Terminal Pulse: A Codi Sanders Thriller

by Brent Ladd

A long forgotten cold case suddenly heats up when a related new technology is stolen by a subversive group. Collette "Codi" Sanders just started her "dream" job. A job she never dreamt of doing. After failing BUDs training, with a little help from the “guys,” Codi left the military entering a downward spiral of civilian life. Out of the ashes she managed to land a job working for the GSA (General Services Administration) ; as a paper pushing Federal Agent. But when a seemingly dead-end tax case blows up, Codi finds herself kidnapped and fighting for her life. With the clock ticking down, she and her team have to free themselves from certain death, solve a case no one knows exists and navigate major international implications to stop a madman from unleashing an international disaster. Sheer will and pure stubbornness combine for Codi, thrusting her through the impossible to a final clash where there is no prize for 2nd place - Only death.

Kindle Edition

Published October 25, 2022

Reviews

[Bonnye Reed · Rating 4 out of 5]

GNAB Terminal Pulse is a tense, fast read with interesting protagonists and a complex storyline that keeps you wondering. I am hoping Codi Sanders is a recurring character. I would enjoy more of her.

This tale covers a lot of ground - Arizona, Washington DC, France, Italy, England. I loved the way the little 8 x 40 foot houseboats that we see often slowly traveling the canals on British police procedurals on Prime and Netflix wind up playing a major role in this adventure. Brent Ladd is an author I will watch for.

I received a free electronic copy of this novel on December 22, 2018 from Netgalley, Brent Ladd, and Archway Publishing in exchange for an honest review. Thank you all for sharing your hard work with me.

Netgalley
pub date July 23, 2018
rec Dec 22, 2018
Archway Publishing

[BooksCoffee · Rating 5 out of 5]

In Ladd’s outstanding A Codi Sanders Thriller Series, Special Agent Codi Sanders sets on to investigate decades-old cold cases as they escalate to international implications and global terror.

In Terminal Pulse, the first novel, working for the GSA (General Services Administration) as a paper pushing agent is not the dream job for Collette "Codi” Sanders, but when a seemingly dead-end tax case blows up, Cody and her partner, Agent Joel Strickman, a computer savvy agent, find themselves in field, fighting for their lives while trying to stop a madman from unleashing an international disaster.

In Blind Target, the second in the series, Cody and Joel get caught between two international forces and dodge bullets as they dig around to find out the truth about a long-lost secret operation conducted by Russian troops on American soil.

Ladd begins the story (in both books) with high action, immediately drawing readers into the story while keeping the tension simmering with surgical precision. Ladd's hard-boiled narration combined with crisp prose make it a high-voltage drama. While Cody and Joel both get a chance to shine as they play a dangerous game that makes them prisoners of vicious madmen, it’s the villains in each books who truly shine: the high sadism and purely maniac tendencies bring formidable persona to them, making them unforgettable (in a bad sort of way) in the reader’s mind.

High on tension and action and tight on plotting, the series would make fine action-packed films with a strong female lead.

Highly recommended to fans of action-packed thrillers!

[K.E. Woodruff · Rating 3 out of 5]

After Codi Sanders’ plans fall apart, she finds herself working for the GSA pushing papers. It seems to be a dead-end job and nothing like she dreamed of. But when an ordinary tax case becomes a deadly game of cat and mouse, Codi will have to win if she wants to survive.

What begins as a lackluster tax case in Arizona, soon takes Codi on a global adventure. From France to Italy to England, Agent Sanders and her team must stop the malicious intentions of a madman before he can infect the world with a deadly virus. The global adventure added variety to the story and the changes in environment kept the story fresh.

If you’ve read any action novels, you will probably have a good idea what to expect from Brent Ladd’s book. There is plenty of action and gun fights. Hand-to-hand combat and evil masterminds. Having read the Alex Rider series, Terminal Pulse reminded me of those books in many ways. Ladd likes to use a lot of descriptions, giving his readers extra information on weapons used or helicopters flown. At times, it could be a little too detailed, but it didn’t damage the story.

