got the rythm of the book. I could never tell if CJ was sensing his old friend and past experience, or if it was real ( or part of his recovery therapy). Too many questions unanswered for me.

[John M. Hutchinson · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a Saint

This was a good story from beginning to the end. I almost stopped reading it halfway through but something made me keep reading it. I’m happy I did. Hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

[Jack Blaine · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this unique and imaginative story. However, the ending was abrupt and incomplete in my opinion.

[fred busch · Rating 5 out of 5]

Outstanding!!!

Loved every word. A must read. Thank you, michael. Loved all the players. Wonderful women. Devastating losses. Brilliant writing. On to book two. Freddy B

[barbara · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really good read and great story will def be reading more from this author

[Mark Perry · Rating 5 out of 5]

Well crafted

The story starts a little slowly, but builds at a good pace with enough “I didn’t see that coming” parts to be quite satisfying.

[Julie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I didn't love this book, but I didn't hate it so I might try the next one and see if I can either connect better with the characters and story, or decide once and for all it's not worth reading.