Filled with intense and all-consuming action, The Instructor is an emotional roller coaster that induces serious heart palpitations, heavy perspiration and adrenaline spikes. T.R. Hendricks bursts onto the thriller scene with a wonderfully outstanding debut novel featuring a protagonist that is as resourceful and patriotic as any in the genre.
Derek Harrington is a retired Marine who is struggling with civilian life. He’s recently divorced, behind on child support payments, running a barely solvent wilderness survival school, caring for his aging and ailing father and battling PTSD – all of which keep him busy that he’s missing out on important moments for his only son. So when he’s offered thousands of dollars to impart his survival and tactical wisdom on a security force for a private group living off the grid in update New York, he has little choice but to accept despite his reservations about who he will be working for. However, he views this as a potential mission and reaches out to a friend in the FBI to build an undercover operation to determine what this group is up to and stop them from doing any harm. But Derek will soon find that infiltrating this organization is the easy part. Staying alive, figuring out who he can trust, keeping his sanity and stopping a sinister plot will take every ounce of his strength and elite skill set to emerge victorious and protect the country and the individuals he loves so much.
Two things stand out in The Instructor. First, it’s dripping with operational authenticity. The level of detail provided in the survival and tactical training portions of the novel are of the highest quality. Everything Derek Harrington teaches feels like it’s straight from a real Recon Marine/SERE instructor, making it abundantly clear the author has first-rate experience in this area that is enhanced with superior research to ensure everything is flawless. Second, Harrington’s actions and thoughts are those of a person who’s flawed but persistent in the pursuit of personal growth. There are times when he’s easy to root for and feel bad for what he’s experiencing, and other times where you wonder if he’s just a huge adrenaline seeking asshole. But it’s all a part of the character development journey, fitting perfectly into the arc of the story and resulting in the creation of a protagonist who will run through a wall of bullets to successfully complete the mission and defend the country from all enemies, foreign or domestic.
Take my unsolicited advice and jump onto the Derek Harrington train early. Because this series is going to take off like a rocket ship with no inclination to slow down anytime soon. And big congrats to T.R. Hendricks for crafting a novel and protagonist that will stand out in the crowded and excellent thriller genre. Can’t wait to see what comes next!
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