In The Beirut Protocol, Joel Rosenberg’s fourth novel in the Marcus Ryker series, the reader is thrown into the action within the first sentence! This was my first time reading a novel by Rosenberg, and he did not disappoint.
When we meet up with Marcus Ryker and his two colleagues, we are immediately immersed in a gun fight for our hero’s lives. All through this sequence, I found myself beyond worried if they were going to make it. I knew nothing of these characters, but I was invested from page one in their survival.
Marcus Ryker and his partner, Kailea Curtis, are both DSS special agents sent as an advance team to the Israel-Lebanon border prior to the Secretary of State’s arrival for a crucial Israeli and Saudi peace deal. As the team works with an Israeli liaison on this advance trip, they are caught in the cross hairs of a Hezbollah ambush. The team, after a vicious fire fight, are caught, and a joint US and Israeli response is immediately sent to get them back. The pressure is on to rescue them, for if this advance teams’ true identity comes to light, no amount of negotiations will get them back.
Marcus Ryker is portrayed in the novel as being a maverick and a person who does not toe the company line. He is an individual who in the past has taken impossible situations and turned them upside down. He has also made powerful enemies on the world stage who would love nothing more than to have Ryker as a prisoner.
Due to his lone wolf ways, many in his organization do not care for his tactics, however Ryker has made friends with individuals high in the government who hold some serious sway. A manhunt is unleashed to get Ryker and his team back, and they will be forced to think fast on their feet as they jet around Lebanon in search of these high value individuals.
The Beirut Protocol was a high stakes fast read with terrifying global implications. This novel has the “ripped from the headlines” plot that thriller fans have come to love in this genre. The reader roots for Ryker through the entire novel; celebrating victories and mourning failures. I have to say, I was nervous for the torture scenes, but it makes you cheer for the victories that Ryker has all the more. The Beirut Protocol was a well done geo-political read that I feel fans of the genre will enjoy!
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