Adam Hamdy writes intense suspenseful thrillers like none other. His charm is in keeping every thriller extremely unpredictable. The first book in the series, Pendulum, set a high bar with a uniquely riveting storyline and an unconventional protagonist who survived by his wits. Rather than hastily wrapping up a treasure trove of expansive storyline in a single book, Adam Hamdy has explored it further in the bigger and darker sequel, Freefall.
Adam Hamdy continues the entangled stories of John Wallace, DI Bailey, and Special Agent Christine Ash as they try to move on from the traumatic events of the first book where a vigilante was targeting all those who had cyberbullied his sister into committing suicide. A mysterious group known as The Foundation shows itself as the brains behind Pendulum with the goal to digitize the world economy using blockchain to manipulate the vast digitized financial assets. With clandestine members in every corner of the world embedded in law enforcement and military factions, there is no one out of reach for the Foundation. It’s up to the trio to get back in the fight and put a stop to the nefarious Foundation before it becomes too powerful.
Freefall had me biting my nails in sheer terror the whole time. The characters are put through the wringer in the most disturbing ways and they don’t come out the same. The sudden and unexpected jolts of crisp action and mind-bending revelations keep you glued to the book long past bedtime. Yet at its heart, Freefall succeeds in thrilling readers because of the super realistic and relatable main characters with graceful character developments over the chapters. If there’s danger, they won’t jump in with a cavalier attitude but with a true sense of apprehension that they may not get out alive. The absence of silly plot armors makes the losses gut-wrenching and exact immense psychological tolls on the characters as well as the readers. The narrative keeps accelerating faster by the chapters and never loses momentum as Wallace, Bailey, and Ash are chased by assassins relentlessly all over the globe from the mountains of Afghanistan to the metropolitan cities of UK and USA. There is no sense of safety for even a moment as the continuous vibe of impending doom looms over the characters at every step of their fight for truth and survival.
I don’t normally binge thrillers; I like to dip into various different series before making my way back. I made an exception this time by ordering the final book in the series five minutes after finishing Freefall because the ending left me rattled with a ball of nervous energy that can only be dissipated once I know what happens next. I highly recommend reading Pendulum before you read Freefall so that you may bask in the immersive experience of reading an ingenious storyline spread over multiple books.
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