When Aaron Bergman and Alexandra, a young female agent, are kidnapped during a mission gone totally wrong, it’s all hands on deck to rescue the Mossad agents in Brad Taylor’s latest thriller, Operator Down.  

Despite many interrogations at the hands of his captors that left him beaten and bruised, Aaron holds out — urging Alexandra to do whatever it takes to stay alive — because he knows with absolute certainty that once Shoshana finds out he was taken, she’ll come for him no matter what. He’s not sure when, or how long it’ll take, but he trusts her, and, above all else, he knows that Shoshana is capable of breathtaking violence when the situation calls for it. 

Aaron also knows Shoshana will likely bring backup, and that whoever it is will be highly-trained and more than capable of assisting her. All he needs to do is survive long enough to give her time to do her thing.

As it turns out, Pike Logan and Jennifer Cahill happen to be in Israel on a Taskforce-assigned mission to track an arms dealer believed to be selling nuclear weapons components. While shadowing their target, they inadvertently come across intel from a recorded restaurant conversation suggesting an attack on a female Mossad agent is in the works. It doesn’t take long for Pike and Jennifer to connect the dots and realize Shoshana — an old friend and colleague of theirs — is the one being targeted, and Pike shows up at the last minute to thwart the assault. 

Initially, Pike and Jennifer had thought Aaron and Shoshana were on their honeymoon, where they were supposed to be. Shoshana had kindly blown them off upon hearing they were in Tel Aviv days prior, but once the trio figured out that Aaron was captured, they get the band back together to bring the pain on the men who snatched Bergman and Alexandra. 

Aaron was right —  Shoshana, a one-woman human-killing machine, will stop at nothing to save him. But things aren’t quite as straight-forward as they first seemed. 

With Pike and Jennifer eager to lend a hand (or trigger finger), they formulate a plan to rescue Aaron. However, things quickly change when a much larger conspiracy is uncovered, revealing a plot to topple a democratic African country — forcing Pike Logan to choose between following their Taskforce orders or helping Shoshana rescue Aaron. 

Since Taylor throttled back to one book a year (after previously maintaining a two-book-per-year publishing schedule), he’s taken his writing to another level. The action that the former Delta Force operative is known for writing into his thrillers is still front and center, but his plotting and character-development have gotten much better. Likewise, his stories have gotten more complex, but without sacrificing pacing or entertainment. His books are still lightning-quick and a ton of fun to read — and Operator Down is perhaps Taylor’s finest work yet. 

Brad Taylor’s unmatched ability to mix hard-hitting, authentic action with daring plots that feel like they’re ripped from next week’s headlines is on full display here. While Pike Logan will always be the main character, few authors in this genre have a roster of fan-favorite characters deeper than Taylor, who uses them brilliantly in Operator Down, the first must-read political thriller of 2018. 

Book Details

Author: Brad Taylor 
Series: Pike Logan #12
Pages: 464 (Hardcover)
ISBN: 1101984813
Publisher: Dutton
Release Date: January 9, 2018
Book Spy Rating: 9.0/10
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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. 

The post Featured Review: ‘Operator Down’ by Brad Taylor first appeared on The Real Book Spy.

The past comes back to haunt Harry Bosch in Michael Connelly’s Two Kinds of Truth, the must-read follow-up to last year’s The Wrong Side of Goodbye.

It’s been thirty years since Bosch worked on a homicide case involving the murder of Danielle Skylar, a small-town girl who moved to Hollywood to pursue her dream of becoming a movie star. Instead, she was found naked and strangled to death in her Toluca Lake apartment after being brutally raped. 

Skylar’s case was one of the first Bosch worked with his former partner, Frankie Sheehan, a year after he got his detective badge in 1977. It hadn’t taken Bosch and Sheehan long to zero in on Preston Borders, a Los Angeles resident by way of Boston, living off his parent’s money while he partied and acted like a celebrity without any real claim to fame. 

Now, three decades later, Bosch is notified by the DA’s office that new evidence has emerged thanks to better technology, which has matched DNA on Skylar’s pajama bottoms to another known rapist who died in prison after being convicted of other crimes. The shocking revelation means that Preston Borders will get to walk out of San Quentin, where he’d been awaiting a state execution, alive and free. The shocking revelation means that Preston Borders will get to walk out of San Quentin, where he’d been awaiting a state execution, alive and free.

