Kelly Noble, Gold Mine Processing Manager, recommends Assassin’s Strike by Ward Larsen.
I enjoy reading espionage thrillers, especially those that are written well and contain plausible plots. Ward Larsen is among the best writers in the genre. His David Slaton novels are exciting, adventurous, action packed and riveting. When reading thrillers of this type, I always examine the story for its authenticity. Are the countries real? Does the author understand the current geo-political climate of the area? Is the plot even possible? There is nothing worse than a poorly researched thriller.
In Assassin’s Strike, our hero is David Slaton, a former Israeli Mossad member now working for the CIA. Trained to enter the world’s most dangerous places, Slaton is always at the top of his game. In this novel he is asked to help a Russian linguist escape war-torn Syria. Ludmilla Kravchuk is an interpreter for the Russian president. All seems to go well until a session between the Russia President and the President of Iran. Ludmilla’s counterpart, a young Iranian woman, is killed before her eyes. Ludmilla escapes into the city where she finds help from old friends.
These espionage thrillers contain a wealth of information about the world in which we live and travel.
As the novel unfolds, Slaton contacts Ludmilla and sets up a plan to help her escape to the West. Of course, no mission goes as planned. In the process of leaving the city of Damacus, Ludmilla brings along a friend and her young son. Instead of one person to save, Slaton has three. At the same time as this adventure is underway, a second plot unfolds in the story. Terrorists have received a chemical weapon and plan to use it to destabilize the Middle East. As soon as Slaton finishes the first part of the mission, he is off to help stop a global war.
Assassin’s Strike is highly recommended. I find most readers of this genre deeply knowledgeable about current world events. These novels depend heavily on knowledge of geography, politics, and current events. There is so much a reader can learn from fiction. These espionage thrillers contain a wealth of information about the world in which we live and travel. These novels are not science fiction. They represent potentially deadly problems for the world. Like Gerald Seymour once said, “One man’s terrorist is another man’s freedom fighter.” For all its worth, Ward Larsen has done an excellent job crafting an exhilarating novel.
