‘The natural successor to Frederick Forsyth’ - Sunday TelegraphThe threat of war hangs over the post-Cold War world.Death was agonising, yet mercifully quick, for a collector of dog corpses.The Russian barely had time to react as the poison invaded his body and he became the first victim of a terrifying biological weapon known as RD-74…A politically divided Russia is dominated by the ruthless Mafia barons who deal in drugs, weapons and protection, backed by a sophisticated new technology that threatens to make their power limitless.Now they have control of a new breed of genetically engineered plague weapons, more effective and infinitely cheaper to make than a nuclear bomb — and they are open to the highest bidder.As events begin to escalate out of control only one man can stop them…David Nash of MI6 knows his way around the secretive intelligence worlds of Russia, America and Britain.Steeled by past tragedy, Nash hardwires his human survival instincts to an electronic armory as the chilling endgame unfolds…Hard Target is a gripping espionage novel that keeps you hooked until the very last page.‘A frenetic, continent-hopping thriller in the classic vein’ - The TimesJames Adams is acknowledged as one of the world’s leading experts on intelligence, covert warfare and terrorism and has written 15 bestselling books around those subjects. He was born in Newcastle upon Tyne, England and now lives in Ashland, Oregon. He worked at The London Sunday Times as both the Defense Correspondent and Managing Editor. He then became CEO of United Press International, founded a cyber intelligence company and a virtual intelligence agency. He was on the Board of the National Security Agency where he was responsible for creating a new strategic plan for Signals Intelligence and he was also Chairman of the Technology Advisory Panel to oversee NSA’s multi-billion dollar investment in new technology.
I didn't like anything about this book. The two dimensional characters, the failure of the story to flow and the annoying changes of scene on the same page. The typographical errors were also intrusive. The problem however is that I suspect a lot of it is based on real espionage in the real World - which is a terrifying thought.
I do love espionage! Not quite as insightful as Tom Clancy, perhaps, but a well thought out, action-packed plot and an ending that makes you want to read the next book in the series. Thoroughly enjoyed it.