A MERCIFUL PROMISE (Mercy Kilpatrick Book #6) by Kendra Elliot is another edge-of-your-seat mystery/suspense/FBI thriller and I am sad to say the final book in the series. If you love an action-packed series with a uniquely strong female protagonist then this is the series for you.
FBI Agent Mercy Kilpatrick is asked to go undercover by the ATF when their agent becomes ill. She will be paired with another ATF agent already infiltrated into an anti-government group they believe have stolen firearms to sell for some unknown plot.
At the same time that Mercy has gone undercover, Truman is made aware of a puzzling series of murders. They are all men, shot once in the head and dumped in random locations. When the third victim turns out to be the agent Mercy was with on assignment, the ATF, FBI and Truman all come together to find Mercy and shut down the camp.
I have been putting off reading and reviewing this book because I have not wanted to leave Mercy and Truman’s world behind. Mercy has changed so much over these six books. She was so isolated starting in book one and now she has so many people she loves and that care about her. Truman is the perfect match for her. He has always understood what makes Mercy unique. All the characters, good and bad are realistic and seem as though they could walk right off the page. The plot pulls you in and the tension continues to build with unexpected twists while moving at a faster and faster pace to the ultimate climax. I was very happy when I read the last chapter that tied up Mercy and Truman’s lives together moving into the future even as I still want to visit.
I highly recommend this Mercy Kilpatrick book, the entire series and this author!
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Author Bio
Kendra Elliot has landed on the Wall Street Journal bestseller list multiple times and is the award-winning author of the Bone Secrets and Callahan & McLane series, as well as the Mercy Kilpatrick novels: A Merciful Death, A Merciful Truth, and A Merciful Secret. Kendra is a three-time winner of the Daphne du Maurier Award, an International Thriller Writers finalist, and an RT Award finalist. She has always been a voracious reader, cutting her teeth on classic female heroines such as Nancy Drew, Trixie Belden, and Laura Ingalls. She was born, raised, and still lives in the rainy Pacific Northwest with her husband and three daughters, but she looks forward to the day she can live in flip-flops. Visit her at www.kendraelliot.com.
Today is my turn on this Blackthorn Book Tour for this exceptional anthology. I am sharing my Feature Post and Book Review for NOTHING GOOD HAPPENSAFTER MIDNIGHT: A Suspense Magazine Anthology by Jeffrey Deaver et al.
Below you will find a book description, my book review, a section about Jeffrey Deaver and Suspense Magazine. This is the best anthology I have read this year. Enjoy!
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Book Description
The sun sets. The moon takes its place, illuminating the most evil corners of the planet. What twisted fear dwells in that blackness? What legends attach to those of sound mind and make them go crazy in the bright light of day? Only Suspense Magazine knows…
Teaming up with New York Times bestselling author Jeffery Deaver, Suspense Magazine offers up a nail-biting anthology titled: “Nothing Good Happens After Midnight.” This thrilling collection consists of thirteen original short stories representing the genres of suspense/thriller, mystery, sci-fi/fantasy, and more.
Readers’ favorites come together to explore the mystery of midnight. The ‘best of the best’ presenting these memorable tales, include: Joseph Badal, Linwood Barclay, Rhys Bowen, Jeffery Deaver, Heather Graham, Alan Jacobson, Paul Kemprecos, Shannon Kirk, Jon Land, John Lescroart, D. P. Lyle, Kevin O’Brien, and Hank Phillippi Ryan.
Take their hands…walk into their worlds…but be prepared to leave the light on when you’re through. After all, this incredible gathering of authors, who will delight fans of all genres, not only utilized their award-winning imaginations to answer that age-old question of why “Nothing Good Happens After Midnight”—they also made sure to pen stories that will leave you…speechless.
Nothing Good Happens After Midnight: A Suspense Magazine Anthology
Genre: Mystery, suspense, thriller, horror
Print length: 338 pages
Suitable for young adults: This is an adult collection but suitable for age 16+
Trigger warnings: No
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My Book Review
RATING: 5 out of 5 Stars
NOTHING GOOD HAPPENS AFTER MIDNIGHT: A Suspense Magazine Anthology by Jeffrey Deaver, et al. is a new suspense, thriller, mystery anthology and is my favorite anthology of this year. The thirteen short stories pull the reader in and this anthology has some of my favorite authors contributing.
