What Readers say about Sakura Spark;Intense spy thriller based in my favorite country outside of my own. Nonstop action that kept me turning pages without stopping until I couldn’t keep my eyes open. Love this – Amazon Verified PurchaseAwesome Thriller. A chilling page turning read- Amazon Verified Purchase** – No 2 Goodreads Top Reader ** –No 35 Goodreads Top ReaderJago Hale is an ex spy without … Goodreads Top Reader
** –No 35 Goodreads Top Reader
Jago Hale is an ex spy without conviction
That is until a psychotic assassin working for an international crime organization murders a Russian oligarch and then puts Hale onto his list of targets.
A trip to meet a contact from Mossad leads to an attempt on their lives, but it’s the assassin’s murder of one of his oldest friends that finally persuades Jago to accept another job from his old employers in MI6. Despite his disillusionment with the secret service following the mysterious death of his wife and unborn child a year earlier, he reluctantly agrees to work with them again.
Can he find the killer of his friend, get revenge and find the answers to the many questions about his wife’s death?
What he finds in his travels across the globe while attempting to stop the organisation in its target of infiltrating friendly governments forces Jago to understand the only reason he exists. Retribution.
If you like Bourne, Reacher, Bond or Milton, the new kid on the block, Jago Hale, will prove equally gripping.
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*** No Spoilers ***
Though this is in the “Volume One” write-up, I’m reviewing the newly issued box set of all three books.
This was a great story that I thoroughly enjoyed. Reading the entire set of three books works well for me as I’m one of those who really dislikes being left hanging at the end of a novel and having to wait months to years for the next volume. The only disadvantage is I can’t read all three of them no-stop!
The opening act of the first book sets the stage for what will follow and informs the reader in no uncertain terms the nature of the bad guys we will see in operation.
Though bearing no resemblance whatsoever to me, the protagonist was someone with whom I could relate and as such no problem pulling for them throughout. Nothing worse than disliking the hero and their friends and being expected to stay with them until the end. Our lead, Jago Hale, is a complex character now working as an investigative reporter or some renown. Doing his job so well obviously ruffles the feathers of the wrong-doers he highlights. He formerly worked with an Intelligence Organization and developed contacts with others which can be helpful off the record with what he does. Similarly, he also can use his talents to assist them.
He’s also “damaged goods” due to experiences from his past, with which he has to deal on a personal level to cope.
His latest investigation see Jago get drawn in to a puzzle which is not unlike peeling an onion. Strip off a layer and there is yet another. And another. And another.
His opposition is quite capable and challenging. Just like peeling an onion, there are tears that come as he gets deeper and deeper. In the process you’ll see him having to “trust no one” yet need to at some levels and also decide what he can and can’t share with related contacts based on how much he can trust them. There would be implications from letting certain information get outside the closed, tightly knit group with whom he works. Jago is also having to deal with two new significant personal conflicts. Losses of close associates to the opposition, and the introduction of a possible love interest who may be more than she seems as well as being the first person he’s even been tempted to connect with after the loss of his wife some years back to an automobile accident. A loner by nature and very different in personalities, Jago and his wife were a perfect fit, and her death affected him that much more because he was a loner.
There may be leaks, or worse, opposition that have penetrated the organizations with which he is associated which in turn always puts Jago and his associates seemingly one step behind. Add to the mix the hiring of a top international assassin to take out Jago and those associated with him complicates things further. Are they directly related to his current investigation and those he’s taken down? Are they from someone higher up in the same organization as those targets were? Are they connected to some of the high level criminals he’s succeeded against from his investigative reporting and unrelated to the current mess? Or are they a wild card thrown into the mix for some other reason?
The story continues into the third volume where things get even more intense and we learn pieces of information that help tie things together and Jago and some of his international associates have to face all levels of their opposition and try to prevent their plot from succeeding. Won’t say anything more because of my “No Spoilers” promise but will say you won’t be disappointed!
This set of books are my first read by this author who I found by accident. It is no accident that I’m now following him and can’t wait for his next offering. If he were James Patterson, we know that would be about fifteen minutes from now with the rate he produces (How does he do that?) but you and I will be forced to wait. This review was from a publisher review copy. I’d have no problem purchasing from this author in the future.
Highly Recommended!!
P.S. The author’s page stated “Tomson Cobb has a background in international marketing and trading, with extensive experience of import and export, mainly in electronics.”
To which I’d add “nudge, nudge, wink wink, say no more!” See if you don’t agree after your read.