The news doesn’t sit well with Bosch, who is still volunteering with the San Fernando Police Department where he uses his nearly four decades of experience looking into cold cases for them — while also mentoring the department’s three young detectives.  

Bosch refuses to sit back and watch Preston Borders walk free, but he has just nine days to prove once and for all that Borders was the real killer. To make matters worse, Border’s attorney, Lance Cronyn, filed a habeas corpus petition claiming that Bosch planted evidence during the original investigation that ultimately led to his client’s guilty verdict. On top of that, the district attorney’s office is working to negotiate a financial settlement with Borders, but that won’t necessarily include protection for Bosch — who still isn’t on good terms with city officials since he sued to keep a foot in the door with the LAPD years prior — leaving him open to a civil suit that could ruin him financially. 

In the middle of Bosch’s search for a way to keep Borders behind bars and on schedule for his execution, a pharmacist named José Esquivel Senior, and his son, José Junior, are gunned down inside their family-owned pharmacy.

The double homicide shakes the small town of San Fernando, which doesn’t see many murder cases. The relatively inexperienced detective squad struggles to keep up with the high-profile case, and it doesn’t take long for the chief to call on Bosch to take the lead on the investigation — making it his first non-cold case homicide since he started volunteering with the SFPD. 

The Esquivel pharmacy case takes an interesting turn when Bosch discovers evidence suggesting that the family’s pharmacy was part of a much larger pill mill — prompting him to go undercover as a drug addict, something that’s both painfully real and emotionally difficult for Harry to deal with. 

Connelly masterfully weaves both plotlines together while mixing in several cameos from fan-favorite characters — including Bosch’s former partner from his days with the LAPD’s Open-Unsolved Unit, Lucia Soto, and Harry’s half-brother, defense attorney Mickey Haller. Each plays an important role in helping Bosch as he makes his way towards a shocking discovery that’ll surprise even the most observant and seasoned readers, as Connelly pulls off another high-powered twist, proving that he’s still the undisputed king of crime.  

With his reputation on the line and the weight of two major cases threatening to come crashing down around him, Harry Bosch realizes for the first time in his storied career that he might have finally bitten off more than he can chew…

This series, now twenty books in, just keeps getting better and better. Two Kinds of Truth is some of Michael Connelly’s finest work yet, and a real contender for best crime novel of the year. 

Book Details

Author: Michael Connelly
Series: Harry Bosch #20
Pages: 416 (Hardcover)
ISBN: 0316225908
Publisher: Little, Brown and Company
Release Date: October 31, 2017
Book Spy Rating: 9.5/10
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The post Featured Review: ‘Two Kinds of Truth’ by Michael Connelly first appeared on The Real Book Spy.

Concerned about her son, single mother Devon Connor hires Private Investigator Elvis Cole to look into things, which turn out to be much worse than she ever imagined in Robert Crais’ new novel, The Wanted.   

At first, the case sounds fairly simple. A mother is worried about her teenage son, and Cole is brought in to provide some answers. But during their first meeting to discuss the investigation, things take an interesting turn when Cole hears why, exactly, the woman is concerned about her teen. 

It turns out that Tyson, Devon’s only child, has anxiety issues and hates going to school. Subsequently, he was previously expelled from two different high schools before his mother enrolled him in an alternative school as a way to help make sure he received some form of education. Behavioral and attitude problems aside, it was something else that caused Mrs. Connor to question him. 

Devon tells Cole that she first started growing concerned about her son when he came home wearing new designer shirts from Barney’s, a store she cannot afford to shop at. Tyson, like any teenager, was quick to come up with a plausible story and claimed that one of his friend’s parents runs a wardrobe department and got them the new threads for pennies.

Unfortunately for Tyson, his mother isn’t buying what he’s selling. Mother’s intuition told Devon something else was going on, and she was right. 

Over time, new shirts turned into an Xbox, a new computer with three monitors, and a stash of hidden cash totaling tens of thousands of dollars. But the real standout item in Tyson’s collection of valuable stuff is a white-faced Cosmograph Daytona Rolex, which boasts a price tag north of twenty grand. It’s obvious that Tyson is doing something illegal, but what?

Cole thinks the kid might just have sticky fingers, while Devon is worried her son is dealing drugs. Either way, Elvis Cole is going to find out what, exactly, is going on. 