The theme of these thirteen short stories is that – nothing good happens after midnight. I usually only like about a third to a half of most anthologies I read, but I enjoyed all these stories, some more than others, but all captured my attention to keep me reading and I did not skip any of them.
This is an exceptional anthology because there is something for everyone who loves short stories, loves suspense, thrillers, mysteries and a small amount of horror and wants a short read from their favorite author or are looking for a new author to follow.
I highly recommend this anthology!
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Authors in Anthology
Jeffery Deaver , Linwood Barclay , Rhys Bowen , Heather Graham , Alan Jacobson , Paul Kemprecos , Jon Land, John Lescroart , Kevin O’Brien , Hank Phillippi Ryan , D.P. Lyle, Joseph Badal, Shannon Kirk
About Jeffrey Deaver
JEFFERY DEAVER is an international number-one bestselling author. His novels have appeared on bestseller lists around the world. His books are sold in 150 countries and translated into twenty-five languages. He has served two terms as president of Mystery Writers of America. The author of forty-three novels, three collections of short stories and a nonfiction law book, and a lyricist of a country-western album, he’s received or been shortlisted for dozens of awards. His THE BODIES LEFT BEHIND was named Novel of the Year by the International Thriller Writers association, and his Lincoln Rhyme thriller THE BROKEN WINDOW and a stand-alone, EDGE, were also nominated for that prize. THE GARDEN OF BEASTS won the Steel Dagger from the Crime Writers Association in England. He’s been nominated for eight Edgar Awards. Deaver has been honored with the Lifetime Achievement Award by the Bouchercon World Mystery Convention, the Strand Magazine’s Lifetime Achievement Award and the Raymond Chandler Lifetime Achievement Award in Italy. His book A MAIDEN’S GRAVE was made into an HBO movie starring James Garner and Marlee Matlin, and his novel THE BONE COLLECTOR was a feature release from Universal Pictures, starring Denzel Washington and Angelina Jolie. Lifetime aired an adaptation of his THE DEVIL’S TEARDROP. NBC television is airing the popular prime time series, Lincoln Rhyme: Hunt for the Bone Collector. His latest novel is THE GOODBYE MAN, a Colter Shaw thriller.
About Suspense Magazine
Suspense Magazine was started in 2007, with the mission that every author should get a voice. It strives to bring the very best coverage in the genre, by publishing reviews, articles on writing, interviews, short stories, excerpts and much more. It expanded in 2009 to include Suspense Radio, a podcast that interviews such authors as Dean Koontz, Laurell K. Hamilton, David Balducci and many more. The podcast is available on Spotify, ITunes, Amazon Music and several other podcast sites. The operation was expanded again in 2010 with Suspense Publishing which has published over one hundred books. Suspense publishing books have won three Tony Hillerman Awards, Shamus nominee, ITW Thriller Nominees and thousands of books have been sold.
Today I am sharing on the blog tour for an action-packed new technothriller in the Net Force series originally created and written by Tom Clancy and Steve Pierczenik and now being written by Jerome Preisler. This Feature Post and Book Review is for NET FORCE: ATTACK PROTOCOL by Jerome Preisler which is the third book he has written for the series.
Below you will find an author Q&A, a book summary, my book review, an excerpt from the book and the author’s bio and social media links. Enjoy!
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Author Q&A
1.Would you tell us more about the main characters from NET FORCE: ATTACK PROTOCOL?
Well, after introducing a rather large ensemble cast of characters in the first novel of the NET FORCE reboot, I focus on four or five in this book, including grey hat hacker Kali Alcazar and manhunter Mike Carmody in one major storyline, and John Howard and Julio Fernandez in a second. I also introduce two of my favorite characters ever, Mario and Laura, my two lovebirds. My bad guys are … mysterious. There’s a lot of character development, and Mario Perez and Laura Cruz, who came to me in a dream—complete with their introductory scene—add some light and humor to a sometimes dark, almost Gothic tale.
