James Ryker is well and truly out of retirement. Peter Winter, the head of the Joint Intelligence Agency (JIA), has reluctantly sent James Ryker, his top agent together with three others, Jay Halstead, Brett Lewis and Sam Moreno to maintain the peace in Chabon, a country in Africa. Why reluctantly? Because normally the JIA don’t get involved in the political disputes of individual countries. Unfortunately, this joint venture between SIS and JIA is a direct command from the government. They are hoping that this specialist team will keep the leader of Chabon, President Benyu, safe until the democratic elections which are destined to take place in a few months’ time. Keeping the peace between President Benyu’s government, a government he’d established after taking over the presidency in a coup, and the opposition leader, Chima Muampa is going to prove harrowing especially as both leaders are brutal and savage in their treatment of anyone standing in their way. This is a brutal, harrowing read. James Ryker might be used to defending himself against assassins, kidnappers and the like, but he’s never had to fight for his life and those of his team in searing heat, not knowing who their true enemy is. I’ve been spoilt over the years following Carl Logan before he went into hiding and changed his name to James Ryker. What I love most about James is that he is a thinker, a hardened fighter with a beautiful soul. Because I have such “motherly” feelings about him, I reacted quite violently to the three members of his team. I couldn’t warm to them and found them quite irritating. They didn’t seem to have the same commitment or understanding of just how violent and dangerous this assignment could be. Possibly my reaction is that they accepted the assignment as “just another job” without realising that this was Africa, a continent steeped in brutal violence unlike anywhere else. I must congratulate Rob Sinclair for his writing. He has captured the violence, deviousness and his description of the country and its people, making me feel I was back in Africa among the continent’s extraordinary people, cultures and wildness. I wonder where JIA will send you next James. Hopefully somewhere a little less hostile? I doubt it! Treebeard Breakaway Reviewers received a copy of the book to review.