by Mark Greaney
Part of Jack Ryan, book 11
First published 2015
Explosions rip through a Lithuanian gas facility. A Venezuelan prosecutor falls to an assassin's bullet. Dozens die when attackers target a Russian military train. President Jack Ryan studies the intelligence reports flooding his desk and sees what others miss: these scattered acts of violence form a deliberate pattern. The Russian economy teeters on the brink as energy prices collapse. The Russian leader faces losing his grip on power unless he can expand his nation's influence abroad. But direct confrontation with America has failed before. Now he pursues his goals through shadow operations and proxy attacks. Ryan's intelligence teams scramble to expose the truth behind the coordinated strikes. Meanwhile, the President fights to forge unity among suspicious Western allies who doubt his warnings about Russian schemes. Five thousand Russian soldiers mass at the border of a NATO member nation. Ryan races against time to stop the dictator's plan for global conflict. The balance of world power hangs in the balance.
Genres: military-fiction, adventure, suspense, action, espionage, political-thriller
Vibes: fast-paced, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: enemies-to-lovers, political-intrigue
Setting: Lithuania, Venezuela, NATO Country, Russia
Period: Contemporary
718 pages · Hardcover · G.P. Putnam's Sons/Penguin Random House LLC