2. What should those new to the series know?
This isn’t their father’s NET FORCE. It propels the original concept of a cyber-security force into a modern, gritty new era full of slam-bang action. Think John Wick meets NET FORCE. I’m universe-building here and riding with my foot off the brake pedal. This is a COOL, contemporary series. Also, one of my strengths as a writer is characterization, and the characters on this series are among the best I’ve ever created. They are human and diverse and representative of the real world. I work hard to develop heroes that aren’t recycled stereotypes. The same is true for my villains.
3. What have been some challenges and some rewards from taking over a series originally created by Tom Clancy and Steve Pieczenik?
The challenges and rewards are often one and the same. The original series was a perennial bestseller, so I know I have to deliver on a big way. I know I have to satisfy old fans and simultaneously bring in new ones. To elaborate on that … I’m deeply appreciative of having a built-in readership. As someone who has worked with Tom and the Clancy franchise for long stretches over two or three decades, I feel a great responsibility to them. But I also want to grow the franchise. I want to open it up to a whole new audience. It’s a tough job—but somebody’s gotta do it!
4. What part or aspect of this series do you love the most?
The concept and characters are so rich, I can tell virtually any kind of story I want.
5. What are three things you have on your writing desk?
My computer, a cup of coffee, and a cat.
6. What character in the book really spoke to you?
All of them!
7. What is your favorite type of character to write about?
I like writing about men and women who are complex and have in many instances overcome—or are in the process of overcoming—some tough situations in life. They’ve wrestled with or are wrestling with demons. My heroes and villains are real human beings to me. They’ve experienced certain things and made certain choices. Where those choices lead them fascinates and occasionally surprises me.
8. How did you get into writing?
I picked up a pen and started writing my first novel at age 10. By the time I was eleven, I was typing it all out. And I was doomed.
9. Who is your writing inspiration?
I have a whole lot. Tolkien, Hemingway, Edgar Allen Poe, Chandler, Ed McBain, Pete Hamill, Harper Lee, Robert E. Howard, Robert Heinlein (while we’re doing the “Roberts”) … the great thriller writer Charles Godey. Tom Clancy, of course! Barbara Tuchman, who made history readable. Stan Lee! Ian Fleming! Bob Dylan! Charles Bukowski! The list goes on and on. And on …
10. What theme or message do you hope readers will take away from your ex book?
There’s hope. With love and faith and courage, there is always hope.
11. What drew you into this particular genre?
I’ve written in almost every genre, maybe in part because I’ve enjoyed books in every genre. For me a story is a story. While I understand as a craftsman that every genre has its requirements, the main thing is that the writing has to be good.
12. If you could sit down with any character in your book, what would you ask them and why?
“Kali, may I have this dance?” ‘Nuff said! (Now I’m even SOUNDING like Stan Lee!)
13. What social media site has been the most helpful in developing your readership?
I think Goodreads is pretty good …
14. What advice would you give to aspiring or just starting authors out there?
You have to invest yourself. Write with commitment and discipline. Write hard. Don’t do it to get rich, because you probably won’t. Write to be good.
15. What does the future hold in store for you? Any new books/projects on the horizon?
My next Net Force novella, then my next NET FORCE novel, then the NET FORCE novella and novel after that… hopefully for a while to come. Also, GAME FACE, the autobiography I co-authored with Hall of Fame basketball great Bernard King was optioned for film a while back and just acquired an incredible producer … but I can’t say who that is till it’s officially announced. Finally my new historical nonfiction, CIVIL WAR COMMANDO: William Cushing and the Daring Raid to Sink the CSS Albemarle, was published in November and I’m hoping people will check it out. Oh—I want to sleep in. Someday. Just for a few hours.
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Book Summary
The cutting-edge Net Force thriller series, created by Tom Clancy and Steve Pieczenik and written by Jerome Preisler reveals the invisible battlefield where the war for global dominance is fought.
In the wake of stunning terrorist attacks around the world, Net Force jumps into action. The president’s new cybersecurity agency homes in on a dangerous figure operating in the shadows of the Carpathian mountains. And he’s ready to strike again, using the digital space to advance his destructive goals.
