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Nick Stone #20
Down to the Wire
The explosive new thriller featuring Nick Stone.
A sinister cult
Tasked with rescuing the daughter of one of America's richest families from the grips of a sinister cult, Nick Stone expects his latest mission to be quick and straightforward.
A kidnapped woman
Travelling to the frozen depths of the Norway/Russia border, the dividing line between NATO and the Kremlin's armed forces, it seems all he and his team need do is abduct the woman and deliver her home alive.
An agent whose time is running out
But there are deadly complications - not least that Nick soon discovers himself at the heart of a chilling cyber conspiracy that threatens war with Russia and the very existence of the Western alliance . . . and that following a shocking diagnosis his body is failing him fast, and any day now he will have to ask himself the ultimate question . . .
From the bestselling author of Bravo Two Zero.
A sinister cult
Tasked with rescuing the daughter of one of America's richest families from the grips of a sinister cult, Nick Stone expects his latest mission to be quick and straightforward.
A kidnapped woman
Travelling to the frozen depths of the Norway/Russia border, the dividing line between NATO and the Kremlin's armed forces, it seems all he and his team need do is abduct the woman and deliver her home alive.
An agent whose time is running out
But there are deadly complications - not least that Nick soon discovers himself at the heart of a chilling cyber conspiracy that threatens war with Russia and the very existence of the Western alliance . . . and that following a shocking diagnosis his body is failing him fast, and any day now he will have to ask himself the ultimate question . . .
From the bestselling author of Bravo Two Zero.
- GenresFiction
363 pages, Kindle Edition
Published November 10, 2022
134 people are currently reading
215 people want to read
About the author
Andy McNab
205 books1,161 followersAndy McNab joined the infantry in 1976 as a boy soldier. In 1984 he was badged as a member of 22 SAS Regiment. He served in B Squadron 22 SAS for ten years and worked on both covert and overt special operations worldwide, including anti-terrorist and anti-drug operations in the Middle and Far East, South and Central America and Northern Ireland.
Trained as a specialist in counter terrorism, prime target elimination, demolitions, weapons and tactics, covert surveillance and information gathering in hostile environments, and VIP protection, McNab worked on cooperative operations with police forces, prison services, anti-drug forces and western backed guerrilla movements as well as on conventional special operations. In Northern Ireland he spent two years working as an undercover operator with 14th Intelligence Group, going on to become an instructor.
McNab also worked as an instructor on the SAS selection and training team and instructed foreign special forces in counter terrorism, hostage rescue and survival training.
Andy McNab has written about his experiences in the SAS in two bestselling books, Bravo Two Zero (1993) and Immediate Action (1995). Bravo Two Zero is the highest selling war book of all time and has sold over 1.7 million copies in the UK. To date it has been published in 17 countries and translated into 16 languages. The CD spoken word version of Bravo Two Zero, narrated by McNab, sold over 60,000 copies and earned a silver disc. The BBC's film of Bravo Two Zero, starring Sean Bean, was shown on primetime BBC 1 television in 1999 and released on DVD in 2000.
Immediate Action, McNab's autobiography, spent 18 weeks at the top of the bestseller lists following the lifting on an ex-parte injunction granted to the Ministry of Defence in September 1995. To date, Immediate Action has now sold over 1.4 million copies in the UK.
McNab is the author of seven fast action thrillers, highly acclaimed for their authenticity and all Sunday Times bestsellers. Published in 1997, Remote Control was hailed as the most authentic thriller ever written and has sold over half a million copies in the UK. McNab's subsequent thrillers, Crisis Four, Firewall, Last Light , Liberation Day , Dark Winter , Deep Black and Aggressor have all gone on to sell equally well. The central character in all the books is Nick Stone, a tough ex-SAS operative working as a 'K' on deniable operations for British Intelligence.
McNab's fiction draws extensively on his experiences and knowledge of Special Forces soldiering. He has been officially registered by Neilsen Bookscan as the bestselling British thriller writer of the last year.
Trained as a specialist in counter terrorism, prime target elimination, demolitions, weapons and tactics, covert surveillance and information gathering in hostile environments, and VIP protection, McNab worked on cooperative operations with police forces, prison services, anti-drug forces and western backed guerrilla movements as well as on conventional special operations. In Northern Ireland he spent two years working as an undercover operator with 14th Intelligence Group, going on to become an instructor.
McNab also worked as an instructor on the SAS selection and training team and instructed foreign special forces in counter terrorism, hostage rescue and survival training.