Thankfully, the Rolex offers a solid lead to follow up on. Enlisting the help of his old girlfriend, Sherri Toyoda, who owns a watch shop in Santa Monica, Cole gives her the model and serial numbers to see if the watch has been reported stolen. The story takes its first shocking turn when the watch comes back registered to someone named Doctor Richard Slauson, with a note to immediately call the police–who have their own reasons for hoping the timepiece shows up. 

The story moves forward at blazing speeds, bouncing between Elvis Cole and two hired killers, Harvey and Stems, allowing the plot to develop from alternate points of view. Each time the narrative shifts, readers get a new piece to the puzzle, though Crais saves plenty for a bigger reveal later on. 

It doesn’t take long for Cole to figure out that Tyson and his buddies have been carrying out a number of high-end burglaries. In fact, Tyson, working with two accomplices, has been part of more than a dozen robberies. At one point, they even made off with eighteen thousand dollars of property from one home, a lucky score that left them with more loot than they knew what to do with.  The teenagers’ luck ran out, though, when they inadvertently stole the wrong thing from a very dangerous man.

As the case starts to come together, one of the young accomplices is murdered, which leads to Tyson suddenly disappearing. Realizing he’s caught in a bigger game than he initially realized, Cole calls on Joe Pike and Jon Stone for backup, and soon the three of them find themselves going toe-to-toe with a pair of ruthless killers in what’s easily Elvis Cole’s most dangerous case to date. 

Robert Crais is in top form here as he expertly weaves together an entertaining but complex plot that starts with a bang and continues to pick up speed as the story unfolds. As the suspense ramps up, readers will find themselves glued to their chairs and flipping pages at a lightning-fast clip to find out how this one ends. 

Robert Crais reminds readers why he’s one of the very best in the business with The Wanted, a masterfully-crafted story that blows the competition away. There’s no question that this is the final must-read book of 2017 — if you’re not already a fan of Elvis Cole, it’s time to see what you’ve been missing out on.

Book Details

Author: Robert Crais
Series: Elvis Cole and Joe Pike
Pages: 336 (Hardcover)
ISBN: 0399161503
Publisher: G.P. Putnam’s Sons
Release Date: December 26th, 2017
Book Spy Rating: 8.5/10
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The post Featured Review: ‘The Wanted’ by Robert Crais first appeared on The Real Book Spy.

Following a successful mission with his team from the Campus, Jack Ryan is tasked with a different type of assignment from his boss, Gerry Hendley.

The Campus, the covert black-ops team that Ryan is a part of, answers only to the President of the United States–Jack’s father, Jack Ryan Senior. But when it comes to money, they’re funded through a financial analysis firm called Hendley Associates, where Junior is technically employed as an analyst.

When former U.S. Senator Weston Rhodes hires Hendley Associates to look over his company’s books ahead of a major business deal, he asks specifically for Paul Brown, a forensic accountant, and the best analyst Hendley has–which is Ryan.

It turns out that Rhodes’ defense company is about to close a deal to acquire Dalfan Technologies. But before the purchase of the Singapore-based tech company–which specializes in a number of high-tech tracking and weapon systems–is finalized, Rhodes wants someone to crunch the numbers to make sure there are no surprises that will turn up down the road. For that reason, a third party accounting firm is necessary, and Hendley’s crew is the best there is.

While taking the occasional “white-side” job between secret missions is essential to preserving Ryan’s cover with Hendley Associates, Jack isn’t exactly excited about leaving his team behind to play analyst for a week in Singapore. But what starts out as a routine audit soon turns into something far more dangerous when Ryan uncovers a potential sinister motive behind the merger.

Paul, meanwhile, has been given a far more top-secret mission, one that even Ryan isn’t aware of, but struggles to find a workaround to Delfan’s strict, cutting-edge security measures. As he and Jack continue to poke around, both quickly realize that their white-side assignment has turned into something much, much darker.

One of the genre’s most underrated authors, Maden puts his own spin on Jack Junior, who is a slightly different but vastly improved character from the guy we saw in last year’s Duty and Honor. In the past, Junior has sort of felt like a secondary character trying to play the lead, similar to how in the books Jack struggles to live up to the expectations set by his father, President Jack Ryan. With Mike Maden behind him, though, Ryan has really come into his own and flashes plenty of star power to build on moving forward.

