The Devil’s Ransom is not only a ‘ripped from the headlines’ story, but Brad Taylor seems to have delved into our collective psyches and wrenched out our darkest fears as well. Full of kinetic action showing Pike Logan and his team at their very best, the plotline is cleverly balanced out with ethical and moral quandaries that will have you debating long after you’re done with this book. This might be the most balanced and thought provoking installment of this iconic series.
As the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan, the most important CIA asset in the war on terror finds himself in need of assistance and looking for a way out before the Taliban capture and kill him. While on a research/cover trip for Grolier Recovery Services in neighboring Tajikistan, Pike and company find themselves as the closest team capable of pulling off the extraction. What they didn’t count on was having their legs cutout from under them when the Taskforce’s technological resources are shut down due to a sophisticated ransomware attack. Saddled with not only rescuing the asset, Pike and his crew must now hunt down the hackers responsible for the cyberattack that leads them from the mountains of central Asia to the aquatic beauty of the Adriatic sea.
This is a relentless story that can easily be read as a simple action thriller, but Taylor’s addition of another layer took my reading experience to another level. What sets this book apart from the rest of the series is the increased attention to the internal debates and decisions that team members are forced to grapple with as the stakes continue to ratchet up. Taylor does an amazing job taking the reader into those positions alongside our favorite characters and had me wondering throughout what I would do in their situation.
Also, if you weren’t jealous of the research trips that Brad and the DCOE take each year, you will be after this one. The details and local knowledge is top notch and he definitely has me yearning for some Croatian gelato despite the fact that it’s the middle of winter right now.
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Barrington Books
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