Redemption: (Ryan Drake: book 1): a compelling, action-packed and high-octane thriller that will have you gripped from page one

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This book does not let up. It hits the gas and it doesn't let up on the pedal.' -- ***** Reader review The story is skillfully told and it's a captivating read, yes, but at the same time the events unfold in a way that's seldom surprising. Many of the plot twists are quite easy to see coming from afar, and there's not much that's genuinely new, original or surprising in the storyline. Sometimes the characters are made to do uncharacteristically stupid mistakes for the sake of drama, such as a badly wounded character forsaking their gun and being taunted into a fistfight with a much stronger opponent, even though the same character is supposed to show their enemies (and this one in particular) no mercy. Towards the end, when Drake's pursuers suddenly switched to being his rescuers without any obvious prompt, and in spite of the clear contradiction offered at the very start of the novel, I was half expecting the sort of happy ending whereby the mastermind is brought to justice and all his victims (direct and indirect, those who survive, at least) get the second chance they're after. Thankfully, Redemption didn't disappoint on that score, with the implication of a longer game to be played through later books. Weirdly, it reminded me a lot of Dumas' morally grey ending to The Three Musketeers, which has never once been faithfully adapted to the movie/TV screen.

Will Jordan - Penguin Books Australia Will Jordan - Penguin Books Australia

Will has always been drawn to books whose characters inspire him in his own life; stories of people rising above their circumstances, refusing to be beaten down and pushing themselves to do things they shouldn’t be able to do; an element which he has tried to bring across in his own work. Thrown together in a race to survive, their differing outlooks and experiences allowed me almost endless scope for creating tension and interesting exchanges. Will Jordan is the bestselling, internationally published author of the Ryan Drake series. He was born in Scotland in 1983. His works to date include: Distrustful of this uneasy alliance and with no outside support to call on, Drake gathers his small group of trusted team mates and embarks on his most difficult and dangerous mission yet. However, his plans soon unravel, forcing him into a deadly game of cat and mouse against a vengeful British intelligence officer with an unknown agenda.

Publication Order of Standalone Novels

There, he finds himself presented with an unexpected offer – travel to Libya, kidnap a high-ranking officer in Gaddafi’s much feared intelligence service, and return him to the UK. In exchange, Drake will be given everything his needs to destroy the career of the CIA’s corrupt leader, Marcus Cain. With many major publications singing Jordan’s praises, most are drawn towards his sense of suspense. That and his ability to create action set-pieces which are highly visceral and entertaining for his readers to experience, is what many readers have come to appreciate, as he gains fans both far and wide. The career of Will Jordan is growing from strength-to-strength due to this, something that doesn’t appear to stopping anytime soon.

Will Jordan - Book Series In Order Will Jordan - Book Series In Order

Drake represents the present. He’s younger and still relatively new to the world of covert operations. He certainly has some baggage (much of which will come out later in the series), but he’s still something of a blank slate with lots of potential for growth. Russia, 1959. Nine members of a Soviet mountaineering team on an ambitious expedition into the Ural Mountains are found dead, victims of massive and bizarre injuries. The Dyatlov Pass incident, as this grisly event came to be known, remains unexplained to this day. To be honest, I was more intrigued about Drake's team members than the heavily featured Maras, and it was often the interaction between the side characters that kept the story interesting. Maras could've been great if she weren't depicted in such an unrealistic way, and to me this feels like a missed opportunity to create a truly interesting and strong female character. She would've been equally impressive but much more believable had she prevailed through her conflicts through resourcefulness and deception instead of physically dominating everyone regardless of size or strength. Redemption is a fast paced action thriller, told from multiple points of view, with interesting locations and characters that complement each other nicely. Interaction and banter between the main characters is generally fun and enjoyable, even if unoriginal at times. There are no dull moments in this book, and it's paced in a way that it's hard to stop reading - or, as in my case, listening. Sadly the tone of the characters is not always consistent, and several moments that are supposed to be emotionally important come too soon or are otherwise underdeveloped. The closer we get to the ending the more most characters seem to start following a typical Hollywood formula with all the clichés you may find in generic action movies, along with lines we've all heard uttered before. In any case, the book is written well enough and the story is compelling enough to keep the reader hooked.I certainly see Redemption as the first step in a complex overarching story that will develop over the course of five books. There are an awful lot of unanswered questions at the end, both for Drake and Maras, and the next four books will see both of them searching for answers – sometimes together, sometimes apart and sometimes against each other.