Monday, May 22, 2023

#Review - The Quantum Solution by Eric Van Lustbader #Espionage #Political #Thrillers

Series: Evan Ryder (#4)
Format: Hardcover, 320 pages
Release Date: May 9, 2023
Publisher: Forge Books
Source: Publisher
Genre: Espionage / Thrillers / Political

Evan Ryder is back, and in deadly peril, in THE QUANTUM SOLUTION, the fourth heart-stopping Evan Ryder adventure by master thriller writer and New York Times best-selling author Eric Van Lustbader.

Evan Ryder is an extraordinary intelligence field agent now working for the security arm of Parachute, a private company and the world’s leader in the application of quantum technology. In the past, Ryder has done lethal battle in the modern global wars of power politics, extremist ideology, corrosive disinformation, and outrageous greed. But now she finds herself in a battle arena whose dangers, while less obvious, are greater than anything the world has seen before – the present and future war of weaponized quantum technology.

When an elite Russian scientist and the American Secretary of Defense die, at the same time half a world apart, of inexplicable sudden catastrophic brain damage, the world’s intelligence services realize that the quantum war has truly begun. Ryder and her long-time partner, Ben Butler, will risk their lives to discover who the true combatants are, and who are the good guys and the bad.

The Quantum Solution is the fourth installment in author Eric Van Lustbader's Evan Ryder's series. Evan Ryder is now working for the security arm of Parachute, a private company and the world’s leader in the application of quantum technology, Marsden Tribe. In the past, Ryder has done lethal battle in the modern global wars of power politics, extremist ideology, corrosive disinformation, and outrageous greed. But now she finds herself in a battle arena whose dangers, while less obvious, are greater than anything the world has seen before – the present and future war of weaponized quantum technology.

When the American Secretary of Defense and a Lt. Colonel in the Russian GRU intelligence die at the same time half a world apart, of inexplicable sudden catastrophic brain damage, Ryder and Ben Butler, will risk their lives to discover who the true combatants are, and who are the good guys and the bad. The story takes place in places like Washington, DC, Langley, Virginia, Istanbul, Turkey, and of course Russia, where Bobbi/Kata is facing her first real threat thanks to Korokova and others like the "Sovereign" who wants world domination. 

But, since the author has chosen not to make this series strictly about Ryder, there are others that you will encounter over the course of this series. Russian Mayor Juliet Korokova is a mayor player in this story and is as dangerous as Kata Hemakova formerly known as Bobbi Ryder. If you haven't figured out who the Sovereign is after 4 books, let me spoil it for you. Putin. While people from the US and Russia are tying of a mysterious death nobody can explain, Evan, as usual is on the front lines getting her ass kicked time and time again. I am not a fan of an author who kicks the crap out of his alleged protagonist for fun. 

I am also not a fan of the ending of this story seeing as how there is a major moment when one of the key characters who has been friends with Evan for years, is about to spill a secret she has been holding for 5 years. A secret that both Evan and Bobbi/Kata should have been made aware of long before the pivotal final scenes in the book. I'm sorry to say that I may have run my course in reading this series. It's supposed to be the Evan Ryder series but gets discombobulated every single time Evan nearly died but miraculously survives. I understand that one is supposed to suspend reality, but come on! Evan is not a superhero who is immortal!





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