Andy McNab has written about his experiences in the SAS in two bestselling books, Bravo Two Zero (1993) and Immediate Action (1995). Bravo Two Zero is the highest selling war book of all time and has sold over 1.7 million copies in the UK. To date it has been published in 17 countries and translated into 16 languages. The CD spoken word version of Bravo Two Zero, narrated by McNab, sold over 60,000 copies and earned a silver disc. The BBC's film of Bravo Two Zero, starring Sean Bean, was shown on primetime BBC 1 television in 1999 and released on DVD in 2000.
Immediate Action, McNab's autobiography, spent 18 weeks at the top of the bestseller lists following the lifting on an ex-parte injunction granted to the Ministry of Defence in September 1995. To date, Immediate Action has now sold over 1.4 million copies in the UK.
McNab is the author of seven fast action thrillers, highly acclaimed for their authenticity and all Sunday Times bestsellers. Published in 1997, Remote Control was hailed as the most authentic thriller ever written and has sold over half a million copies in the UK. McNab's subsequent thrillers, Crisis Four, Firewall, Last Light , Liberation Day , Dark Winter , Deep Black and Aggressor have all gone on to sell equally well. The central character in all the books is Nick Stone, a tough ex-SAS operative working as a 'K' on deniable operations for British Intelligence.
McNab's fiction draws extensively on his experiences and knowledge of Special Forces soldiering. He has been officially registered by Neilsen Bookscan as the bestselling British thriller writer of the last year.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 44 reviews
May 10, 2024
This was my 5th in the Nick Stone series. Picked up on last day of Madeira holiday. Would you believe it - announced as Nick Stone’s final mission. I am sure the right thing to do would have been to put it back and choose another book. Well would you read the last book in say The Lord of the Rings trilogy first? Of course not. But not being rational I read this story.
Not the best of the series in my opinion. Certainly less visceral violence than usual. But the same cheeky banter and humour. Here Nick and his 2 mates are hired to rescue an American girl from a Cult compound in Norway. But this is not the whole story. Nick was developing Parkinson’s in the last book I read and this disease seems to be getting worse.
The good news is that I have another 14 books in the series to read. And even better news - the latest John Connolly book has arrived😉
Not the best of the series in my opinion. Certainly less visceral violence than usual. But the same cheeky banter and humour. Here Nick and his 2 mates are hired to rescue an American girl from a Cult compound in Norway. But this is not the whole story. Nick was developing Parkinson’s in the last book I read and this disease seems to be getting worse.
The good news is that I have another 14 books in the series to read. And even better news - the latest John Connolly book has arrived😉
February 24, 2023
had hoped for more !
I’ve always loved Andy McNab and especially Nick Stone, but this one left me a little underwhelmed. Maybe just me…..
I’ve always loved Andy McNab and especially Nick Stone, but this one left me a little underwhelmed. Maybe just me…..
August 18, 2023
Nick is having a problem with his hand. His aim was no good and he might have some neurological illness.
Nick needs money and he got a job with the Owl. Another ruthless agent.
Jack and Rio are the two friends that he has, and the only two persons he really cares about.
The job is to kidnap a woman who had joined a cult.
Nick is to join the cult and met up with this woman Mary, get her out, and returned her to her indifferent rich parents.
What he didn’t expect is to have a journey, an internal one, when he has the environment to think through his life and what he really cares about in life.
Mary is in a cult. But this cult really has something that is good for the people who are there.
The action part is not the usual Nick Stone story. The reflection is spot on.
I really like this one eventually though it is not what I expected to be from this writer.
4 stars read.
Nick needs money and he got a job with the Owl. Another ruthless agent.
Jack and Rio are the two friends that he has, and the only two persons he really cares about.
The job is to kidnap a woman who had joined a cult.
Nick is to join the cult and met up with this woman Mary, get her out, and returned her to her indifferent rich parents.
What he didn’t expect is to have a journey, an internal one, when he has the environment to think through his life and what he really cares about in life.
Mary is in a cult. But this cult really has something that is good for the people who are there.
The action part is not the usual Nick Stone story. The reflection is spot on.
I really like this one eventually though it is not what I expected to be from this writer.
4 stars read.
February 26, 2023
come.
What a dreadful end to the Nick Stone series. The author delivers something with little pace or tension and a fairly clumsy plot.
Stone and his disabled Vet friends are given a job to rescue a woman in a cult village right on the border of Norway and Russia. Part of the problem is that she may not want to be rescued and the group do not seem cult like at all. It makes Stone question himself and his own life, but he still has a job to do.
