Lord Hawke, one of fiction’s greatest heroes, returns in Overkill, the explosive new thriller from New York Times bestselling author Ted Bell.
Following Bell’s last bestseller, Patriot (2015), Alex Hawke is still at odds with his frenemy Vladimir Putin, the ruthless Russian president who saw his last attempt to strike fear into the West thwarted by the former MI6 agent. This time around, Putin has a new plan in the works to blast back onto the world stage, and he’s come up with a daring way to take Hawke off the board while he implements his new sinister plot, a little operation he calls Overkill.
Both loved and hated in his own country, the Russian president finds himself in the middle of an assassination attempt aboard his Gulfstream 750. He’s made powerful enemies in the traitorous Oligarch criminals inside the Kremlin, who have hatched an elaborate plan to have him killed. A former KGB agent himself, Putin has long sensed what is coming and has taken provisions to protect himself. So when his private aircraft crashes into a fiery ball high in the Alps, the world thinks Putin is dead — which is just what he wanted.
Hawke, meanwhile, spends a vibrant Christmas morning with his son, Alexei, as the two embark on a ski trip in Switzerland, soaking up some much-needed father-son time.
Terror suddenly strikes, though, when a mysterious explosion rocks their cable car, snapping wires and cables halfway up the mountain. Their dangling gondola, suddenly reduced to a death box of panic and fear, is left hanging thousands of feet above the ground. A brilliant rescue operation saves most on board, but back at the hospital, Hawke’s world is rocked for the second time that same day when he discovers that Alexei was never admitted to receive medical attention along with the other children.
After searching the hospital and the surrounding area, Hawke realizes his son has been kidnapped, and vows to do whatever is necessary in order to get his boy back.
Lending a hand is Chief Inspector Ambrose Congreve, one of Hawke’s dearest and most trusted friends — whose brilliant detection abilities are put to good use here. For muscle, Hawke calls on his old pal Stokely Jones, along with a few others (including several surprise returning characters), and together the newly assembled team begins a manhunt like no other.
As the search gets underway, Hawke makes a disturbing connection between his son’s disappearance and Putin’s questionable whereabouts, leading to a stunning ending that will leave readers gasping for air and begging more.
Bell’s tenth Alex Have thriller has it all — action, conspiracies, nonstop twists and turns, badass heroes, and villains galore. One of the antagonists, a man who goes by the name Shit Smith, may very well go down as one of the best baddies in the series to date, and Putin’s hideout, a fortress he calls the Falcon’s Lair (those who’ve read Bell’s novella White Death will recognize it), is as cool as it gets.
A master wordsmith, Ted Bell is one of the most gifted writers alive today regardless of genre, and nobody is able to manipulate readers’ feelings quite like he can. His stunning visual descriptions go perfectly with his natural storytelling ability and acute attention to detail, placing readers right in the line of fire with Hawke — a compelling leading man who’s walked through the fires of hell more than any other mainstream protagonist in print today.
Alex Hawke is this generation’s James Bond, and Overkill screams with gripping, high-octane action from start to finish. . . Effortless, timely, and masterfully written, Ted Bell’s latest is an absolute must. If you enjoy Fleming, Clancy, or Flynn, and haven’t met Lord Hawke yet, do not wait another second!
Book Details
Author: Ted Bell
Series: Alex Hawke #10
Pages: 496 (Hardcover)
ISBN: 0062684515
Publisher: William Morrow
Release Date: May 1, 2018
Book Spy Rating: 9.0/10
Praised as “one of today’s finest book reviewers” by New York Times bestselling author Gayle Lynds, Ryan Steck is the editor-in-chief of The Real Book Spy, and one of the thriller genre’s most well-recognized critics. He currently lives in southwest Michigan with his wife and their five children. For more information, make sure to follow him on Twitter and Facebook!