A great thriller. Well recommended. Plenty of action and violence a little too gory for me, but a good read nonetheless.

A long serving government secret assassin has reached the point where his own feelings get in the way of what he does. His masters then decide to send him on a last assignment in Sierra Leone to kill the master mind behind a movement that will destabilise the whole region. When he gets there nothing is what he expects as one by one his nominated contacts are killed. Why was it that his old comrade in arms had returned from an initial survey completely deranged? He has to turn detective to find out what is going on. As his investigations proceed and he gets into thick of things action takes place thick and fast. With no official help available he has to get what he can, some from unexpected quarters that enabled him to escape death by many a hairs breadth. However the hero just manages to survive doing what he has to do before returning home to settle accounts.

Gripping and complicated, Max is an assassin, his speciality: sniper. After a failed mission in Cuba, he is sent to Sierra Leone on a dangerous mission, which is not all it seems.
Max' journey is fraught with mis-information and intrigue. And in the final chapters, the culmination of his hunt, he is re-united with a face from the past.
This book surprised me all the way through, from finding out what was causing the deaths and terror in the north, to the man in the photograph. It was sometimes complicated in how the immunisation mist and the sleepers worked, but this book has been well thought through.
And despite Max being a paid killer, I was rooting for him the whole way.

The Break Line is a military thriller focused on an assassin working for the British Government. It’s extremely violent, at times uncomfortably so, and i admit i found it hard to read at times. I’d expected more of a spy thriller in a modern Le Carre mould, so it took some adjustment. I also found the first person at times awkward, with lengthy exposition dumps.
Given the author’s experience I assume the setting is realistic and reflects life (and death)) in the locale, but as the plot spiralled it became increasingly hard to be convinced.

Hardboiled and razor edged military thriller. Main character is really well written. Some fairly grusome set pieces but they fit the story perfectly. Fans of Clancy and Matt Reilly ( Scarecrow) will love this. I can see this becoming a huge hit.

I had high hopes for this from the description. Just my kind of book I thought. Unfortunately trybas I might I just couldn’t get into this book. I didn’t find the characters, plot or anything about this likeable or even believable. It’s very very rare that I don’t finish a book but this was one of these occasions.

It's kind of like a modern Ipcress File (well, from my memory having read it about 20 years ago!). All told in the 1st person, which was one of the issues I had. The style of the writing made it very hard to get into, having just finished The Silver Pigs also written in the 1st person just highlighted how awkward the style was in comparison. Once you get into the story, its not too bad. The main protagonist is a black-ops assassin working for the UK on a mission to an African country to take out one man to try and stop a civil war. Russians and Americans appear along the way with the usual double crosses and plot twists. The last half of the book is much better than the first half.

This is a cracking tale of espionage, politics, black ops, greed and betrayal. It will keep fans of the genre(s) engrossed until the final page is turned.

I'm so grateful to Bloodhound books for asking me to review this book - it kept me locked in another world (in spite of myself) and wanting to discover the next twist; you can't ask more than that of a book.

Highly recommended.

I'm loving this book, it's a gripper.
Outstanding subject knowledge and a propelling narrative keep you hooked into this tale.

A fast paced thriller with ratherva lot of violence. In some ways it is similar to a Bond movie but I think it would get an 18 rating. Don't say you haven't been warned. Not really my taste but not badly written.

Started off not sure and by the end I was totally convinced this is an excellent piece of writing! As far as the authenticity of the action "scenes", I can truthfully say that this is one of the very, very few books that had me convinced that the armed conflict episodes were "real" - it's something that makes me raise an eyebrow or two in virtually everything else that I have read and I have, over the years, read one heck of a lot of books where gunfire is exchanged.

Don't want to put any spoilers in this review and so I shall end by saying that if you like tense, dark and realistic action - read this book.