Maden’s strengths are a perfect match for this franchise, and he kicks things off with an explosive first chapter that is very Brad Thor-like in its pacing, word descriptions, and overall style.

While it was already clear from his work on his Troy Pearce series that Maden knows his way around an action scene, he also brings a lot to the table when it comes to understanding new technology, next-gen weapons, and most importantly, how to incorporate them into his multi-layered plots.

That’s especially true here, as the hidden plotlines deep within the complex, inner workings of the story are spot-on for a Jack Ryan novel. Longtime fans can rest assured, Point of Contact reads like a vintage Tom Clancy thriller.

After three novels from Grant Blackwood, Mike Maden takes over the Jack Ryan Junior franchise and mixes nail-biting suspense with hard-hitting action to deliver a blockbuster hit that Clancy fans will love.

Book Details

Author: Mike Maden
Series: Jack Ryan Universe #23
Pages: 496 (Hardcover)
ISBN: 0735215863
Publisher: G.P. Putnam’s Sons
Release Date: June 13, 2017 (Order Now!)

The post Featured Review: ‘Tom Clancy Point Of Contact’ By Mike Maden first appeared on The Real Book Spy.

Don Winslow’s latest masterpiece is a gritty, raw look into the life of a New York City cop, and all the conflict–some by chance, some by choice–that comes with it. 

On the streets, where it matters most, Sergent Denny Malone runs a unit known simply as Da Force. Malone’s crew–Russo, Big Monty, and Billy O’Neil–are part of the Manhattan North Special Task Force, an elite unit made up of New York City’s finest. And anyone who knows anything about Manhattan North knows that those streets belong to Malone.

Nobody, from gangbangers to corrupt city councilmen, can so much as spit without Denny finding out about it. 

Malone, a tatted-out Irish Catholic who has a love for rap music, comes from a line of hero cops. And after Malone’s crew pulls off what ends up being the biggest heroin bust in NYPD history, Denny himself is also labeled a hero by the media and his fellow officers. Sadly, though, Billy took a fatal round from a gangster and died in the drug house. 

What few people know is that Malone and his crew are dirty, and their record-setting heroin bust wasn’t exactly by the book.

Picking up several months later, Malone and his guys are trying to break in a new team member who was assigned to their unit as a replacement for Billy. On top of that, word on the street is that the drug kingpin who got ripped off by Da Force is looking for revenge. 

On Christmas, Malone spends the night picking up and dropping off cash-filled envelopes to other dirty cops and city officials. Unbeknownst to him, his chat with the Assistant District Attorney was recorded by the FBI, who had the assistant DA under surveillance. In the process, they caught Malone conspiring to have a case fixed but waited to make their move on him. 

As Malone’s crew prepares to bring down a huge gun purchase that’s rumored to be going down in the coming days–big enough to ignite a turf war between rival gangs–tempers start to flair as Russo and Big Monty both worry about an investigation into their drug bust. To cool off a bit, Malone orders up a “Bowling Night,” which is essentially an alcohol-fueled boys-night-out. When he returns home, the FBI is waiting for him, finally ready to make their move.

With a major gun deal about to go down, a turf war on the horizon, a drug kingpin hellbent on revenge, and the FBI secretly keeping tabs, Denny Malone quickly finds himself backed into a corner with very few options–and none of them good. 

The genius of Don Winslow’s writing is that he manages to strike a balance with Malone and his partners that make it possible for readers to still root for Da Force. Yeah, Malone and his guys are dirty, but the people they rough up and rip off are far worse. Besides, they do a lot of good things too, and each guy has a family and kids he’s out there grinding for.

Likewise, Winslow masterfully weaves current events and major headlines into the story, which allows him to tackle issues such as police brutality, protest efforts, and a variety of other topics, without being too preachy or breaking from his narrative.

As the tension rises, readers are met with their own tough decision on whether they should burn through the pages to get to the ending, or read slowly to savor the moment. (In the end, you can’t go wrong either way!)

While entertaining, Winslow’s novel isn’t just a treat to read–it provides a unique experience unlike anything else. Whether it’s blasting N.W.A. and singing along as they patrol the streets, or taking down gangbangers and drug dealers, readers will feel like a part of Malone’s crew. And while those who are easily offended by strong language may take issue with some of the dialogue, most readers will appreciate Winslow’s acute attention to detail. Not only do the characters walk and talk like New Yorkers, but the entire New York-living vibe is spot-on. 

