If high-octane, action-packed political thrillers are your thing, you won’t find a better author on the planet right now than Ben Coes.
After an unprecedented run of high-quality thrillers over the last few years staring CIA operative Dewey Andreas — a stretch that includes Independence Day (2015), First Strike (2016), Trap the Devil (2017), and this year’s Bloody Sunday, which might be Coes’ best work to date — Ben Coes is now gearing up to launch a whole new series featuring a familiar face in Rob Tacoma.
Tacoma first popped up in Dewey’s universe in The Last Refuge, Coes’ third book, as a former Navy SEAL who later joined CIA and then left the National Clandestine Service to start up his own consulting company (with partner Katie Foxx) called RISCON. He’s appeared in every book since then, including Bloody Sunday, and has been described as “handsome, rugged, and disorganized” with “the maturity, at times, of a fraternity brother,” which makes sense, since he’s Dewey’s closest friend.
Now, though, Tacoma will step out of Andreas’ shadow, serving as the protagonist in The Russian, the latest novel from Coes, which is currently scheduled to hit bookstores on July 30, 2019. See the cover art and plot details below.
As the brutal Russian mafia becomes the most powerful and deadly criminal enterprise in the country, the U.S. has a new hero, Rob Tacoma, in New York Times bestseller Ben Coes’s new series
After the break-up of the Soviet Union, some of the most hardened and capable criminals came to the United States. Over the past two decades, they have created a vicious and fearless underworld, breathtaking in its violence, disturbing in its efficiency, and destructive to society at large. With conventional law enforcement methods unable to stem the tide, the President issues top secret Executive Order 12-4b3 creating a small, deadly team to take on this fight behind the scenes—a kill team.
The head of the CIA’s Special Operations Group, Bo Coll, is picked to head this group and he, in turn, asks Rob Tacoma to be his deputy. Rob Tacoma—former Navy SEAL and former CIA agent—has a special reason to agree. Tacoma was raised by his grandparents after his own parents were killed by the Russian mafia. But before Tacoma can even start, Bo Coll is found murdered in his own home, as a warning from the Russian mafia itself. Now Tacoma is in charge of the team and they have their first mission, to achieve the near-impossible: find and neutralize the mob boss behind Bo Coll’s death. To do so means taking on practically an army in a battle where there are no rules and no limits.
Branching off from his bestselling Dewey Andreas novels, this is the first in a brand new series from thriller writer Ben Coes.
Kicking off a new series following Rob Tacoma has been in the works for a while now. I previously reported back in September of 2016 that Coes had signed a new three-book deal with his longtime publisher, St. Martin’s Press, with one of those books earmarked to launch the new Tacoma franchise in addition to the Andreas series (which will also continue moving forward). The Russian will do just that, and judging from the plot details above, this time next year, Ben Coes will join authors such as David Baldacci, Michael Connelly, and Steve Hamilton, all of whom have multiple active bestselling series to their names.
Fans excited to get their hands on The Russian, instantly one of the most anticipated thrillers of 2019, can pre-order their copy here or anywhere else books are sold. In the meantime, make sure you’re following Ben Coes on Facebook, Twitter, and his official website for more updates.
Praised as “one of today’s finest book reviewers” by New York Times bestselling author Gayle Lynds, Ryan Steck has “quickly established himself as the authority on mysteries and thrillers” (Author A.J. Tata). He currently lives in Southwest Michigan with his wife and their six children.