Full on cinematic action which I enjoyed despite my initial misgivings that I'd requested a galley copy of a book which was more to my husband's preference. Much more than just a sniper-for-hire story, this novel tackles some tricky subjects with unexpected sensitivity. A thinking reader's killer wreaks havoc within the pages of this novel....

Well, what to make of this novel; part thriller, part science fiction, part spy yarn. Max Mclean is a government sanctioned killer and he is given one last mission in Sierra Leone to take out a bad guy. However, after a meeting with a former colleague, who appears to have lost his mind, Max is convinced there is more to the mission than his handlers would have him believe.

This is a fast paced thriller which includes many gruesome descriptions which aren't for the faint hearted. I must admit I skim read some passages. Having said, that it is very well written and conjures up the cloying heat and sense of menace of the jungle where most of the action takes place.

It is difficult to discuss the novel's content further without creating spoilers but if you enjoy a thriller with a rather intriguing and frankly quite terrifying premise, this is for you.

I received a complimentary copy of the book from NetGalley and the author. Thank you.

The scope of this novel is so ambitious that I'm genuinely impressed that it is a debut. The Break Line is a little bit 007 and a little bit The Hot Zone. I'm at odds in reviewing because I did find Max McLean and his merry band of misfits like Roberts, Juliet and even Ezra to be very entertaining. The shady blacker than black shadow outfit that he belongs to is predictable but serviceable. I guess what fell flat for me were the almost soap opera moments- the woman who got away and her story arc, the mad scientist reveal, and several one shot surprise lucky kills that are straight out of a movie. There are a lot of moments that I feel test my suspension of belief a bit too far, which shouldn't be the case in a pseudo scientific thriller. The true horror for me comes from believable situations. I did still enjoy this book though, I think the pacing was very good for a first outing. As first attempts go it's solid and I'm excited to see what may come from this author in the future.

I can think of many ways to describe this thriller other than Jack Reacher on speed. Boy this was fast and furious. What kind of thriller has crazy science, biological hazards, danger0us diseases and people sent to try and kill you? There’s just some of the less crazy aspects to this book. Suspend your disbelief from the start I think is the best advice and strap on your hard hat as this is one very bumpy ride.
A thrilling one yes but despite the fast action, it had the strange effect of reading quite slow in parts. There’s a great deal of violence and gory violence at that which wasn’t really necessary or overly graphic in my mind. Then there’s the horror aspects.......Not sure what to make of those to be honest.

Sierra Leone is where most of the action takes place and to say the city or the region doesn’t come off well is an understatement! Grim, gory but the assassin in the book does his homework before being sent there. Doesn’t really do him much good in the end as it’s not a country or a people who can be relied upon it would seem.

It’s a crazy world out there!

This was heavy going but mainly enjoyable, at least until it developed into pseudoscience towards the end.

If you like fast paced action thrillers with a little violence and gore thrown in then this is for you. Max McLean is a British state assassin who technically does not exist and sent on missions to kept us all safe from all sorts of enemies. His next mission is to West Africa but decides to do his homework before leaving and it all kicks off. The author gives us thrilling action from the very beginning and does not stop until everything is resolved, or is it. He also adds a few twists to increase the tension and ends up with an extremely entertaining book. Recommended.

This is a really good thriller. There is plenty of action and a lot of suspense. I really liked the style of writing. The descriptions of the scenery and every event really added to the story. It made me feel immersed in the story. I would definitely recommend this book and I hope there are more.

It is scary, very scary, to think that anything that happens in this book could be close to true.
I am scared.

This is an extraordinarily hard book to review without spoilers. I will say it's a great thriller, it's Reacher with a bit more depth. There's a hint of apocalyptic breakdown of society. There's a lot of violence (I glaze over a bit at long descriptions of gunsand fights to be honest). I'm still reeling at the end and I can't even discuss it!! So yes read it, then find someone else who's read it to go "wow". Totally unbelievable (hopefully!) but hey who doesn't love a bit of fantasy thriller action??