Tom Black is on his first mission for the secretive government agency TEP (Threat Elimination and Prevention). His job is to find the location of some armaments and a terrorist, Saad Khan, from corrupt policeman Ross Scott who had been gun-running for Khan and then kill both of them. Having tracked Scott to his house and got the drop on him, he begins the interrogation only to be surprised and captured by the very terrorist he is looking for. When he wakes up, he finds Khan and Scott trying to decide what to do and figure out who Black works for. In the end, the decision is that Khan will leave to move the arms and that Scott will have to dispose of Black and then rendezvous with Khan where the arms are stored. With Scott realising how deep in he is and being increasingly erratic, Black knows he is on his own and with no backup. Trying to stay alive, let alone complete his first mission seems more difficult than he had thought it would be, especially as it seems someone tipped them off in advance.

This sharp, brutal novelette pulls no punches in the first of the series. Dropping us straight into the action, it appears that nothing is as it seems from the start to the end for all the characters involved. The plot may be straightforward but it is finely honed down to it’s core components that keeps the focus on action. As the story starts, it helps that the author is descriptive enough to sink you straight into what is happening and can understand the little details of everyone’s actions as they play their parts. The characters are as you would expect for this kind of thriller and each of them play their part well in this brief mission. The only character who seems out of place is Sarah Barnes, and it is a great shame that the only female in the story is the one giving into her emotions where all the rest are cold blooded and calculating. There may be more back story beyond a one night stand, but it doesn’t fit the tone of the rest of the piece.

The formatting for the eBook was fine and while there are a few spelling mistakes I noticed as I was reading, they didn’t bother me too much as I was enjoying the book and turning from page to page to find out what happens next.

Overall, this is a great sharp story, let down by some character flaws, but worth reading for fans of the genre. With more books in the series, this might be an interesting one to follow.