CIA intelligence officer Titus Ray tries to recruit a nuclear scientist in Tehran. Days later, he goes on the run from the secret police.For the past two years, Titus Ray, CIA intelligence officer, has been in Iran trying to recruit assets willing to feed him intel on the Iranian opposition. When he unexpectedly meets Amir Madani, one of Iran’s premier nuclear scientist, he can’t resist the … nuclear scientist, he can’t resist the opportunity to pursue him as a CIA asset.
Although Chaman, a beautiful Iranian socialite, warns Titus to stay away from Madani, he ignores her advice and befriends the nuclear scientist. The consequences prove disastrous for Titus, and, as the secret police close in on him, he’s forced to find shelter with a group of Iranian Christians, who risk their own lives to save his.
One Step Back, a Titus Ray Thriller novella, is the prequel to One Night in Tehran, Book I in the Titus Ray Thriller Series.
Here’s what reviewers are saying about Titus Ray Christian Thrillers:
“The characters are very well-developed and believable. I enjoyed the way the author described Titus Ray’s internal struggles and character flaws creating a very authentic main character. The story was action-packed and one is left wondering how the author could be so knowledgeable of the CIA and the work of their covert operatives.” -Amazon review
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This was an interesting thriller. I received this for free and I voluntarily chose to review it. I’ve given it a 4* rating. It was interesting but felt a little flat at first but picked up a little at the end. It made me think of the TV show of “Burn” a little bit. However, there were plenty of twists and turns in this and struck me as the way things could go in that area. Since I’m not at all familiar with that area, it made it a little harder to picture this.
This book is the first in the Titus Ray series, but there’s a prequel, to this book. Read in order. CIA operative, good at his job, little inept at interpersonal relationships. New Christian, applying new ideals in a seasoned lifestyle. Hard to put down, long after I should have been asleep!!
I think this is a great beginning to a thriller series. It is suspenseful, full of action, & questions that I am sure will be answered as I read further the books in the series. There isn’t exactly a cliff-hanger at the end but the story does continue into the next book. I believe I will have to read all the books to get all the story. I believe I received this book from a listing of books offered for free by signing up for the authors newsletter. This is my voluntary review.
‘One Step Back’ is my introduction to the Titus Ray spy thrillers by author Luana Erhlich. Although this is a novella, rather than a full-length novel, as are the rest of the books in the series, the writer does a splendid job of providing a complex tale with well-fleshed out leading characters that intrigue sufficiently to make the reader want to explore more of her protagonist’s world as a CIA spy.
I was particularly impressed with the covert agent spy craft subtly salted throughout which helped maintain the tale grounded in such a way the reader was rooting for the CIA man as he selected and recruited distinct assets in Teheran. Erhlich creates a solid and believable narrative, hinting at the tension her protagonist lives with daily, as betrayal in such a hostile environment would mean almost certain death. When matters do start to go wrong for the protagonist, this is also treated with mastery, as Ray realizes his network has been exposed and he now is the target.
My only gripe, if you can call it that, is the real nature of the nuclear scientist is not defined. Was he bait to capture foreign agents, or was he genuinely a potential CIA asset? Notwithstanding this, I have already started the first of the full-length Titus Ray books, which takes off exactly where this prequel finishes. A great read. Interesting characters. A superb introduction to a promising spy thriller series.
CIA agent Titus Ray is deeply undercover in Tehran Iran. He has developed relationships with “assets” that feed him information about the Iranian government which he passes on to the Agency in the United States. When those assets begin disappearing he suspects Vevak, the Iranian secret police, are onto him. The arrangements with his Handler for extraction begin to go wrong has he is pursued through Iran.
The author does a great job of building the characters and developing the plot. I liked that it could be a spy thriller and still be a clean read. It is a well-written book and I would recommend it to anyone who enjoys a good suspenseful thriller.
Wow.
Ok, first off, I still consider myself pretty new to this genre (Christian Suspense), and most often than not, a blurb like the one this novella has would usually turn me off, or I’d be reading it with bated breath, just waiting for when things are going to turn sour, dreading it all the while. However, things in this book happened at just the right pace, with all those “dreaded events” woven seamlessly into the narrative, and just making me want to know what was going to happen next. Now, while the end does live a few questions unanswered, I think that’s par for the course of this being a prequel, and actually was satisfied with the way things concluded.
The narrator did a great job with portraying all the voices, and keeping in mind that this story takes place in Iran, his foreign accents were especially good (or, at least for me, they were believable). And while it’s true that there seemed to be many names thrown at once at the beginning, the characterization of each of them helped keep them in order much faster.
Titus makes for a great main character and I’m so happy this is but the prequel to his series. I definitely look forward to reading/listening to more of him.
A great introduction to the Titus Ray series and the world of secret intelligence. This prequel set the scene for what I can only imagine will be action-packed in book one. At times I felt as if I were reading one of Daniel Silva’s Gabriel Allon books, which was great. I marvel at Luana Ehrlich’s knowledge of CIA intelligence and look forward to reading the first book in the Titus Ray thriller series.
Can he stay alive long enough?
I’ve actually heard a fair bit about the Titus Ray Thriller series but up until now I’d not read any of them myself. One Step Back was different from pretty much any other suspense novel that I’ve either read or listened to. Sure, there were plenty of similarities but this was the first one that I’ve ever read set entirely in modern day Iran with an embedded CIA agent as the hero. The narrative style was also a bit unusual in tone. Oh, and it shot holes in a few stereotypes that I must have unwittingly believed.
On the grittier end of Christian fiction, it is a thriller after all, I found this prequel novella from Luana Ehrlich to be different but interesting. It was intriguing as the hero, Titus, learns who Jesus is from a family of Christians in a country well known for its persecution. So, if you can handle some mild language and some violence in a novel with a strong Christian message, you might try this short audiobook ‘read’.
Overall the audiobook production seemed to be all right. There was a little background something in a small section but that was pretty much it. And I am so glad that they chose a male narrator for this audiobook! It made the listening experience so much better! In my opinion One Step Back was a quick, but good, introduction to Luana Ehrlich’s Titus Ray Thriller series.
(I received a copy of this book from the author/publisher. All opinions are entirely my own.)