At one point, Malone delivers a speech to corrupt officials that rivals the “you need me on that wall” speech given by Colonel Jessup (played by Jack Nicholson) in A Few Good Men. It’s just one of many emotionally-charged scenes that will stay with readers long after they finish the novel.

The Shield meets The Departed in Don Winslow’s The Force, one of the best cop dramas ever written, and the first novel we’ve ever scored a perfect 10/10 on our rating scale. 

Between The Power of the Dog (2005), The Cartel (2015), and now The Force, there’s no doubt that Don Winslow is one of the truly great novelists of his time. If you’re not already reading his stuff, put him at the top of your to-read list starting with The Force. 

Book Details

Author: Don Winslow
Pages: 400 (Hardcover)
ISBN: 0062664417
Publisher: William Morrow
Release Date: June 20th, 2017 (Order Now!)

The post Featured Review: ‘The Force’ By Don Winslow first appeared on The Real Book Spy.

Dewey Andreas returns for another high-stakes, conspiracy-laden, balls-to-the-wall adventure in Ben Coes’ latest thriller, Trap The Devil.

Still recovering from the serious injuries he suffered in First Strike (2016), Dewey Andreas is on restricted duty with the CIA. Ordered to see a shrink in order to help process everything he’s been through, Dewey reluctantly agrees, but only to get back in the field.

To ease his star player back into the game, CIA Director Hector Calibrisi sends Dewey to Paris as part of Secretary of State Tim Lindsay’s protective detail. Things take a shocking turn, though, when Lindsay is assassinated in his hotel room shortly after arriving.

Security footage reveals that Dewey was the last person to visit Lindsay in his hotel suite, and ballistic tests show it was Dewey’s gun that killed the Secretary of State. While Andreas remains adamant that he was at dinner during the time of the murder, he’s detained and cut off from any and all outside help and denied any opportunity to talk to Calibrisi.

Left alone, Dewey begins to analyze the situation and decides that in order to catch the real killer, he has to escape from the black site prison facility where he’s currently being held. That kicks off a classic Ben Coes high-octane action sequence that would be the book’s high point if it wasn’t for a white-knuckle chase scene set onboard a fast-moving train chugging through the Swiss Alps later in the story.

Free from the authorities but on the run, Dewey learns that Lindsay wasn’t the only high-profile American diplomat to die within the last few days. The Speaker of the House, Lowell Benson Trappe Jr., was also killed, though initial reports suggest he accidentally drowned while hunting on Ossabaw Island.

Dewey knows that there are no coincidences in his line of work, and that the only way two high-profile American diplomats die that close together is if someone is taking them out. Further investigation reveals that a secret cabal–formed in the 1980s– is operating behind the scenes as a shadow government, with a plan to take over the White House in order to implement their radical agenda.

More than thirty years ago, the CIA created a secret paramilitary unit dubbed ‘Order Six.’ Buried deep in the State Department’s budget, Order Six was developed to take preemptive measures in protecting the President of the United States. Recruiting from the very best of the best–including the CIA’s paramilitary, Delta, and the Navy SEALS, Order Six formed an elite strike team that could operate anywhere, including on American soil.

But now, years later, Order Six has gone rogue and is knee-deep in their plan to change America forever–a plan that includes killing everyone and anyone who stands in their way, including Dewey.

As Dewey races to avoid the authorities, stay one step ahead of an assassin hot on his heels, and stop the cabal before they accomplish their goal, he receives help from several familiar faces that longtime fans of Coes’ series will recognize, including former Navy SEAL and Dewey’s friend, Rob Tacoma.

The on-the-run scenario mixed with a deep government conspiracy reads like a cross between one of Robert Ludlum’s Jason Bourne novels and some of Tom Clancy’s early work. Coes spices it up with his trademark brand of sarcastic humor, something he knows how (and when) to use better than most.

Just when you think Coes has peaked, he unveils a new gear, elevating his series to an entirely new level. While the nonstop action is the main course here, the complex, thought-provoking plot and character development prove to be the cherry on top to Coes’ relentless, adrenaline-pumping thriller.

Not only will readers see a new side to Andreas, who finally opens up and says things fans have waited years to hear him admit, but Coes slips one final shocking twist into his plot that will stun readers and have a lasting impact on Dewey moving forward.

