The Crew Reviews Podcast

TCR Episode #112 | Don Bentley -- HOSTILE INTENT

A familiar face returns to The Crew Reviews as our friend Don Bentley discusses his upcoming Matt Drake novel Hostile Intent. Bentley’s prescient plot in the third outing in the critically acclaimed series finds Drake embroiled in intrigue in Ukraine, mirroring the real-world conflict playing out on our televisions.
“In Bentley’s third terrific Matt Drake adventure…The intricate level of who’s-doing-what-to-whom adds twists. Readers who enjoy the world of special ops should add Bentley to their reading pile.”—Library Journal
In the espionage community, Vienna is known as the City of Spies, and Matt Drake is about to learn why in the latest electrifying thriller from the New York Times bestselling author of Tom Clancy Target Acquired and The Outside Man.When a mysterious walk-in to the US embassy in Vienna claims to have critical information about a Russian intelligence operation, he raises eyebrows. But when he asks for Matt Drake by name and calls himself the Irishman, he gets the DIA’s premier case officer on a one-way flight. Matt arrives to find Austria’s charming capital lousy with intelligence officers, all swirling around Nolan Burke—a onetime member of the real IRA. But before Matt can debrief Nolan, the Irishman is kidnapped by a Russian direct action team. Now, Matt must find a way to repay the debt of honor he owes Nolan while stopping World War III in the process.
 
Don Bentley is the New York Times Bestselling author of the Matt Drake series and two Tom Clancy Jack Ryan, Jr. novels (Zero Hour June 7, 2022). Don spent a decade as an Army Apache helicopter pilot, and while deployed in Afghanistan was awarded the Bronze Star Medal and the Air Medal with "V" device for valor. Following his time in the military, Don worked as an FBI special agent focusing on foreign intelligence and counterintelligence and was a Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) team member. Don lives with his family in Austin, Texas.
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TCR Episode #111 | David McCloskey -- Damascus Station

The Crew welcomes the author of one of the buzziest debuts of the year as David McCloskey join us to talk about his scintillating novel DAMASCUS STATION. A finalist for the 2022 ITW Thriller Award for Best First Novel, DAMASCUS STATION drips with authenticity thanks to the authors rich experience in the shadowy world of intelligence.
 
"Damascus Station is the best spy novel I have ever read." —General David Petraeus, former director of the CIA
CIA case officer Sam Joseph is dispatched to Paris to recruit Syrian Palace official Mariam Haddad. The two fall into a forbidden relationship, which supercharges Haddad’s recruitment and creates unspeakable danger when they enter Damascus to find the man responsible for the disappearance of an American spy. 
But the cat and mouse chase for the killer soon leads to a trail of high-profile assassinations and the discovery of a dark secret at the heart of the Syrian regime, bringing the pair under the all-seeing eyes of Assad’s spy catcher, Ali Hassan, and his brother Rustum, the head of the feared Republican Guard. Set against the backdrop of a Syria pulsing with fear and rebellion, Damascus Stationis a gripping thriller that offers a textured portrayal of espionage, love, loyalty, and betrayal in one of the most difficult CIA assignments on the planet.
A CIA officer and his recruit arrive in war-ravaged Damascus to hunt for a killer in this page-turner that offers the "most authentic depiction of modern-day tradecraft in print."  (Navy SEAL sniper and New York Times bestselling author Jack Carr). 
David McCloskey is a former CIA analyst and former consultant at McKinsey & Company. While at the CIA, he worked in field stations across the Middle East and briefed senior White House officials and Arab royalty. He lives in Texas.
 
 
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TCR Episode #110 | CJ Box - Shadows Reel

Like his main protagonist Joe Pickett, C.J Box is not a man who seeks out the spotlight, but the spotlight seems to find him. When you do your job as well as Joe, and as well as C.J. Box, you draw attention. And since his debut novel OPEN SEASON in 2021, Box has drawn the attention of a legion of fans and won almost universal critical acclaim. Now, with television adaptations of both his Joe Pickett and Cassie Dewell book series, the spotlight is brighter than ever. He joined the Crew to discuss his 22nd Joe Pickett story, SHADOWS REEL.
 
 
A day before the three Pickett girls come home for Thanksgiving, Joe is called out for a moose poaching incident that turns out to be something much more sinister: a local fishing guide has been brutally tortured and murdered.  At the same time, Marybeth opens an unmarked package at the library where she works and finds a photo album that belonged to an infamous Nazi official. Who left it there? And why? She learns that during World War II, several Wyoming soldiers were in the group that fought to Hitler’s Eagles Nest retreat in the Alps—and one of them took the Fuhrer’s personal photo album. Did another take this one and keep it all these years?  When a close neighbor is murdered, Joe and Marybeth face new questions: Who is after the book? And how will they solve its mystery before someone hurts them…or their girls?   Meanwhile, Nate Romanowski is on the hunt for the man who stole his falcons and attacked his wife. Using a network of fellow falconers, Nate tracks the man from one city to another. Even as he grasps the true threat his quarry presents, Nate swoops in for the kill and a stunning final showdown.
 
