Landslide is author Sikes’s debut novel and the start of a series involving U.S. Marine veteran Mason Hackett. After being deployed in Iraq and losing his best friend in a disastrous military maneuver, he moves to London, goes to business school, and tries to start his life over. His PTSD and survivor’s guilt, though, get in the way of his full recovery and any potential relationships. When Mason sees the image of his long-dead best friend on TV, he seeks the truth about his friend’s death and ends up involved in a journey into eastern Ukraine.
Though Sikes previously worked for the CIA, oddly, his protagonist is not trained in espionage. However, Mason is not entirely naive: he is intelligent and has a good sense of self-preservation gained from his tenure in the military. He is honorable and willing to sacrifice his life to rescue his friend. Though touted as good for those readers who like Daniel Silva and Brad Thor, this book lacks the sophistication of Silva’s Gabriel Allon series. The writing style, with its short chapters and tense prose, are more consistent with Thor than Silva. I like the novel’s premise: against impossible odds, one man take on a mission to save a friend. The locations seem authentic. Not all the supporting characters are well-developed, but Alex has dimension, and Ike has the potential to be a recurring character.
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Landslide, A Mason Hackett Espionage Thriller Book 1, (Oceanview Publishing, September 20, 2022) is available through:
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