Description: New York Times bestselling author Joel C. Rosenberg returns with a high-stakes political thriller set in Russia.
Everything he learned to protect the president, he must use to take out theirs.
With an American president distracted by growing tensions in North Korea and Iran, an ominous new threat is emerging in Moscow. A czar is rising in the Kremlin, a Russian president feverishly consolidating power, silencing his opposition, and plotting a brazen and lightning-fast military strike that could rupture the NATO alliance and bring Washington and Moscow to the brink of nuclear war. But in his blind spot is the former U.S. Secret Service agent, Marcus Ryker, trained to protect but ready to kill to save his country.
My Thoughts: Political thrillers are not my typical read, though I do like to pick them up from time to time for a change of pace. And usually, Rosenberg's novels are a good fit. I had read and really enjoyed The First Hostage, fully engaged with the action and suspense that was unfolding. The down side of that novel for me had been the main character, who was not as engaging as the rest of the story. And my critique this novel is much the same.
Both Marcus Ryker and Oleg Kraskin play leading roles in the book, taking most of the page space. They are nearly identical men, around the same age with similar families and life choices, which even the book points out. As with the character from The First Hostage, I did not feel any real connection with either character, particularly Marcus who is consistently emotionally detached from every action he makes other than the marriage to his wife. And, as with the other novel I mentioned above, this would have been a small issue if not for the fact that the story is largely structured around tracking these men from the catalyst of their careers onward.
The novel takes a long time to get into the actual thriller part of the story. The initial chapters are interesting, with the presumed terrorist attacks in Russia, but then quickly lose traction with years of the two main characters' family lives and Russia's summarized political negotiations. There were moments that were interesting, normally involving explosions, but over all I felt like I was waiting for the story to start. Still, the story does pick up with Oleg finally stepping into the Russian president's full confidence and both main characters eventually meeting each other. It just took so long to get there.
I have provided an honest review after having received a copy of the book from the publisher.
No comments:
Post a Comment