MWSA Review
Assassin’s Mace by Ron McManus is a thriller based on current-day technology and weapons. Jake Palmer and his partner Alona Green, both contractors with the US Joint Special Operations Command’s elite Task Force Orange, must exfiltrate Russia’s top hypersonic missile engineer, Dmitry Solokov, with virtually no time to plan or arrange for backup other than Britain’s MI6 chief of station. Russia’s FSB has been interrogating and arresting innocent missile scientists, and Solokov knows he could be next. Border crossings with Finland are being carefully watched with human agents, pressure sensors, video, drones, and, in rural areas, dog patrols. To make matters more difficult, there is little, if any, cell service in rural areas and nowhere to charge dying phones. In addition to the FSB hunting them, there is a highly successful sniper who has no qualms about crossing borders.
Solokov offers more than his technical knowledge, which he is certain is far superior to that of Western nations. The West has been slow to develop hypersonic missiles and effective defenses and faces production challenges as compared to Russia and its allies (China, North Korea, and Iran). The West’s power grids, communication networks, and satellites are targets for simultaneous attack. Their reaction might be a nuclear one.
The major characters have well-developed stories that explain their motivations and actions, and the road to safety for the exfiltration is far from straightforward. In addition to the fast-paced story of their run for the border, you learn some geopolitics, like Russia weaponizing immigration into Finland. In other words, if they can put enough Russians into the border area of Finland, they can alter the political leanings of the area and claim that they need to protect their citizens, as they did in the Crimea. It is clear that members of the FSB are well trained, although the motivation of the leaders of Russia and FSB have questionable goals, strategies, and tactics.
The author’s background as a former naval officer and a Vietnam combat veteran undoubtedly helped him add authenticity to the story. This is well written and will keep you engaged.
Review by Nancy Kauffman
Author's Synopsis
Jake Palmer is weeks away from finishing a grueling two-year contract with the U.S. Joint Special Operations Command’s elite Task Force Orange in Islamabad. But instead of winding down, he and his partner, Alona Green, are thrust into their most dangerous mission yet: a covert operation deep inside Russia under false identities. With MI6’s Moscow Station Chief, Sania Reed, as their only lifeline, their goal is clear—extract Russia’s top hypersonic missile engineer and deliver him safely into U.S. custody. But when the mission uncovers intelligence with world-shaking consequences, the stakes rise beyond anything they imagined. Now hunted by Russia’s Federal Security Service and its most lethal operative, assassin Nikolai Ivanov, Palmer and Green must outwit an enemy who rarely misses. The consequences of mission failure could redefine the balance of global power and cost Palmer and Green everything.
Format(s) for review: Paper or Kindle
Review genre: Fiction—Mystery/Thriller/Crime
Pages/Word count: 363 / 89,000