But before Net Force can get boots on the ground, the master hacker and his cadre mount a devastating high tech assault against the agency’s military threat-response unit. Has a Net Force insider turned traitor? The stakes are suddenly ratcheted higher when a global syndicate of black hat hackers and a newly belligerent Russia hatch an ambitious scheme to plunge the United States into a crippling war—one that will leave Moscow and its Dark Web allies supreme.
Their attack protocol: to seize control of the Internet, and open the door for a modern, nuclear Pearl Harbor…unless the men and women of Net Force can stop them
NET FORCE: ATTACK PROTOCOL by Jerome Preisler is the latest book in the continuation of the technothiller series created by Tom Clancy and Steve Pieczenik. The series is set in 2023 and follows Net Force, a government cybersecurity agency established to fight against on-line terrorism and for internet control. This book can be read as a fast-paced standalone thriller.
Net Force is established and attacked simultaneously in New York City as the President of the United States is announcing their creation. The agents are now on the hunt for a dangerous cybercriminal deep in the Carpathian mountains. As one team is chasing this shadowy figure, he has mounted a high-tech attack against the agency’s military threat response base.
Unless the men and women of Net Force can stop this syndicate of terrorists, they will seize control of the internet and open the door for a modern nuclear Pearl Harbor.
This thriller starts off at a fast-pace and never lets up. The plot twists and danger to the main characters kept me turning the pages. I love all the high-tech gadgets and even though this series is set in 2023, I believe much of the tech is probably used now and is not as futuristic as when the original series began. The author does a good job of balancing exposition and dialogue. Even though the overall plot arc and characters are continued from book one, Net Force: Dark Web, this book can still pull you in and you never feel lost.
I recommend this new technothriller and I am looking forward to more books in this series.
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Excerpt
1
Satu Mare District, Romania
The first snowfall of the season was dusting the banks of the Somes River when a catastrophic failure struck the power grid, plunging the western third of the country into darkness.
Nicu Borgos was just an hour into his midnight shift when things went wrong. An operator for Satu Mare District’s Electrica Power Distribution Center, he was tired from caring for his daughter, who was seven and sick with the flu. His wife, Balia, a sales clerk at a clothing store, was also miserably under the weather, and he had been doing his best to help her as well. But money was tight and, like him, Balia needed to work and bring in a paycheck.
The night before, she had come home from the shop, put chest rub on Angela, tucked her in, showered, and climbed into bed with her dinner untouched. Nicu normally slept until 9:00 p.m. or even a little later, but the sounds Angela was making in her room concerned him. He had lost his dear mother to the pandemic three years ago, and the outbreaks still could be vicious.
Taking no chances, he’d resolved to stay up to check on the child, poking his head through the doorway every fifteen or twenty minutes. It was a while before she settled in.
So Nicu was worn out and bleary, which might have been why he doubted his eyes when he saw the cursor suddenly drifting across his screen. The computer was networked into the energy grid, and the numbered blue buttons on its display controlled the circuit breakers for ten substations throughout the county—an area of almost seventeen hundred square miles, with some three hundred thousand residents.
The cursor landed on the switch for Substation One. Clicked. A dialogue window opened below the button:
Warning: Opening the breaker will result in
complete shutdown. Do you wish to proceed?
YES NO
Reaching for his mouse, Nicu tried to drag the cursor out of the window, thinking its driver might have developed a minor glitch. But it remained there…and slid to Yes.
He quickly swiped the mouse across its pad, wanting to move the cursor to No.
It stayed on Yes. Clicked. The dialogue box vanished, and the button for Substation One changed from blue to red.
Nicu inhaled. He had been an operator at the distribution center for half a decade and did not need to bring up a map to see the region each substation covered. The map was already in his head.
Substation One was Lazuli, a rural commune of six villages to the extreme north, near the Ukrainian and Hungarian borders. Its six thousand residents had now gone off-line. Even as Nicu registered this, the on-screen cursor jumped to the Substation Two button.
He snatched up the mouse in desperation, lifting it above the pad. It made no difference. The cursor clicked. Opened another dialogue window requesting confirmation. Went to Yes again.
Click.
Blue turned to red, and Nicu Borgos watched Substation Two go down in an instant.
“Draga meu Domnezeu,” he rasped. “My dear God.”
