The Marcus Ryker Series Review || The Kremlin Conspiracy and The Persian Gamble

I remember there once being a #trend on January of a certain amount of books to be read in a year.

I personally set 50...

...Yet I laughed off such a number because I knew how busy and so little time in a day that I had.
With my normal Hive writing and curating, school or house work plus watching anime in my free time which I'll then make a review of in The Anime Realm, I knew my schedule was full.
Yet, 2 weeks ago, when I made my Book Recommendations Post for the now ending #februaryinleo contest. I found my want back when reminiscing on these old novels and stories I diligently read before and during my early days of coming on hive.

After an offline friend asked about one of the novels and where to download them after seeing that particular post on my blog, I did a quick search and saw that one of the series had been updated with a new book.
That fueled my reading spirit once more, making me download the whole series to start afresh..
My first book series this year is the Marcus Ryker Series by Joel. C. Rosenberg and I'm going to do a review of the books on there, at the same time, keep count of how many books i read on my way to 50...

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1. The Kremlin Conspiracy.

As far as debut books go for a series, this was a 10 out of 10.
From the first line to the last, the first line being a killer line, the first chapter which would really shake you up and give you that little boost of adrenaline to help you go through the book.

In this book, we get introduced to all the main players, our protagonist, Marcus Ryker and our first antagonist of the series , for there is an antagonist in every book.
Self Made Plot.

Aleksandr Ivanovich Luganov, the President of Russia is our antagonist here. A stoic, cold, ruthless man who was a threat to everyone and everything, including himself.
His plans to raise the land of Russia to be the only reigning world Power, above the broken NATO alliance, was not only devilish and inhumane in it's conception but also in the methods with which the plan was to unfold.
An antagonist so evil, and a plan so perfect, that to foil it, there has to be a huge risk, would Marcus and his Raven be able to make it?

This story like I mentioned earlier was gold, beautiful in it's pace and world building.
The world building here, despite it not being fantasy is one in which you, the reader is forcefully brought to these real life locations which the words have created in your mind, it's a surreal experience while reading.
Characters are lovely too. Each staying true to their roles and the mental image you've already prepared for them, although some may exceed your expectations.

Maybe Luganov isn't as evil as it seems....

Maybe he's worse...

Then the ending was fulfilling, so calm that you'll feel it's all over and Marcus's adventures are over...
But like all disasters, the peace always come before the first bullet.

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2. The Persian Gamble

The foiling of Luganov's plans to invade America, reclaim the Russian states and in tandem destroy NATO left so many ripples with his subordinate countries who gathered together for his cause.
Now with Luganov gone, each countries see no need to work together and now start working for their own gain, the first of these is Iran and North Korea who hasten their transaction of Nuclear Warheads.
Marcus Ryker now must undergo a dangerous mission to stop this apocalyptic transaction from ever taking place.

Each book in this series is a thriller, with it's fair share of gun fights and flash bombs and big explosions but in this 2nd book, we're in it deep as we read the Navy's inner workings and a mission turning into an all out bloodbath.
This book kept me in the edge of my seat, sucking on every word trying to get through to the next chapter and see what happens next.
The cast doesn't change as much, with side and minor characters taking the stage often, although there is a major characters death that shook me, but I wont spoil it for you all.
We're in lack of exotic environments here as most of the story happens in America and then on the sea.
We do get to have a glimpse at a nuclear submarine though, despite that nothing much on this book.
Suspense and gripping, thrilling action for the full 367 pages.

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That's a brief reviews of my first 2 books of the year 2024.
I'm currently on the 3rd book in the Series The Jerusalem Assassin and it feels like a real adventure.
These books are a great read for anyone who's looking for a round the world political fiction adventure and any other reader who's just up for a nice read.
A solid 9 out of 10 stars from me for the two books and hopefully by this time next week I'll be back with more reviews on the rest of the series.

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