With a plot that moves faster than the Lamborghini Aventador Dewey uses to evade French authorities, Coes’ latest offering is his best novel to date. While action and deftly-plotted scenarios have been his calling card in the past, the character development and emotion written into Trap The Devil elevates Ben Coes to the very top of the thriller genre, where he sits alongside the likes of Brad Thor, Daniel Silva, and the late Vince Flynn.

Book Details

Author: Ben Coes
Series: Dewey Andreas #7
Pages: 480 (Hardcover)
ISBN: 1250043182
Publisher: St. Martin’s Press
Release Date: June 20, 2017 (Order Now!)

The post Featured Review: ‘Trap The Devil’ By Ben Coes first appeared on The Real Book Spy.

Several months ago, Nick Mason made a life-altering deal with Darius Cole, the kingpin of a vast criminal organization. Terms were simple–Cole would help secure an early release for Mason, who still had twenty years left on his prison sentence for past crimes, in exchange for his services remaining on Cole’s payroll for the next two decades.

In theory, the deal sounds pretty good. Especially when you add in that Mason gets ten thousand dollars a month deposited into a secret bank account for him to use. He also gets to live in a beautiful, luxurious townhouse that overlooks Lake Michigan on the north side of Chicago, and access to an unlimited supply of fast, expensive cars.

Mason took the deal, in part, to be close with his wife and daughter, and walked out of jail after the police officer who testified against him had a sudden change of heart and changed his story, thanks to the “urging” of Cole’s crew. 

However, while he may be out of prison, Nick Mason is far from a free man. In fact, he’s anything but…

Mason simply traded in one sentence for another and now lives imprisoned to Cole and the tasks he assigns, which are becoming increasingly more dangerous. What started as carrying out petty crimes soon blossomed into breaking and entering, stealing, and, eventually, killing.

A former career criminal on Chicago’s south side, Cole tabbed Mason to be his new muscle, and with a single phone call sends Nick off to handle various problems as they arise. That’s the catch, really, to Mason’s new life. The Darius Cole-issued phone is to be on his person at all times, no excuses. When it rings, he’s to answer and then immediately follow any instructions, day or night, no questions asked.

After the events of last year’s novel, The Second Life of Nick Mason, which features Nick running errands for Cole while also taking on a unit of dirty cops and trying to get his wife (who has since moved in with another man) back, Steve Hamilton raised the stakes considerably in his latest thriller.

This time around, Cole–who, thanks to a technicality, was just awarded a new trial after previously being sentenced to two life terms–tasks Mason with tracking down and eliminating the three men scheduled to testify against him in court. The catch is that each man is currently being protected inside the WITSEC program, which has never been infiltrated before.

Wasting no time to draw readers in, Exit Strategy opens with a bang as Mason goes after the first witness. But, once the good men and women of the Federal Witness Protection Program put the puzzle pieces together and realize Cole’s plan, they harden down security for the remaining two witnesses, securing them in a pair of off-the-books military bases guarded by both U.S. Marshalls and armed military personnel.

With the odds stacked so firmly against him, Mason’s assignment is nearly impossible. Failure to succeed would mean bad things for his ex-wife and daughter, though, who Cole keeps under surveillance and promises to harm should Nick ever fail to follow orders, get caught by the police, or try to run from their agreement.

While making plans to take out the highly-guarded witnesses, Mason also starts developing an exit strategy, determined to leave his life as Cole’s criminal errand boy behind and to keep his family safe once and for all.

Hamilton brilliantly weaves Mason’s personal life with his professional life, and while he’s an anti-hero, the author still finds ways to make readers root for his main character. We’ve all done things we regret, making it easy to connect with that side of Mason. But what if your mistake led to you going to prison for nearly thirty years, wrecking your family and hurting everyone you love in the process?

To most, Cole’s offer would seem like a lifeline worth grabbing hold of, which Mason does, only to find out it puts the very people he so badly wants to win back in danger. Nick’s heart is in the right place, but he can’t catch a break, which will make readers long for his freedom and family nearly as much as he does. 

Written with blazing-fast pacing, Exit Strategy is Hamilton’s most gritty, action-packed novel so far. Between the many blood-pumping action sequences and relentless suspense, the pages practically turn themselves as Hamilton will have readers racing to see if Nick Mason can actually pull off the impossible–leading up to a shock ending that will have fans begging for the next novel.