 
C.J. Box is the author of over thirty novels, winning the Edgar, Anthony, Macavity, Gumshoe, and two Barry awards, as well as the French Prix Calibre .38 and French Elle magazine literary award. His books have been translated to twenty-seven languages. He lives with his wife Laurie on their ranch in Wyoming, and like Joe Pickett, is the father of three daughters. He is an executive producer on ABC TV’s Big Sky, which is based on his Cody Hoyt/Cassie Dewell novels, as well as executive producer of Joe Pickett for Paramount Studios/Spectrum Originals.
 
 
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TCR Episode #109 | Mark Greaney - SIERRA SIX

When all is said and done, 2022 is sure to be the Year of Mark Greaney. The long-anticipated Netflix adaptation of the Gray Man will be streaming on televisions everywhere this summer, directed by the Russo Brothers and starring Ryan Gosling and Chris Evans. In July, the novelization of his hit Audible original ARMORED hits bookshelves. But first up is the 11th novel in his sublime Gray Man series, SIERRA SIX. Mark sat down with the Crew to discuss his latest, which is sure to be a favorite of long-time fans and new readers alike.
 
 
Before he was the Gray Man, Court Gentry was Sierra Six, the junior member of a CIA action team. In their first mission they took out a terrorist leader, at a terrible price. Years have passed. The Gray Man is on a simple mission when he sees a ghost: the long-dead terrorist, but he’s remarkably energetic for a dead man.  A decade of time hasn’t changed the Gray Man. He isn’t one to leave a job unfinished or a blood debt unpaid.
 
 
“Excellent….Greaney seamlessly adjusts focus between the timelines, jumping from one exhilarating roller-coaster ride to the other. Spy and military thriller fans will be well pleased.”—Publishers Weekly (starred review)
 
 
New York Times Bestselling author Mark Greaney has a degree in international relations and political science. In his research for the Gray Man novels, he has traveled to more than fifteen countries and trained alongside military and law enforcement personnel in the use of firearms, battlefield medicine, and close-range combative tactics. In addition, Greaney co-authored the wildly popular Red Metal with Lt. Colonel H. Ripley Rawlings. He is also the author of the New York Times Bestsellers Tom Clancy Support and Defend, Tom Clancy Full Force and Effect, Tom Clancy Commander in Chief, and Tom Clancy True Faith and Allegiance. With Tom Clancy, he co-authored Locked On, Threat Vector, and Command Authority.
 
 
 
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TCR Episode #108 | Greg Hurwitz - DARKHORSE

The Nowhere Man is back! NYT Bestselling Author Gregg Hurwitz joins the Crew to pull the curtain back a little further on the life of Evan Smoak, Orphan X. We talk vodka, the challenges of parenting when you’re trying to run a cocaine empire, and opinionated plants.
Aragon Urrea is a kingpin of a major drug-dealing operation in South Texas. He's also the patron of the local area--supplying employment in legitimate operations, providing help to the helpless, rough justice to the downtrodden, and a future to a people normally with little hope. He's complicated--a not completely good man, who does bad things for often good reasons. However, for all his money and power, he is helpless when one of the most vicious cartels kidnaps his innocent eighteen year old daughter, spiriting her away into the armored complex that is their headquarters in Mexico. With no other way to rescue his daughter, he turns to The Nowhere Man. Now not only must Evan figure out how to get into the impregnable fortress of a heavily armed, deeply paranoid cartel leader, but he must decide if he should help a very bad man--no matter how just the cause.
 
"Gregg Hurwitz has outdone himself this time. The many followers of Orphan X will get whiplash from the unexpected turns and surprises. It was only a matter of time until his Evan Smoak took on the drug cartels. That the main villain is a fully rounded character is unexpectedly moving. The action strikes like lightning." --Luis Urrea, Pulitzer Prize finalist for The Devil's Highway
 
GREGG HURWITZ is the New York Times #1 internationally bestselling author of 23 thrillers including the ORPHAN X series. His novels have won numerous literary awards and have been published in 33 languages. Gregg currently serves as the Co-President of International Thriller Writers (ITW). Additionally, he’s written poetry, screenplays and television scripts for many of the major studios and networks, comics for AWA, DC, and Marvel, and political and culture pieces for The Wall Street Journal, The Guardian, The Bulwark and others. Gregg lives with his Rhodesian ridgebacks in Los Angeles, where he continues to play soccer, frequently injuring himself.
 
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TCR Episode #107 | Nick Petrie THE RUNAWAY

One of the Crew’s Favorite writers, Nick Petrie, joins the boys to discuss his 7th Peter Ash thriller, THE RUNAWAY. When Peter Ash rescues a stranded woman, he finds she’s in far deeper trouble than he could ever imagine in the powerful new thriller in this bestselling and award-winning series. Don’t miss this latest white-knuckler featuring the character Lee Child calls “the real deal.”
 
