Man on Edge

January 1, 2020
Now that he's repelled the Russians from his Alaskan hometown (Man on Ice, 2019), Maj. Rake Ozenna of the Alaska National Guard finds himself battling them in the Eastern Hemisphere. Although Rake's foes fly the same flag as in his debut, they're considerably more fractured this time around. Nuclear submarine expert Artyom Semenov, Rake's ex-fiancee Dr. Carrie Walker's uncle, for years a loyal Russian, is suddenly acting as if he wants to defect immediately and bring with him a thumb drive filled with unspecified secrets. Col. Ruslan Yumatov, a strategically placed officer who's already betrayed one would-be defector, is determined to stop this one as well. Sergey Grizlov, Russia's charismatic new foreign minister, is clearly angling to succeed President Viktor Lagutov sooner than his boss expects. When Carrie heads to the old country to give her uncle whatever help she can and then finds out it's not nearly enough, she immediately has to go on the run herself, unable to decide which of the sharply conflicting parties who offer to protect her from the others she can actually trust. Despite having broken off their engagement, she sends an SOS to Rake, whose friendship with Detective Mikki Wekstatt, an Alaska State Trooper seconded to the Norwegian Police Service, brings him into uncomfortably close contact with a routine interview that turns into a blood bath. Even though she makes all the right decisions, Carrie gets kidnapped anyway; the body count rises alarmingly; and the villains plot a game-changing double assassination. Can Rake and his allies possibly cut through the fog of triple-crosses and alliances of convenience to rescue Carrie and make the world safe, if not for democracy, at least for Rake's next adventure? The pace is furious, the casualty list breathtaking, and the plotters exactly whom you suspected.

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January 20, 2020
In Hawksley’s Man on Ice (2018), Alaska National Guard Maj. Rake Ozenna helped thwart an attempted Russian invasion of the U.S. Relatives of the nine Russian soldiers he killed on Alaska’s Little Diomede island are now seeking vengeance in this unconvincing sequel. Three Russians try to kill Rake during a presentation he’s giving at a Washington, D.C., conference without success. Meanwhile, physician Carrie Walker, Rake’s onetime fiancée, is in peril inside Russia, where she has traveled to meet her vice-admiral uncle, Artyom Semenov, a specialist in submarine technology. Semenov is hoping to use Carrie to transfer some highly classified state secrets to the West. The operation is botched amid indications that the British embassy in Moscow has been compromised, leading to frantic efforts on Carrie’s part to stay alive. Rake goes to her rescue. Too many chance developments keep the lead characters safe. Hawksley fails to make the politics of his post-Trump, post-Putin setting feel real. Agent: David Grossman, David Grossman Literary Agency (U.K.).

February 1, 2020

There are layers upon layers of deceit in this second action-packed "Rake Ozenna" thriller by former BBC correspondent Hawksley (after Man on Ice). Rake, of the Alaskan National Guard, is once again loaned out to the CIA to extract a Soviet admiral with information for the West. What follows is a whirlwind of assassinations and near-assassinations, kidnappings and general mayhem, all well presented and fun to read. Unlike most novels about the West vs. Russia, the adventure takes place in the frozen North, as Russia, the United States, and Britain prepare to meet on a battleship off the Norwegian coast. Rake is aided by his former fiancée Carrie Walker and assorted other players, not all of whom can be trusted. Furthermore, the Russians are out for Rake's blood: a previous operation (detailed in the first book) left nine Russians dead. Behind Russia's machinations is a secret brotherhood, the Kolovrat, dedicated to restoring Slavic greatness in the Western world. VERDICT A hard-as-nails hero, an out-of-the-ordinary location, and oodles of high-action encounter--it's everything readers want in a political thriller.--David Keymer, Cleveland

Copyright 2020 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

February 15, 2020
Major Rake Ozenna, an officer in the Alaska National Guard, is ordered to bring a courier across the border from Russia to Norway. The courier is carrying a USB drive containing top-secret information on Russia's nuclear-submarine program. However, the operation goes awry, and, by the time Rake arrives, the courier has disappeared. Meanwhile, Rake's ex-fianc�e, Dr. Carrie Walker, receives a mysterious call from her Uncle Artyom, a high-level scientist in Russia, who begs Carrie to help him defect to the U.S. in exchange for secrets, also about Russia's nuclear subs. Partnering with Harry Lucas, former chair of the House Intelligence Committee who now works for a private defense contractor, Carrie flies to Moscow to bring her uncle and his secrets back to the West. Not going to be easy, it turns out, leaving Carrie no choice but to turn to Rake for help. What the pair eventually uncover is an ambition-fueled plot that could result in global disaster. A multilayered tale with plenty of fast-paced action will hook thriller fans.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2020, American Library Association.)