Substation Two was the city of Satu Mare itself. With a population of one hundred thousand—a full third of the county’s inhabitants—it was now completely dark.
Nicu tried to think clearly. During the day, the operating station would have two people on shift. There was a second computer to his left, with a separate monitor. Possibly the problem was only with his machine. If he could log in to the system using the other computer, he might prevent more breakers from tripping open.
He rolled his chair in front of it, tapped the keyboard. The computer came out of idle showing the operator log-in screen. He entered his username and password.
A Wrong Password notification flashed on-screen.
He slowly retyped the password, thinking he might have entered a wrong character in his haste.
The notification appeared again. He was locked out of the system.
Nicu sat up straight, his spine a stiff rod of tension. His original machine showed that Substation Three, which provided power to Negresti Oas’s twelve thousand citizens, was down. He glanced at its screen just in time to see the cursor move to Substation Four…the distribution station for the commune Mediesu Aurit’s seven villages. The two stations combined served more than twenty thousand customers.
He remembered that tonight’s temperature was forecast to drop below freezing in the mountain areas, and felt suddenly helpless. Whatever was causing the shutdowns, he could not deal with the growing emergency himself.
His heart pounding, he reached for the hotline to call his supervisor.
The black BearCat G3 bore north on the unmarked strip of macadam that linked Satu Mare City to the tiny farming village of Rosalvea in the Carpathian foothills. Its windshield wipers beating off fat, wet flutters of snow, the vehicle moved smoothly and quietly for a big four-tonner armored with hardened ballistic steel panels.
At the wheel was Scott Dixon of the CIA’s elite manhunting Fox Team, recently placed under operational detachment to Net Force. Kali Alcazar sat beside him. In her late twenties, she had short silver-white hair and wore a black stealthsuit and lightweight plate vest. They were standard organizational issue. A Victorian English adventurer’s belt and a vintage film-canister pendant hanging from her neck were personal additions.
“How we doing timewise?” Dixon asked.
Kali looked at her dash screen. On it was the same controller’s interface Nicu Borgos was struggling with at the power distribution center. A moment ago she had seen the circuits trip in rapid succession.
“Pickles,” she said. Using the unfortunate name given to the vehicle’s AI by its architect, Sergeant Julio Fernandez.
“Yes, K?”
“Outlier,” she corrected. Using the dark web handle she had long ago created for herself.
“Yes, K.”
“Bring up the Satu Mare power grid.”
“Yes, K.”
She clicked her tongue. Fernandez had infused the AI with one too many of his stubbornly aggravating personality traits. But the upside was that, like Julio, it was also smart, nuanced, and intuitive. She could live with it.
In front of her now, the panel on-screen was replaced by a sector-by-sector map of the region, its cities and towns numbered according to the substations that supplied their electricity. The five already off-line were black, the rest red.
She watched as a sixth went dark.
“Over half the stations are down,” she said. “Total blackout in about five minutes.”
“Bitter cold out, a quarter million people without light or heat,” Dixon said. “Women, children, seniors. All for the sake of bagging one guy.”
She glanced over at him. “The hackers—the technologie vampiri—are the local economy. The government protects them. The polizei, the citizens, everyone.”
He shrugged with his hands on the wheel. She was right. Suspicions definitely would have been raised at the syndicate’s current headquarters— the Wolf’s Lair—if they only cut power to its surrounding village.
“I get it,” he said. “Still tough.”
“Tougher than it was on New York?”
Dixon didn’t answer. Four months ago the vampiri had launched a cyberattack that left the East Coast a shambles, killed hundreds, and almost took out the President. Now his team’s pursuit of the Wolf had led them out here to the Romanian boonies, making them key players in the first fully integrated operation conducted by the various elements of America’s new Department of Internet Security and Law Enforcement. Net Force, in bureaucratic government shorthand.
He really did get it.
The BearCat rolled between the gigantic evergreens standing sentinel on either side of the road. In the rear compartment, Gregg Long, Fox Team, sat with a small detachment on loan from Task Force Quickdraw—six men in tactical gear with Mark 18 CQBR carbines strapped over their shoulders and short-barreled Mossberg 590 combat shotguns racked to the sides of the passenger compartment.