Whatever you’re looking for, Exit Strategy has a little something for everyone and delivers enough thrills to keep even the pickiest crime fans happy. Circle the date on the calendar, Steve Hamilton’s latest one-night-read is not to be missed!

Book Details

Author: Steve Hamilton
Series: Nick Mason #2
Pages: 304 (Hardcover)
ISBN: 0399574387
Publisher: G.P. Putnam’s Sons 
Release Date: April 4, 2017 (Order Now!)

The post Featured Review: ‘Exit Strategy’ By Steve Hamilton first appeared on The Real Book Spy.

Leaving his bookstore in Denmark, Malone, the former operator for the justice department’s top-secret intelligence agency, heads to Arkansas with Cassiopeia Vitt, his lover and fellow Magellan Billet agent. Together they were dispatched to investigate at a location where another Smithsonian employee had been searching for treasure before being scared off by a local man named Terry Morse.

On-site, Cotton does, indeed, find a few gold coins before coming face-to-face with Morse who, along with his granddaughter, Lea, has been protecting the land and its hidden treasure for decades.

Cotton learns that the treasure belonged to the Knights of the Golden Circle, a Confederate spy ring that was assembled before the Civil War. And while the Knights were thought to no longer be in existence, Morse claims the Order is alive and well, though significantly smaller in numbers than in its original heyday.

Morse, who only spills the secrets to stay out of jail, claims to be a sentinel–charged with protecting a portion of the $100 billion in gold and silver the Knights had assembled–just like his father, and his grandfather, and many others before him.

Cotton knows plenty about the Knights of the Golden Circle himself, having heard stories about the Order from his father when he was a child. But as he continues to learn more about parties involved, he’s not entirely sure who he can trust, as everyone seems to have a separate agenda and an unwillingness to tell him the truth. 

Meanwhile, Stephanie Nelle, the Magellan Billet’s acting chief, is called in to investigate after the Smithsonian is broken into. It doesn’t take long for her to realize that both she and Cotton are after the same people–who are trying to find the Knights’ long lost gold by following a treasure map that’s broken into five parts, some of which are hidden in plain sight.

While Malone and Nelle each chase their own leads, former president Danny Daniels mourns the loss of his close friend Alex Sherwood, a sitting Tennessee senator who died under suspicious circumstances. Sherwood’s widow, Diane, gives Danny reason to suspect something foul is going on, prompting him to investigate on his own.

Daniels ends up uncovering a huge government conspiracy (one that his friend may have died to help expose) that involves a plan to exploit Article I of the United States Constitution, which would give the Speaker of the House more power than the president. Unfortunately, aside from the notoriety that comes with being a former president, Daniels no longer has any real power to do anything about what he’s learned.

To get back into the game, Danny comes up with a genius way to go from ordinary citizen to someone of importance, then vows to stop Speaker Lucius Vance and Diane Sherwood from pulling off their plan.

For longtime fans concerned that Daniels’ role will be diminished now that he’s no longer the president, you don’t have to worry about that. While Cotton Malone remains the star of the series, Daniels has a large role in this one and he steals every scene he’s in. Plus, the way in which the author makes Danny relevant again is nothing short of brilliant.

On top of showing readers a new side to Danny, who is reenergized by his latest political fight, Steve Berry also finally reveals the origin of Cotton’s nickname, something longtime fans of his series have wondered about for years. (Hint: it’s a two-part answer!)

With multiple high-tension plot threads playing out, one of which turns deeply personal for Cotton, all the characters’ paths eventually cross as they work together to solve century-old clues in order to stop a secret shadow government and a murderous couple hellbent on finding the Knights’ lost treasure.

Steve Berry masterfully weaves historical fiction into a present day high-concept plot that moves at breakneck speeds from beginning to end. While last year’s The 14th Colony was good, The Lost Order, which falls somewhere between Three Days to the Condor and National Treasure, is Berry’s best work yet–and is sure to compete for best novel of the year.

With nonstop action and a story packed full of conspiracies, assassins, power-hungry politicians, murder, and lost treasure, the latest Cotton Malone thriller is impossible to put down!

Book Details

Author: Steve Berry
Series: Cotton Malone #12
Pages: 512 (Hardcover)
ISBN: 1476799253
Publisher: Minotaur Books
Release Date: April 4, 2017 (Order Now!)

The post Featured Review: ‘The Lost Order’ By Steve Berry first appeared on The Real Book Spy.