Occasionally, the pacing was a little fast and the switches in POV muddled the fight scenes. I got lost as to where I was and what was going on around me. While you do not want your big moment scenes to be sluggish, you do need them to be clear. A little tidying up of the grammar and the use of POV breaks could have easily solved these issues.

Read my full review at: https://sevendaysaweek.co/terminal-pu...

[John Purvis · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Terminal Pulse" eBook was published in 2018 and was written by Brent Ladd (https://brentladdbooks.com). This was his first novel. 

I received an ARC of this novel through https://www.netgalley.com in return for a fair and honest review. I categorize this novel as ‘R’ because it contains scenes of Violence and Mature Situations. The main character is Collette "Codi" Sanders. 

Sanders has recently come close but failed to qualify for elite military duty. Now she is out of the military and has taken a boring, paper-pushing job for the GSA (General Services Administration). 

Suddenly her administrative job has thrust her into the middle of a critical and dangerous situation. 

I found the 5.5 hours I spent reading this 274-page thriller interesting. The basic plot was not bad, but the depth of the writing and characters was lacking. The author will likely get better with future novels. I do not like the selected cover art. I give this novel a 3.8 (rounded up to a 4) out of 5.

Further book reviews I have written can be accessed at https://johnpurvis.wordpress.com/blog/. 

[Stephen McKenna · Rating 5 out of 5]

In Terminal Pulse, Brent Ladd introduces us to intriguing, determined, and often deadly agent Codi Sanders. A suspected fraud on the Government Services Agency takes Codi to Iowa, initiating a chain of events that leads her to France and beyond in pursuit of a maniac intent on settling a decades-old score. Thwarted at nearly every turn by villains and bureaucrats and against staggering odds, Codi and her team doggedly follow what little leads they have toward a climatic final confrontation.
Ladd provides a vivid, character driven thriller, full of twists and turns that will keep you up late in order to see what happens next.
Highly recommend. I have already ordered and am looking forward to reading the next installment of the thrilling Codi Sanders series.

[Julie-Anne Rebekah · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed the book, it wasn’t a hard read but it was fun, and adventurous. The careful work on making some little things in it historically correct(“ interesting facts” at the back of the book) made it cool.
Seeing as it’s a fiction, I hope you pass over it’s faults( every book has some) and just enjoy reading it for what it is. Because every book is perfect at being exactly what it is and exactly not what you thought about when you looked at its cover.

[Neil · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received a free copy via Netgalley in exchange for a honest review.
This is a light action thriller which should not be taken too seriously.
Action packed with a story line flying along at 100mph.
Ideal for a easy holiday read.

[T Olsen · Rating 2 out of 5]

It is a book and it is a story. That's the positive.
The plot is naive, the language is not very good, the story is jumping around and there are several factual errors.

[Cheryl · Rating 3 out of 5]

“Here’s to working for the government: cheap per diem, crappy rent-a-cars and bad hotels. And the pay’s not so good either.”

Codi Sanders started out as an enlisted Marine, made her way up to Lieutenant and decided to take SEALS training. After breaking her ankle during training (with a little help from one of her misogynist fellow trainees) she ends up working for the General Services Administration as a Special Agent in their enforcement division - a paper pusher with a badge.

She is teamed up with a computer specialist and they end up tracking a strange monthly payment to Arizona. And then the fireworks begin.

I enjoyed most of this story. It ends up tracking a secret weapon and bad guys all over the world. A good portion of it was implausible but it's fiction so in my mind that's allowed, although this story really pushes believability envelope.

I am reading this as an Advanced Reading Copy so as a reviewer we are supposed to overlook mistakes in the manuscript, figuring they'll be caught later. And I did not rate this book lower because of the mistakes I found. But one was so funny I had to share:

"They heard a clanking sound and ducked behind a metal structure that held a massive wench used for hauling cargo in from the dock."
Now I really hope the author meant "winch" in this instance rather than "wench" but that's the mind picture I visualise every time I think of this passage. LOL

This wasn't the greatest thriller I've read but it also wasn't the worst and it did have its bright moments.

I received this book from Your New Books through Net Galley in the hopes that I would read it and leave an unbiased review.