by Mark Greaney
First published 2015
Russian President Valeri Volodin faces a crumbling economy and restless oligarchs demanding their usual payoffs. Energy prices have collapsed, leaving Russia's domestic market stagnant. Volodin needs foreign expansion to maintain power, but direct confrontation with America has failed before. This time he chooses subterfuge. Explosions destroy a Lithuanian gas facility. Assassins kill a Venezuelan prosecutor. Bombers target a Russian military train. Each attack appears unconnected, creating worldwide chaos that masks Volodin's true strategy. President Jack Ryan spots the pattern linking these seemingly random strikes across the globe. He recognizes Volodin's guiding influence behind the violence, but lacks concrete evidence to prove Russian involvement. Ryan's intelligence teams scramble to connect the attacks while he struggles to build trust among suspicious Western allies. Five thousand Russian soldiers mass near a NATO border, ready to strike. Ryan must expose Volodin's deception and rally international opposition before the invasion begins, or watch the Russian leader reshape global power through conquest.
Genres: adventure, action, espionage, political-thriller
Vibes: fast-paced, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: enemies-to-lovers, political-intrigue
Setting: Lithuania, Russia, Venezuela
Period: Contemporary
736 pages · Kindle Edition · Penguin Publishing Group