I received a copy of COLD SHOT from the publisher in late spring for me to review. I love a good CIA/espionage/government bad guys thriller, and this one was a great read, reminding me of Jack Higgins novels from my  past.

In COLD SHOT, a boat is discovered floating in the ocean, with a dead (tortured) Somalian man in it, thought to be a pirate. Two CIA analysts begin the hunt to figure out who he is, why he was tortured, and what is being covered up. What they find is of huge consequence: Iran’s secret attempts to create nuclear weapons.

I loved the pacing of this book, which was action packed and quite thrilling. Sometimes when I read books like this, I think “Really? That’s pretty implausible”, but not this time. In fact, author Mark Henshaw is a former CIA employee, and his novel is quite believable and realistic. Henshaw’s previous book, RED CELL, occurs before this one, and with the same characters. While you wouldn’t have to read that one first, I felt like I would have enjoyed it and gotten an intro to these characters as well, as sometimes back story was discussed.

If you like Jack Higgins, Robert Ludlum, or similar authors, you will probably enjoy COLD SHOT. I hope to get RED CELL to read, too!

Thank you, Simon and Schuster, for my copy!