Redemption (Ryan Drake #1), by Will Jordan

  Will Jordan is the real name of Critical Drinker, a famous critic on YouTube that I enjoy watching, although not always agree with. So when I heard he was an author, too, I've decided to read his first book, Redemption, the first in a series of spy action novels starring Ryan Drake. Let's get into it, shall we?

  Well, nothing to say, really. It's a completely average spy action thing, the kind of novel you buy in an airport to read during the flight and never think about it again. Ryan Drake is an aging, almost retired CIA agent, he's recruited to save a mysterious woman from a Russian prison in order to solve a much bigger problem. Obviously, the woman is also incredibly competent, attractive and quick to become a love interest. Weird rivalries, old conflicts, twists and double crosses and international travel while targeted by everybody, they all feature in this classically conceived story.

  I can't say anything about the style of writing either. The beginning is filled with superfluous adjectives and adverbs, like every first book, but then the author finds his pace and starts writing like a human being, but nothing spectacular.

  The major criticism that I have is that the stakes, presented at the start and very real and exciting, have almost no impact on the rest of the book. The most interesting part of the story is relegated to a MacGuffin, only to focus on the very ordinary actions and emotions of the various characters. Also, while the book explains why some things that should have been impossible end up happening anyway, this gives away a lot of the final twists if you just bother to think it through. The overly optimistic ending has some internal contradictions that I won't go into because it would spoil the plot.

  It was easy to read and mildly entertaining. I am sure that Jordan will have done better in the next eight books in the series, but as it is, this first one doesn't motivate me to read them. Was briefly tempted to try out his latest book, Dark Harvest, which is a zombie action thriller, but when I started reading the reviews, seems to be kind of the same thing: cold war era stuff, gulf war era stuff, soldiers and action, romance between soldiers and doctors and a zombie virus related to the Dyatlov Pass, mostly as an afterthought.

  Bottom line: the author has his three act plot structure down, but then he has to write something that is actually exciting and original, which seems more difficult for him. This book in particular is his first, so forgive any amateurisms, but even if it were phenomenal, the story remains a classic spy thriller that ultimately means nothing.