 
War veteran Peter Ash is driving through northern Nebraska when he encounters a young pregnant woman alone on a gravel road, her car dead. Peter offers her a lift, but what begins as an act of kindness soon turns into a deadly cat-and-mouse chase across the lonely highways with the woman’s vicious ex-cop husband hot on their trail. The pregnant woman has seen something she was never meant to see . . . but protecting her might prove to be more than Peter can handle. In order to save the woman and himself, Peter must use everything he has learned during his time as a Marine, including his knowledge of human nature, in order to escape a ruthless killer with instincts and skills that match—and perhaps exceed—Peter’s own.
 
“If you’re not already on the Peter Ash train, jump aboard now. Nick Petrie is doing headliner work.”—Robert Crais 
Nick Petrie received his MFA in fiction from the University of Washington and won a Hopwood Award for short fiction while an undergraduate at the University of Michigan. His story “At the Laundromat” won the 2006 Short Story Contest in The Seattle Review, a national literary journal.
His first novel, The Drifter, won the ITW Thriller and Barry Awards, and was nominated for Edgar, Anthony, and Hammett Awards. He won the 2016 Literary Award from the Wisconsin Library Association and was named one of Apple’s 10 Writers to Read in 2017.  Light It Up was named the Best Thriller of 2018 by Apple Books. Both Light it Up and The Wild One were shortlisted for the Barry Award.
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Nick Petrie

TCR Episode #106 | Stephen Hunter - TARGETED

One of the icons of the genre, NYT Bestselling author Stephen Hunter returns to the Crew Reviews to chat about TARGETED, the electrifying 12th novel in the Bob Lee Swagger saga. With TARGETED, the man Mark Greaney calls “A true American literary icon” has written one of his finest novels yet.
 
After his successful takedown of a dangerous terrorist, Bob Lee Swagger learns that no good deed goes unpunished. Summoned to court by the United States Congress, Swagger is accused of reckless endangerment by a hardheaded anti-gun congresswoman. But what begins as political posturing soon turns deadly when the auditorium where the committee is being held is attacked.Swagger, the congresswoman, and numerous bystanders and reporters are taken hostage by a group of violent operatives. Soon, the very people who had accused him are depending on him to save their lives. Trapped in the auditorium and still struggling with injuries from his last assignment, Swagger must rely on his instincts, his shooting skills, and the help of a mysterious rogue sniper on the outside in order to ensure that everyone makes it out alive.A heart-pounding and crackling action-packed novel, Targeted proves that Stephen Hunter is “a true master at the pinnacle of his craft. No one does it better” - Jack Carr, Former Navy SEAL Sniper and author of The Terminal List.
 
Stephen Hunter has written over twenty novels. The retired chief film critic for The Washington Post, where he won the 2003 Pulitzer Prize for Distinguished Criticism, he has also published two collections of film criticism and a nonfiction work, American Gunfight. He lives in Baltimore, Maryland.
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TCR Episode #105 | Toby Harnden--FIRST CASUALTY

In this episode, accomplished author and veteran foreign correspondent Toby Harnden joins the Crew Reviews to discuss First Casualty: The Untold Story of the CIA Mission to Avenge 9/11, his riveting account of the first U.S. military action in Afghanistan.
 
 
"Harnden skillfully interweaves dramatic action sequences with the backstories of the book’s central figures, and briskly highlights the failures of U.S. policy in Afghanistan. Readers will be swept up in this little-known chapter of America’s 'forever war.'" –Publishers Weekly
America is reeling; Al-Qaeda has struck and thousands are dead. The country scrambles to respond, but the Pentagon has no plan for Afghanistan—where Osama bin Laden masterminded the attack and is protected by the Taliban. Instead, the CIA steps forward to spearhead the war. Eight CIA officers are dropped into the mountains of northern Afghanistan on October 17, 2001. They are Team Alpha, an eclectic band of linguists, tribal experts, and elite warriors: the first Americans to operate inside Taliban territory. Their covert mission is to track down Al- Qaeda and stop the terrorists from infiltrating the United States again. 
 
First Casualty places you with Team Alpha as the CIA rides into battle on horseback alongside the warlord Abdul Rashid Dostum. In Washington, DC, few trust that the CIA men, the Green Berets, and the Americans’ outnumbered Afghan allies can prevail before winter sets in. On the ground, Team Alpha is undeterred. The Taliban is routed but hatches a plot with Al-Qaeda to hit back. Hundreds of suicidal fighters, many hiding weapons, fake a surrender and are transported to Qala-i Jangi—the “Fort of War.” Team Alpha’s Mike Spann, an ex-Marine, and David Tyson, a polyglot former Central Asian studies academic, seize America’s initial opportunity to extract intelligence from men trained by bin Laden—among them a young Muslim convert from California. The prisoners revolt and one CIA officer falls—the first casualty in America’s longest war, which will last two decades. The other CIA man shoots dead the Al-Qaeda jihadists attacking his comrade. To survive, he must fight his way out against overwhelming odds.
Toby Harnden reported from 33 countries as a foreign correspondent while based in London, Belfast, Jerusalem, Baghdad and Washington D.C. During his work for The Daily Telegraph and The Sunday Times of London, he was imprisoned in Zimbabwe and faced prosecution in Northern Ireland for his work. A dual U.S. and British citizen and former Royal Navy officer, he lives in McLean, Virginia.
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