While I can't say "Ask No Mercy" is a story I loved but it certainly managed to keep my attention. It's a mostly solid book but I found it a bit hard to get into. It took awhile but I'm glad I kept to it.

Ask No Mercy is not a book I would have pulled off the shelves, but I am grateful to have received this as an ARC copy!

If you are into history involving revolutions during the early/mid 1900s this is for you! Max seemed very much the tortured protagonist with many relatable characters along the way.

It was hard for to get into the story during the beginning chapters as I felt the story line was drawn out, along with descriptions. Don't be turned off yet though as this book quickly picks up with action and story line. Max's determination in setting things right is such an admirable quality to have! There was enough suspense and intrigue all the way through the climax, until the finale written word.

I am not sure if I will continue this series, but I am certainly interested to know what becomes of Max Anger.

This book launched a series of (so far) three books, the only one yet to be translated into English. Max Anger is the protagonist, a formal military operative who is now working with a Swedish NGO with close ties to Russia. Two of the most intriguing things about the book: It's set in 1996, and lays out the birth of Russia's supremacy in cyber warfare -- and along with its solid espionage credentials, it carries a compelling love story or two.

The plot was strong and plausible, the characters were well-drawn and relatable. For those who must have physical action in their stories, it was there in plenty, yet it didn't dominate the overall mix. What I liked best was gaining insight into eastern European geopolitics painlessly, while being drawn into the stories of Max, his boss Sarah, and his girlfriend Pashie. We also get backstory on several of the characters' lives, all the way back to WWII.

I got this book as a digital ARC from NetGalley, but I will watch for the English translations of the other books in the series.

I would say that Martin Österdahl sure knows how to hold you off in a story so you keep reading. From the Prologue he has you in his grip with the disappearance of Pashie. Max, who is her boyfriend and her workmate, is going nuts trying to find her and leaves Sweden for Saint Petersburg, Russia. In Russia he encounters her network of people she has been working with. While in his office he is in contact with Sarah who is the main boss and smokes cigars. He has to find out what Pashie was working on to lead him to her. Several things happen which make it harder to figure out, their offices in Saint Petersburg are bombed and several people are killed. And back in Sweden 300,000 people have lost their secular phone service. In Russia Max finds his old friend Ilya, who wangles $15,000 U.S. dollars out of him to help him find Pashie, i would say Max was wipe out at this point looking for clues. We have other stories to cling to such as the relationship between Gabbie and Sarah. Gabbie's husband is David Julin who's the IT main guy Telia, Sweden's telephone company, whose been forced into helping the Russians. Each story takes some of the heat off finding Pashie. I won't elaborate on any of the other stories because that would lead to spoilers, you need to read this for yourself. I gave it 4 stars out of 5.

This is a big novel with lots of characters, jumping between several locations and years. However, there is a logic to everything and it's actually not very difficult to follow. Great plot and very well written.