Andy McNab clearly wants to move on from Stone and focus on his new Shadow State series (I’ve read the first one, it’s not great) and his interest in the cyber world. But this comes over as a mess, when Stone thinks about himself, there is no mention of the family and money we have seen in the previous books. It’s almost like he’s had a reset over the last two or three books and events from before that are irrelevant. And this is quite a slow and dull book too making it an effort to turn the pages and, even worse, care about the main character.
If this is, indeed, the last Nick Stone book, the author has rewarded his readers with a very tepid end.
What a dreadful end to the Nick Stone series. The author delivers something with little pace or tension and a fairly clumsy plot.
Stone and his disabled Vet friends are given a job to rescue a woman in a cult village right on the border of Norway and Russia. Part of the problem is that she may not want to be rescued and the group do not seem cult like at all. It makes Stone question himself and his own life, but he still has a job to do.
Andy McNab clearly wants to move on from Stone and focus on his new Shadow State series (I’ve read the first one, it’s not great) and his interest in the cyber world. But this comes over as a mess, when Stone thinks about himself, there is no mention of the family and money we have seen in the previous books. It’s almost like he’s had a reset over the last two or three books and events from before that are irrelevant. And this is quite a slow and dull book too making it an effort to turn the pages and, even worse, care about the main character.
If this is, indeed, the last Nick Stone book, the author has rewarded his readers with a very tepid end.
January 2, 2023
I have read and enjoyed many books by Andy Mcnab
This book was the first one I started skimming past the incredibly boring sections about who's turn I was to make a drink or buy groceries.
It's the worst book by Andy Mcnab ever.
The premise of the story could have been developed into an exciting yarn.
It didn't and it wasn't.
It just failed on a lot of areas.
Very disappointed.
This book was the first one I started skimming past the incredibly boring sections about who's turn I was to make a drink or buy groceries.
It's the worst book by Andy Mcnab ever.
The premise of the story could have been developed into an exciting yarn.
It didn't and it wasn't.
It just failed on a lot of areas.
Very disappointed.
December 31, 2024
Outstanding. Different to the others!
October 22, 2025
excellent read and good story lines 👍
May 3, 2023
When I first started reading the Andy McNab books, I found them quite hard, I'm not sure why, but they didn't flow that well. After a while, they either improved or I got used to the style and I've always quite enjoyed them. This, the apparent last one, one wasn't awful, but it wasn't great.
December 12, 2022
Nick Stone is a classic hero. Undertaking a rescue mission will require all his know how from his special forces days. It just felt a bit plodding to me, the action sequences weren’t as gripping as normally and it just felt a bit predictable.
This is still an enjoyable series and there have been lots of highlight, this book touches on a few mainly the characters, it just wasn’t one of the better ones for me.
This is still an enjoyable series and there have been lots of highlight, this book touches on a few mainly the characters, it just wasn’t one of the better ones for me.
January 6, 2023
Wow a big fan of Andy's work, but this is shit...... .
A BIG FAN OF ANDYS WORK, BUT THIS IS SHIT.......the book just dose not get going . What sort of ending is it. Sorry Andy but shot this is bad.
A BIG FAN OF ANDYS WORK, BUT THIS IS SHIT.......the book just dose not get going . What sort of ending is it. Sorry Andy but shot this is bad.
January 7, 2023
It’s easy to see why this is the last book in this series. Pretty boring all the way through wit the typical river crossing and fight towards the end. I’m going back to reading books by Stephen Leather - they are loads better
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 10, 2023
This was amassive disappointment. Its the last in the Nick Stone series and AM has written it like that too, almost as if he couldnt be bothered to think up a decent enough plot line to pension Nick off. Its slow, painfully slow and filled out with Nicks musings. SO glad I got it from the library and didnt pay for my own copy.
I am a fast reader and the fact that (I think) this is my first ever 1 star review reflects how I feel I wasted 5 days struggling through this (its NO page turner...) hoping it would get better and the point of the whole sorry tale would eventually appear. It does, but ....
I'm left wondering if AM had a book contract to fulfil as its the last in the series and this was him getting back at the publishers. Who knows but....
Dont bother!!
I am a fast reader and the fact that (I think) this is my first ever 1 star review reflects how I feel I wasted 5 days struggling through this (its NO page turner...) hoping it would get better and the point of the whole sorry tale would eventually appear. It does, but ....
I'm left wondering if AM had a book contract to fulfil as its the last in the series and this was him getting back at the publishers. Who knows but....
Dont bother!!
