Black Widow

Room 59 #6

by Cliff Ryder

Espionage takes to the twenty-first-century playing fields, where rules are broken--and remade--outside the reach of governments and the law. Agents recruited for the clandestine organization known as Room 59 play hard, play for keeps...or die trying. But now new Room 59 agent Ajza Manaev, a top MI-6 operative, discovers just how high the stakes really are when she goes undercover inside Chechnya's terrorist training camps, where bitter young widows harness their hate as suicide bombers. Ajza doesn't know she's being manipulated by many sides of a deadly game. Her mysterious Room 59 handler has his own agenda, while the secret, silent mastermind behind a global destabilization plot hopes to push Ajza's loyalties to the breaking point. And in a game where the ground is always shifting, Ajza is inducted by hellfire into Room 59's harsh reality: she's on her own.

320 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 2009

About the author

Psuedonym for Russell Davis

Reviews

[Joe Robles · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is one of those adventure series that I consider my "guilty pleasure" reading. It's published by Gold Eagle, best known for Mack Bolan, Rouge Angel, and Deathlands. I'm guessing this series didn't do as well (I don't think they've written any others) and part of that reason may have been the anthology-type format. Each book in the series dealt with different heroes fighting terrorists around the world. It was almost as if you watched Mission:Impossible and every movie dealt with a different IMF team (which it kind of did, but minus the recurring Tom Cruise character).

This book was unique in the series in that it was a predominantly female cast, with a female lead. That was refreshing. The Black Widow referenced in the title refers to Chechen suicide bombers who, having lost their husbands fighting the Russians, seek to redeem their lives by taking out as many Russians as they can. Of course, these women don't entirely choose this life and we're shown that background as Ajza, our hero, eventually infiltrates the camp.

As guilty pleasure reading goes, it was a fun read. I think of it as a fun action movie that went direct-to-video. It's a quick read and the action and espionage hit the spot.

[Chris Pinkerton · Rating 3 out of 5]

not the best room 59 book but an ok read.