“Distance to the target?” Dixon asked after a few minutes.
This time Kali skipped the AI, tapping her computer keyboard for the GPS sat map. “Thirty-two miles.”
Dixon nodded and checked the speedometer. He was doing about fifty. So a little over half an hour.
Taking his hand off the wheel, he adjusted his earpiece and hailed Carmody on the ground-to-air.
Jerome Preisler is the prolific author of almost forty books of fiction and narrative nonfiction, including all eight novels in the New York Times bestselling TOM CLANCY’S POWER PLAYS series. His latest book is DARK WEB, the first novel in a relaunch of the New York Times bestselling NET FORCE series co-created Tom Clancy and Steve Pieczenik. Forthcoming in November 2020 is his next NET FORCE novel, ATTACK PROTOCOL. Jerome lives in New York City and coastal Maine.
VENOMOUS (Adam Black Book #3) by Karl Hill is the latest fast paced thriller in the Adam Black series by this new to me author and I cannot believe I have not read this series before now. Similar to a Jack Reacher archetype lone wolf, one-man justice system, Adam Black is back. Even though this is the third book in the series, it is easily read as a standalone and I am looking forward to going back to read books one and two.
Adam Black is a retired SAS officer recruited by the Colonel for a secret operation to save the life of the Prime minister’s daughter who has been abducted.
The abduction is identical to the serial killer, The Red Serpent’s previous abductions and murders, but the psychopath has been convicted and in prison for the last six months. Adam Black is tasked with infiltrating Shotts prison and finding out what the Red Serpent knows about this new abduction.
As Black works to get closer to The Red Serpent, he is betrayed. Now he must find a way to escape.
On the run from authorities, Black is determined to save the Prime Minister’s daughter and discover the identity of the current killer.
I love this type of thriller for the pure escapism. The strong main character who is a killing machine with his own set of morals. This book does contain a lot of blood and violence as others in this sub-genre. The author’s writing effortlessly pulled me in and I just fell into the story with all the action, secrets, plot twists and a hero to cheer for. I love Adam Black and I hope to be reading many more of his adventures.
Karl Hill is the pen name of Kenny Hill, a Scottish lawyer, living in the village of Eaglesham, on the outskirts of Glasgow.
During winter, the weather can be harsh, the snow sometimes falling over two feet deep. He had a chihuahua called Rambo, who hated the snow. Sadly, Rambo died, and is greatly missed. When it snows, Kenny thinks about Rambo. Kenny’s protagonist, Adam Black, doesn’t worry about the snow. Nor does he have a chihuahua.
TRAUMA by Dylan Young is a new medical psychological suspense/thriller by a new to me author that I could not put down! You see the entire story through the eyes, fugues and minimal memories of the protagonist who is working to recover from a severe brain injury.
Cameron Todd and his live-in girlfriend, Emma are on vacation in Turkey when his entire world changes forever. Emma is found dead after falling from a cliff and Cameron is found almost dead having severe head trauma and multiple broken bones after falling. Cameron is pulled from the marina waters and returned to London for recovery.
The Turkish and English police have many questions, but Cameron has no memories. The doctors all believe Cameron’s amnesia is real due to his extensive brain injury, but the police and Emma’s family are skeptical.
The more Cameron recovers, the more he wants to find out what really happened on that cliff. Did he hurt Emma, or is his injured brain trying to tell him he is not responsible for Emma death and the sinister truth is in his fugue memories of that day in Turkey?
I loved this book! It starts off with a prologue that pulls you right in, but you do not know if it is a real memory or not. Then the remainder of the story’s pace is a slow burn that keeps building towards the surprising climax. Cameron is a protagonist that is written with a deep understanding of his brain trauma and its limitations without getting too technical and bogged down in medical terminology. The brain trauma is what makes you question every bit of information Cameron gives the reader. Cameron’s family and his few friends are fully fleshed secondary characters. This is also the first book I have read to include the Covid-19 pandemic and it does not take over the story.
I can highly recommend this suspense/thriller by Mr. Young! Keep a few hours free because you are going to find it difficult to stop turning the pages.