December 20, 2023
The final Nick Stone adventure is more of the same, which I've always enjoyed, but here it feels oddly tepid.
We do get more a peek into his thought processes, and a decent fistful of the major mistakes, brutal action, and excessive personal damage that are the namesake protagonist's trademark. But there's not much "here". It's light on tradecraft and downright quiet for large chunks of the plot.
I guess author McNab has done just about everything he can with this character in a series starting back in 1998. With both author and hero getting on in the years, it's time to bow out, and that's just what they do.
We do get more a peek into his thought processes, and a decent fistful of the major mistakes, brutal action, and excessive personal damage that are the namesake protagonist's trademark. But there's not much "here". It's light on tradecraft and downright quiet for large chunks of the plot.
I guess author McNab has done just about everything he can with this character in a series starting back in 1998. With both author and hero getting on in the years, it's time to bow out, and that's just what they do.
July 13, 2023
I always find Andy McNab [Nick Stone] great escapism, and this one was better than many because he was not geting bossed around by women or hooked into a relationship, which often brings the plot down to the mundane.
Some good action and supense, and narrator Paul Thornley is always so convincing as the voice of Nick Stone, in fact Mr McNab should also sound like Mr Thornley!!
Great stuff.
Some good action and supense, and narrator Paul Thornley is always so convincing as the voice of Nick Stone, in fact Mr McNab should also sound like Mr Thornley!!
Great stuff.
August 22, 2023
Got to admit I was really looking forward to this book
Got it, hardbook as well (£20 book price) off charity desk in Tesco’s Aachen Way Halifax.
Started off as a good read but fell off in my eyes when he reached the settlement where Mary ‘was being held’.
I’ll start chance another book by Andy McNabb but unfortunately this wasn’t a good one.
Got it, hardbook as well (£20 book price) off charity desk in Tesco’s Aachen Way Halifax.
Started off as a good read but fell off in my eyes when he reached the settlement where Mary ‘was being held’.
I’ll start chance another book by Andy McNabb but unfortunately this wasn’t a good one.
April 3, 2024
I doubt it’s the end of the story.
I think I’ve read just about every Nick Stone book and it’s the little things that get me. Like Choggy shop and other things that only someone who has been in the Army would recognise. I’m sure there’s another series of books with a new Nick Stone.
I think I’ve read just about every Nick Stone book and it’s the little things that get me. Like Choggy shop and other things that only someone who has been in the Army would recognise. I’m sure there’s another series of books with a new Nick Stone.
December 1, 2022
It's about time McNab started to write good books again with Nick Stone as the main character. Although his back up characters, whilst excellent, in the book may not be much help when physical help is needed. Other areas yes.
April 2, 2023
This book grabbed my attention right from the start and it’s piqued my interest for reading again. Is it the last Nick Stone novel????? Great series great writer very scary that this is the world we live in whether we like it or not!!!
May 15, 2023
Nick Stone, but not as you’ve ever known him.
Nick is as down to earth and resourceful as ever, but with a serious moral conscience that he’s never shown before. Skilfully told, thoroughly believable drama.
Nick is as down to earth and resourceful as ever, but with a serious moral conscience that he’s never shown before. Skilfully told, thoroughly believable drama.
January 2, 2023
Found it flat all the way through.
January 22, 2023
I am a fan of both Andy McNab books and Nick Stone as a character. But this last work doesn't seem to meet the standard they both created and maintained through the years.
June 10, 2023
An enjoyable read. Perhaps not Nick Stone's most gripping encounter; but they can't all be the best. If you're a fan of the series, it is definitely worth reading.
June 30, 2023
Nowhere up to the standard of his earlier Stone's. Disappointing and couldn't wait for it to be over
July 19, 2023
Good plot and a welcome return to some great characters. Can’t wait for the next volume, Nick Stone has helped me through a very difficult time in my life.
August 29, 2023
If you're and Andy McNab fan don't insult your intelligence by reading this book. It's the worst story McNab's produced and was hard work to finish reading.
August 30, 2023
First McNab book I've read since Bravo Two Zero. A good read, story moves along nicely and plot is reasonably well done.
December 21, 2023
Another great one from the nick stone series, shame it was the last
January 13, 2024
Such a brilliant end to a series that also leaves things open to a possible one off addition I’ve loved the nickstone books from being a kid and listening to the Paul thirdly tapes
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 13, 2024
I’ve loved all of the Nick Sone books except this one. Such a week ending to a great career.
February 17, 2024
A good read.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 44 reviews