When a powerful, high-tech weapon falls into enemy hands, former Marine officer turned FBI investigator Logan West is called on to save the day.  

Following the events of Matthew Betley’s debut novel, Overwatch (2016), which took the thriller world by storm last year, Logan West has joined his friend and battle buddy, John Quick, and is now officially working with the FBI.

ONERING, a sophisticated next-gen weapon capable of hacking into any satellite without leaving a trace, is finally ready for testing. Accompanied by a research team, the weapon is taken aboard the Arctic Glide, anchored just off of Amaknak Island. But when intel suggests a team of Russian operatives will target the boat, West and Quick are sent to Alaska to stop them.

Arriving a tad too late, West engages the enemies in a ballsy shootout as a last-ditch effort to prevent the theft of ONERING, but is ultimately unsuccessful, as the weapon vanishes along with the gunmen who stole it. 

Back in Washington, West and Quick are instructed to track down ONERING and recover it at all costs. Joining them is newcomer Cole Matthews, a spy who becomes fast friends with Logan and John, often engaging in their sarcastic banter, while quickly proving his worth when the bullets start flying–which they do often in this one.

After Logan, John, and Cole follow the trail to Spain, they once again arrive minutes too late and are unable to stop the bad guys, a recurring trend in their pursuit to recover the devastating weapon. As they continue chasing leads and coming up short, they soon realize there’s a very real possibility that their intel isn’t just bad, but planted by someone leading them in the wrong direction. 

As they make their way across the globe, leaving footprints (and bullet casings) in Alaska, Spain, and North Africa, the trio of heroes cross paths with everyone from highly-trained Russians to Chinese commandos, as well as multiple foreign governments. Unaware of a much larger, carefully organized New World Order–comprised of a coalition of America’s enemies–taking shape behind the scenes, West, Quick, and Cole battle their way to a thrilling, emotionally-charged ending that will leave readers thoroughly satisfied and begging for the next book.

While the many action sequences steal the show, the best part of the story takes place when Logan and Cole find themselves in an off-the-books prison (there’s also a scene-stealing shootout that takes place on a ship which features a wildly entertaining way to take down a helicopter). And while parts of the plot have a James Rollins-like feel to them, Betley has quickly developed his own unique style that separates him from the pack. 

The author’s blend of witty, sarcastic humor and hard-hitting action go perfectly together, making an already fast-paced plot flow at blazing speeds. While Logan West is the star, all three lead characters bring a different dynamic to the story, and Betley’s razor-sharp dialogue is already some of the best in the business.

While the story seems straightforward in the beginning, readers will soon realize that the cast of bad guys is far more diverse and creative than what originally meets the eye. As Betley slowly pulls back the curtain, revealing a large-scale conspiracy, it’s easy to see that the events of this book will have a profound impact on future installments of his series, which has already reached must-read status after only two books.

Matthew Betley’s Oath Of Honor is a relentless, pulse-pounding adventure that will leave you breathless. Make room at the top of the genre, there’s a new king of high-concept political thrillers!

Book Details

Author: Matthew Betley
Series: Logan West #2
Pages: 404 (Hardcover)
ISBN: 1476799253
Publisher: Atria/Emily Bestler Books
Release Date: March 14, 2017 (Order Now!)

About The Author 

“Matthew Betley grew up in Cincinnati, Ohio, which he considers home after his family moved there from New Jersey, where he was born and which also explains his affinity for the New York Yankees. He attended St. Xavier High School and then Miami University in Oxford, Ohio, where he graduated with a B.A. in psychology and minors in political science and sociology. He also spent the first semester of senior year investigating felony murder cases as an intern investigator in Washington, D.C., for the Public Defender’s Office, a formative experience that provided countless stories that could fill the pages of a non-fiction book. Upon graduation, he worked in corporate America for five years in Cincinnati before joining the Marine Corps in 1999.

Matt spent ten years as a Marine officer and was trained as a scout sniper platoon commander, an infantry officer, and a ground intelligence officer. His experiences include deployments to Djibouti after 9/11, and Fallujah, Iraq, prior to the surge, both in staff officer support billets.”

To learn more about Matthew Betley, visit his official website here. And don’t forget to follow him on Twitter and Facebook! 

The post Featured Review: ‘Oath Of Honor’ By Matthew Betley first appeared on The Real Book Spy.