When a foreign assassin begins taking out operators working for a top-secret government program, Eric Steele is once again called upon to save the day in the latest high-octane thriller from decorated combat veteran turned bestselling author Sean Parnell.
The Program is under attack.
Designed to offer the president a third option when diplomacy fails and all-out war isn’t an option, the Alpha Program is comprised of nine of the most hardened and seasoned badasses the United States military has to offer—and each Alpha answers directly to POTUS.
Here, following the events of last year’s book, Steele, the Program’s most lethal operator, receives a call notifying him that Ron Raines, Alpha Six, is in grave trouble. Dropping everything, Steele rushes to Paris to lend a hand, but he’s ultimately too late. An assassin named Lila Kalidi has already killed Raines and vanished, leaving behind a corpse (minus an ear, which she collects from her victims) and a warning to whoever finds him.
One of the world’s elite soldiers is dead, but the carnage is far from over.
Soon, two more operators fall, and Steele, who vows to avenge their murders, goes after Lila, who—it turns out—he shares some history with. Years back, Steele’s father killed Kalidi’s dad, a known Syrian terrorist. Now, the beautiful and charming assassin has perfected the art of seducing powerful men into her bed before killing them, and while knocking off Alphas provides her some satisfaction, the person she really wants is Steele.
As the story unfolds, Parnell kicks the action and suspense into overdrive, before throwing a massive twist that’ll shake Steele to his core, causing the operator to wonder if there’s another reason someone is targeting Alphas, picking them off one by one.
With America’s defenses weakened, it’s up to Eric Steele to put the puzzle pieces together and figure out the bigger endgame before it’s too late, a task that’s made infinitely harder with a killer on the loose.
Whether he’s finally found his footing in fiction or just gotten more comfortable with his universe, Sean Parnell continues to hit his stride with this one. Like the first two books in the series, his latest dives right into the action but also continues to develop the growing cast of characters. That includes Steele, as Parnell reveals more background and depth to his hero, while also giving him perhaps his biggest challenge yet in Lila Kalidi, the beautiful but strikingly lethal killer he faces off with who tests him in more ways than one. Of course, the bigger plot forming in the background drives the story onward, and once that’s finally revealed, readers won’t be able to stop reading until they know how it ends.
Relevant, relentless, and filled with the kind of authenticity you can only get from someone whose been there and done it, Sean Parnell’s One True Patriot is a blistering, action-packed thriller that’s perfect for fans of Mark Greaney and Jack Carr.
Book Details
Author: Sean Parnell
Series: Eric Steele #3
Pages: 384 (Hardcover)
ISBN: 0062986570
Publisher: William Morrow
Release Date: September 1, 2020
Real Book Spy Rating: 8.5/10
Praised as “One of the hardest working, most thoughtful, and fairest reviewers out there” by #1 New York Times bestselling author Lisa Scottoline, Ryan Steck has “quickly established himself as the authority on mysteries and thrillers” (Author A.J. Tata). Steck also works full-time as a freelance editor and pens a monthly thriller column for CrimeReads. For more information, be sure to follow him on Twitter and Facebook. He currently lives in Southwest Michigan with his wife and their six children.