Be a fan from day one with this can’t-miss, must-read debut novel from twelve-year veteran Navy helicopter pilot turned debut author Ryan Pote when his first thriller, Blood And Treasure, hits bookstores on July 22, 2025.
Published by Berkley, an imprint of the Penguin Group, Pote’s first novel—pitched as The Da Vinci Code meets Jack Ryan meets Tehran—is, by far, the most highly-anticipated debut of 2025 and is already generating some buzz on the thriller scene.
“This book is about never giving up,” said Pote in an exclusive statement to The Real Book Spy. “When I wrote Blood and Treasure, my career as a pilot was over. Three previous books I’d written didn’t sell. This book is as much about me never giving up as it is the characters. All I’ll say is . . . nobody is ready for what’s coming.”
Check out the official cover art and plot details below!
Release Date: July 22, 2025
Berkley
The destruction of the International Space Station and the discovery of an ancient scroll are inextricably intertwined in this debut crossover thriller from a former Navy helicopter pilot.
The International Space Station suddenly loses contact with Earth. When a NASA tech devises a way to restore the feed, the images that come through are unfathomable: a scene of terrible violence, the crew unresponsive, droplets of blood hovering in zero gravity. But which of the astronauts on board would have done such a thing? And why?
Off the coast of Mozambique, former special ops pilot and current treasure hunter Ethan Cain sees something he can’t believe: an object shot out of the heavens plunging deep into the Indian Ocean. When he goes to investigate, it becomes even less intelligible. A space capsule has crashed into the sea, and inside is a woman—alone, unconscious, and injured. Ethan knows he must save her. What he doesn’t know is who she is, how she got there . . . or why she’s the only survivor from a killing spree conducted 254 miles up in the sky.
Ryan Pote is a twelve-year veteran Navy helicopter pilot who was part of a joint interagency special operations task force, deployed throughout Central and South America. He was medically separated after sustaining injuries during an emergency landing. Ryan currently works for the Department of Defense. Before the Navy, he worked as a scuba diving instructor in Hawaii and as a microbiology lab tech conducting algae-biofuels research. He holds a Masters degree in History from Ashland University. He lives with his wife and children in New England.
Readers excited to pre-order Pote’s debut can now do so here or anywhere else books are sold.
Praised as “One of the hardest working, most thoughtful, and fairest reviewers out there” by 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 in addition to running TRBS. He is the author of FIELDS OF FIRE, which #1 New York Times bestselling author Jack Carr says “will leave you speechless and begging for more,” LETHAL RANGE, OUT FOR BLOOD, and TED BELL’S MONARCH. For more information, follow him on Twitter, Facebook, and BookBub. To interact with other readers and talk about your favorite books and authors, join The Real Book Spy’s Discord server.