Dylan Young was born in a mining village in the Swansea valley in Wales where he attended primary and secondary schools. In 1974, he was offered a place at Medical school in London and qualified in 1979. Medicine and a family followed, but writing as Dylan Jones, he published 4 novels in the nineties, two of which were filmed by the BBC. In 2011, Random House re-released two of the books in the Natalie Vine series as ebooks.
Dylan Jones now writes children’s fiction as Rhys A Jones and contemporary urban fantasy as DC farmer. But crime never went away. The first in his new series featuring Detective Inspector Anna Gwynne, is due for release in January 2018. Two more books will follow.
Dylan Lives with his wife in West Wales where the landscape (and the weather!) provide ample inspiration for his books.
Today is my turn on this new blog tour and I am sharing my Feature Post and Book Review for THE FAILSAFE QUERY (A Sean Richardson Thriller Book #1) by Michael Jenkins. This is the first book in an exciting, action packed spy trilogy.
Below you will find a book blurb, my book review, an about the author section and the author’s social media links. Enjoy!
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Book Blurb:
‘Some secrets were meant to be buried forever. Until now.’
Sean Richardson, a disgraced former intelligence agent, is tasked to lead a team to search for a British intelligence officer on the cusp of exposing thousands of secrets to the media. It includes a long lost list of Russian moles embedded since the Cold War, one of whom remains a public favourite in the British parliamentary system.
The action moves with absorbing pace and intrigue across Central Asia and Europe as the puzzle begins to unfold through a deep hidden legacy. As Sean gets closer to the truth, senior figures are left to nurse their anxiety knowing that if the secret is revealed, it will destroy their lives.
On the verge of success, his eye is taken off the ball, and the Russians step forward ready to pounce.
Tense, fast paced, and insightful, The Failsafe Query twists and turns to a satisfyingly dramatic finale.
The first in a set of spy thrillers that have been expertly crafted with stunning plot lines, magnificent locations, and twists that leave you gasping for air. Perfect for fans of Frederick Forsyth, Robert Ludlum, Tom Clancy, and Scott Mariani.
THE FAILSAFE QUERY (A Sean Richardson Thriller Book #1) by Michael Jenkins is the first book in a trilogy of contemporary British spy thrillers.
Post 9/11, the British government wants proof of the weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. Sean is an agent in Central Asia and everything his informants show him points to the Iranians buying black market radioactive materials, not the Iraqis. Sean’s informant is killed and his mission compromised so he is recalled to Britain.
Eleven years later, Sean is rescued from an Afghanistan prison after months of incarceration. He was on a civilian contract job after leaving the service and was turned on when they found out he was digging into their real business, heroin. He is rescued for a reason. With his extensive knowledge of the Middle East and the mountains of Central Asia, he is tasked with finding an intelligence officer that has gone rogue. The rogue has secret information that could make him Britain’s biggest whistle-blower.
The story takes off from this point and Sean and his team travel around Europe and Central Asia in a fast-paced action spy thriller full of plot twists, modern day espionage and military precision. Sean is a complex protagonist. He is realistically flawed, believable and a professional. All the secondary characters are fully fleshed and believable, also. Since this is the first book in the trilogy, the first few chapters are more backstory and explanatory, but once Sean is on the job, the pace increases exponentially to the climax.
I recommend this exciting spy thriller and am looking forward to reading the other two in the trilogy!
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Aboutthe Author
I started climbing at 13, survived being lost in Snowdonia at 14, nearly drowned at 15, and then joined the Army at 16. Risk and adventure was built into my DNA and I feel very fortunate to have served the majority of my working career as an intelligence officer within Defence Intelligence, and as an explosive ordnance disposal officer and military surveyor within the Corps of Royal Engineers.
I was privileged to serve for twenty-eight years in the British Army as a soldier and officer, rising through the ranks to complete my service as a major. I served across the globe on numerous military operations as well as extensive travel and adventure on many major mountaineering and exploration expeditions that I led or was involved in.
I was awarded the Geographic Medal by the Royal Geographical Society for mountain exploration in 2003 and served on the screening committee of the Mount Everest Foundation charity for many years. It was humbling after so many years of service when I was awarded the MBE for services to counter-terrorism in 2007.
