Book# 0.5 in the Assassin series

This prequel to “King of Swords” is a raw and unflinching thriller introducing El Rey, one of Russell Blake’s most brutal characters. 

The book opens with the deadly El Rey as he carries out his latest job- the assassination of a drug cartel boss. Then the story switched to his childhood where we find out how he was groomed to become the most notorious and deadliest assassin known to date. The story is framed against the backdrop of Mexico drug trafficking and in the midst of a bloody war of power. 

The world of Drug cartels depicted in this book is very scary but fortunately the author spares us the many gory details. As the story keeps moving it tells us how El Rey setups his hits and how he manages to get away. No doubt, the plot is fast-paced, one that kept me on the edge waiting for his next move. It is definitely an action filled thriller that grabs attention from the first page and holds it all through. Although violent, I loved this cold blooded killer; El Rey is all what I expected from this kind of character. Mr. Blake excels in moving his plot between characters and scenes and pulling us into the environment of a deadly killer. 

The story is well-written, moves along without getting bogged down and is an easy and captivating read.

Book #1, in the Assassin series

This is one brutal and heart-stopping novel I read in a long time. In “King of Swords” we are taken on a violent journey through drug cartel of Mexico. This thriller is definitely not for the fainthearted, it is a blend of facts and fiction and strange enough, we will never know where the truth ends and where Mr. Russell’s inspiration kicked in, the fine line between is a little fuzzy.

This thriller is cranked up on steroids and has left me gasping and cringing more often than not. The storyline is very graphic. It captures the casual savagery of the ordinary men engaged in extraordinary brutality. Thousands of good and bad people die every year caught in violent confrontations. The author wanted to highlight the psychological making of a monster and he perfectly achieved his goal in his storyline. The pacing is high-velocity I couldn’t help but to follow the tempo by furiously flipping the pages so captivated by the goings- on. El Rey, the main character is a cold blooded killer and assassin operating in Mexico who would work for both the cartels and the police depending upon the situation. Romero Cruz is the police captain on El Rey’s tail and with panoply of interesting side players adding to the thrill, we can only be smack into an exciting saga. Reading this book is like watching a Die Hard movie. It is extremely well- written, full of nasty stuff, fast-paced (I think I said this many times), violent, enthralling….

This thriller is an excellent cat and mouse game full of gritty details. I loved it. 

Book # 1, in the Jet series This story is Hot Hot, action packed from start to finish mayhem around 50% of the book with a bit of romance thrown into a very captivating drama. What is not to like for a thrill junky as myself. “Jet” provides everything I like in this type of books: expertize in clandestine enterprises, minutia details in action, equipment and scenery, in your face action, a hot assassin and it goes on and on. Of course you need to enjoy a fast-paced story with lots of shooting, stabbing, blowing up people….the bang-bang definitely is at the driver seat….If you love spy/assassin adventure this series if for you. Prepare to start running at the opening page and not stop till the very end… The scenes play out like an action movie: very visual and exciting. The prose is clear and straightforward” in all an easy read. Although the protagonist is a female the author does not go sexist or ridicule his character, her sex happens to be incidental. She is definitely a woman you don’t want to mess around with: she is lethal if you cross her and very intimidating most of the time. Jet is an ex-Mossad operative, who kicks ass in one of the best action sequences I have read in a long time. Of course this is a heart-pounding thriller with unique twists only Mr. Blake can deliver. The scenes also combined opulence and glamour and hard hitting black ops tradecraft we will ever see. This is definitely a humdinger of a thriller

Blood Honor - Russell Blake Always nice to read a non-zombie apocalypse. I liked that we knew early in the story what caused the apocalypse and how the main character survived. He's your typical macho post-apocalypse survivor with the skills to stay one step ahead of the grim reaper, even when he does dumb shit like walk into an enemy stronghold and blow everything to hell as payback for them killing his grandfather.

The storyline and pace are great. It's a page turner. But this book definitely plays into right-leaning paranoia... I think the term "nanny state" is even used once. Lots of gun porn anytime they kill attackers and loot their bodies, which is often. Women tend to have a special status of either wife, matron, or potential love interest, not fighters.

Overall it's your typical disaster survival story, with little hope of a back to normal state. I wouldn't even really call it science fiction other than the details around what type of pandemic it is. It feels pretty hopeless and pointless except for a glimmer of hope around the girl.

Book # 0.5, in the Jet series

This is the first prequel to the Jet series, that leaves us wondering how many prequels are in the planning….apparently at least two more may be needed to document Maya’s adventures before she became Mossad’s most lethal operative. “Ops Files” is an essential read and a good introduction to the character and is also mine to the author as well as to the series.

Maya Weiss is a ruthless, superhuman female James Bond and of course she is 100% fiction but what a character she makes and what adventures she is facing. From the West Bank to Tel Aviv to Jordan to Singapore to Indonesia, packed with action from page one “Ops Files” is a breakneck adrenaline rush from start to finish. What an escapism, leave your believability barometer behind and enjoy the moment.

What a fun read, I was just in the perfect mood for a fast-paced, super-spy action thriller with breath holding moments and a storyline very hard to put down. Some may think the action is comic like but it definitely knows how to keep us engaged with vivid scenes. Sharp dialogue and tight narration makes this book an easy read. The plot is typical but very well done.