Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher and author for this ARC. I’ve read quite a few of this authors books although none in recent years. The premise of the book looked just like my kind of read and I wasn’t disappointed. I really liked the main character here. He is flawed, believable, has a good background history with a tragic past. He is recruited into ‘The Cell’, and on protection detail at a royal wedding where events take an unexpected turn. I did think this was a bit of a slow burner initially although it soon picked up pace, and thought this was a very well written book with an engaging and believable plot line, lots of twists and full of so many intricate details. The last quarter of the book literally had me on the edge of my seat and was full of suspense. The author certainly knows how to ramp up the tension here! And the reveals at the end as to who was behind all the events and why - I didn’t expect that. Fingers crossed there is follow up book to this, I would definitely read it. 4 stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Josh Bowman is a member of the ‘wing’ part of the SAS, and he has been assigned to protect the President of ‘African’ republic, Ken ‘The Viper’ Seguma at a Royal Wedding. Bowman has been charged with his team of protecting a tyrant as it is in the British interests. Outside Westminster Abbey there is an attempt on Seguma’s life and later at the reception there is a poisoning of a known criminal face, who whispers something to Bowman. Once he has been debriefed by his Commanding Officer and given a brief statement to the Police, he needs a hit of opioids. Which he manages to buy but while he is sorting his line out there is a knock at the door and there are some men from the Secret Service wanting him to accompany them to a briefing with John Mallet a living legend in the Regiment and known to be the head of the secretive ‘Cell’. Bowman is offered the chance to work with the Cell in Monaco with Mi6 giving the orders. The job in Monaco almost goes without a hitch. But as with all missions things change and they are told to get back to Nice as they are catching a flight to Karastandu to protect the President’s family as the country is undergoing a Russian supported coup. When they eventually reach the Presidential Palace, they find the family gone and members of the Government slaughtered. They know where to head to find the family and get there in good time. They know they may have to fight to the death to protect the family, until other special forces arrive. While the first set of rebels, the Machete Boys are easy to dispatch, they know that things are going to get harder. Especially when they see two buses along with a number of vehicles heading their way. They know the battle is on. This is a fantastically fast paced story, seeing how the SAS trained soldier accepts what they have to do without question. Even if some of the orders are sketchy. They see between Mi6 and the Cell there are many secrets. A good thriller, fast paced and interesting look at SAS trained soldiers in fiction.

A new one from Chris Ryan that introduces a new SAS character to us. Bowman is an experienced SAS Staff Sergeant but he has a problem, an opioid addiction that he is just about keeping secret. On protection duty at the wedding of a minor Royal there is an assassination attempt using a bio weapon. Bowman is then drafted into a top secret SAS/MI6 team to track down the perpetrators, this eventually leads to a rush to Africa where his small team is forced to hold an isolated complex against overwhelming odds. It’s a very fast paced story and full of the sort of action scenes that Ryan fans will enjoy. But there are some elements that just don’t click. Bowman’s opioid addiction felt odd, one minute he can’t function without them, the next “the adrenaline” kicks in and it’s like he doesn’t have a problem at all. There are some signposts to various hidden agendas and they ended up being generally unsatisfying or not really addressed. So this was okay but not up to the standard of Ryan’s best.