American Traitor by Brad TaylorMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
Pike #15, I always miss this crew between novels.
I think it's only fair I preface this review by admitting my normal read through time/process was wildly interrupted for American Traitor. Thanks to the crew at Harper Collins I received an advanced copy for review. However, I do most of my reading at work during downtime. My work, adult mechanical ventilation and ECMO in what is now an overflowing Covid-19 ICU. My apologies to Harper Collins and Brad Taylor for the delay, but as you might expect, down time is close to non-existent.
For the first time in a Pike novel I had trouble following the plot. More so, who each character was, what side they were on and their specific roll. I'm sure some of this was related to my gaps in read time, but not all of it. Quite a few code names, double agents and false flag operations. At times I'd just give in and accept "I don't know if he's good or bad." Even being confused at the main story progression, I still enjoyed every page. A bit disappointed we didn't see Aaron and Shoshana, those two really grew on me, must be in quarantine.
Pike and Jennifer are headed to Australia, leaving Amena behind to start her new live-in style school. The resulting coincidental turn of events, wrong place wrong time, wrong person, wrong job. I'll admit, how Pike and the taskforce get intertwined with this worldwide disaster, was a bit of stretch. But not impossible and certainly not enough to hinder reader immersion. Long standing tension between China and Taiwan sprinkled with organized crime, tech genius's and wargaming form the basis to our story. Uncle Sam is torn between protecting Taiwan and avoiding war with China, so the Taskforce is asked to expand their charter. Of course any Alpha authority given to Pike will ultimately turn violent, and American Traitor is no disappointment there! Plenty of shots fired, fists thrown, cars flipped and a few interesting hangnails...
I hope by the time #16 comes out my reading situation will have improved. Both for my benefit and yours as well. The Pike Logan series has become one of my favorites. I'm grateful to have had American Traitor in my hands these last couple months. The mental escape it gave me was sorely needed. Even in small doses, the familiarity of these characters and the distraction of a good shootout has helped me more than many will ever know. Cheers!
Be safe, mask up, isolate and vaccinate.
I quite literally was reading this during both my first and second vaccine dose... :)
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