October 15, 2020
Reunited firmly on the side of truth, justice, and the American way, a crack father-and-daughter anti-terrorist team and their mates square off against a conspiracy aimed at assassination on a grand scale. Twenty years ago, Jacobslav Scarvan's colleagues in Russia's FSB plotted to kill him on a boat in the Aegean Sea. Escaping them (though not their bullets) and swimming to shore, he was nursed back to health by Father Spiros, a monk whose millennialist dreams helped him change Scarvan's loyalties while pumping up the volume on his violence. Now Scarvan, groomed and ready, is hell-bent on ushering in the second coming by killing as many heads of state as possible in one fell swoop. Rumors that Scarvan's returned from the dead lead James Hawthorn, director of the Alpha Team, to shift Scott Roberts--now cleared of the charges of treason that led his daughter, ex-Marine Mara Roberts, to hunt him down in Silent Threat (2018)--along with Mara herself and the rest of the Alphas away from the pursuit of Omega, the global conspiracy the team was formed to annihilate, and focus on Scarvan instead. For an operator who's been out of action for two decades, the 71-year-old Scarvan is surprisingly quick on his feet, and his plans to attack his targets as they're assembled at a landmark New York location are alarmingly plausible. Gunhus supercharges his unlikely premise with efficient scenes of run-up killings, revelations of infiltration and betrayal, and a brace of climactic surprises, one of them saved for the very last line. If you're in the mood for high-stakes international intrigue, here's a perfect specimen. Sleep well.
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October 26, 2020
At the start of Gunhus’s serviceable sequel to 2019’s Silent Threat, ruthless Jacobslav Scarvan, “a legend in the KGB,” is targeted by Viktor Belchik, another “legend in the KGB,” who’s working with CIA agent James Hawthorn, a “legend among operatives,” and marksman Scott Roberts. About a decade after the collapse of the Soviet Union, Scarvan’s enemies ambush him aboard a trawler in the Aegean Sea, but during the ensuing fracas, Scarvan jumps overboard and is presumed dead. In fact, he washes ashore on a Greek island, where he’s cared for by Father Spiros. During Scarvan’s 20 years in Spiros’s religious community, he finds God, the Old Testament version. At age 71, Scarvan leaves the island, bent on taking revenge on the men who tried to kill him. Fortunately, Roberts—also in his 70s—is still spry, and he has his kick-butt daughter, CIA operative Mara, at his side. Readers should be prepared for simple plotting and stock characters. Those seeking straightforward escapist fare will be rewarded. Agent: Sarah Hershmann, Sarah Hershman Rights Management.