There is no such thing as too many great spy action thrillers. I am constantly searching for unexplored territory of well-written action espionage thrillers, and that search led me to A Hostile State by Adrian Magson. As soon as I flipped to the first page, I knew I would love it when the very first chapter hooked me in with the protagonist, Marc Portman code-named Watchman, maneuvering under sniper fire while equipped with a Kahr semi-automatic pistol. The action takes off without wasting momentum and the plot fires away with the high-octane action.
Without giving away too much, A Hostile State puts Marc Portman, a contractor for the CIA, under the spotlight where his cover is blown by a secretive Russian group that aims to take revenge against its recent espionage failures by putting a bullseye on Portman who happens to be one of the most effective CIA assets. Then begins a long trail of blood and bullets with Portman chased from Lebanon to Paris by assassins who will stop at nothing to kill Portman. The plot thickens when the pattern can only be accredited to a leak in the CIA that is feeding Portman’s location to the assassins. The fast-paced and nail-biting aura of the narrative where Portman is constantly surveilled and targeted by killers, aided by a few friendlies, makes for an extremely compelling and energetic read. This sets up a fantastic stage for Marc Portman to show why he truly should be feared by his adversaries, as he parries and counters the assassins sent after him in brutal hand-to-hand combat and explosive shootouts.
With such a propelling story, it needs to have breakneck action sequences, and the author delivers on this promise. There is absolutely no shortage of bullets and gunfire as Marc showcases his lethal talents with pistols, rifles, and even a crossbow on a globetrotting hunting ground. With accurate weapons descriptions in the sequences detailing Marc’s tactical acumen, the reading experience is everything an action thriller fan could ask for. Even without a weapon, Marc puts his fists to good use with detailed descriptions of hand-to-hand combat with a focus on practicality and speed.
With A Hostile State being the 5th novel in the Marc Portman series, I was surprised by the ease of which I slipped into the narrative. The right amount of backstory is provided for readers to get into this book and enjoy it immensely. The characters are developed over the narrative with grounded personalities and foundations that made it easy to visualize and resonate with them fairly quickly, especially Marc Portman. While his profession is utterly violent, he comes across as the kind of guy you would root for without any hesitation. A straight shooter who will get the job done while exhibiting a strong moral compass. I immediately gelled with Marc Portman and his down-to-earth but intriguing personality, cultivated to preserve his anonymity. The strong focus on his POV as a first person POV, only shifting to a handful of other characters to progress the parallel storyline of the CIA leak, was done superbly to kept the momentum rolling. There was always something happening in the narrative that was extremely vital to the bigger picture.
Even before I had finished this thriller, I knew I was going to read the previous Marc Portman books. With such crisp and captivating writing, intriguing characters, fantastic action, and authentic narrative, I am sold on A Hostile State being a must-read for action thriller fans who are on the search for a new exciting thriller series to dive into. It is no piece of cake to allow readers to jump in headfirst in the latest thriller in a series without having read the previous books, but Adrian Magson pulls it off!
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