Anastasia is traveling alone down a road and makes the mistake of being kind and picks up a couple of men she kinda knows and offers them a. Ride. Things do not go well and she soon realizes she has made a huge mistake. She soon finds herself held captive. Meanwhile her husband deals with dangers of his own.

I was provided an e-arc from netgalley to read and review

I unfortunately missed the opportunity to read

White Hot Silence by Henry Porter is an adult thriller that feels all too real in today's society of men with money running the world. Anastasia leads the perfect humanitarian life...she and her billionaire husband Denis Hisami have founded several refugee centers around the world. She loves the work and although they don't see each other that often, she admires her husband's diligence. She herself is well-loved by all who meet her. She is known for her tenacity, giving-heart, and won't quit attitude.
Then one day as she is heading out of one of the camps in Africa, she is kidnapped. The men who stopped her to aid in the kidnapping are killed by the kidnappers and she is whisked off to a remote ship. Hisami learns about her kidnapping and is determined to find his wife before the kidnappers can kill her. The problem? Hisami's dealings haven't always been on the up and up and he has made so many enemies in many dangerous organizations it will be hard to figure out who he is dealing with. Hisami hires ex-agent Paul Samson to track down his wife, The tricky part, Samson is still in love with Anastasia.
There's murder, mystery, extravagant plots, and a love triangle.

My thanks to the Author publishers and NetGalley for providing me with a Kindle version of this book to read and honestly review.
This is a clever topical well researched entertaining and enjoyable read, well written descriptive with believable characters, at times atmospheric and tense. So why only four stars well I felt the ending to be somewhat contrived and a little rushed.

Fast-paced espionage thriller.

Anastasia an aid worker is kidnapped whilst in Italy, she is married to Denis Hisami an extremely wealthy investor with an interesting past. At the same time, Hisami 's passport is ceased by US Immigration, coincidence? or is someone trying to stop him from finding his wife? He knows there is only one man for the job Paul Samson, but its delicate Samson loves Anastasia will that affect his professionalism. Samson ex-MI6 has been working indirectly for Hisami investigating Crane, a man who is key to strange financial activity within a company that Hisami has just invested in.

Samson is contacted and immediately agrees to do all he can to rescue Anastasia, it soon becomes apparent his investigation and the kidnapping are connected, the story then takes us across Europe to Russia and involvement of many political and terrorist parties. Time is of the essence and money is moving everywhere, forensic accounting is required and Samson enlists the help of Naji a young man who owes Samson and Anastasia, a computer whiz kid, can he help, is time running out for Anastasia will her old love and Naji be able to free her?

This is a fast-paced thriller which initially I struggled with knowing who all the characters were, but once I got into it I enjoyed the story, the history of the relationships between the characters were interwoven into the current story, reading the first in the Samson series may be a good place to start and give more depth to this story. It was good but not great but did keep my attention.

Taramindo.

Breakaway Reviewers received a copy of the book to review.

Having read Firefly I was very excited when I notice this book became available. This book can be read as a stand-a-lone but I think much is gained by having read the first novel. Many of the same characters appear in this book.
3 years have passed and Anastasia is married to a man who generously helps her financially with the humanitarian work she is involved with.
Husband has a past he want to keep hidden from everybody and his desire to expose corruption gets things more complicated.
Our young hero from the first book has become more mature and with some fast thinking saves the lives of Anastasia and Samson .
This book is action packed and has a lot of twist and turn.
Looking forward to another book in this series.

First published in Great Britain in 2019; published by Grove Atlantic/Mysterious Press on September 3, 2019

White Hot Silence is a sequel to Firefly. It might also be the second novel in a series (I hope so), but it is a true sequel in the sense that a reader should read Firefly to have a full understanding of the situation in which the characters find themselves.

Denis Hisami is concerned that TangKi, a company in which he has invested, may be engaged in money laundering. Its CEO, Adam Crane, has disappeared. As Hisami is raising his concerns with other investors, his wife Anastasia is kidnapped in Italy.

The agency that employs Paul Samson had been hired to investigate Crane, who appears to have rented a penthouse under the name Ray Shepherd. In the novel’s early pages, a body identified as Shepherd’s is found on the penthouse balcony, its face obliterated by large bullets. Whenever a face is missing, the reader will suspect that the body might have been misidentified.

Samson, Anastasia, and Hisami all met in Firefly. Samson fell in love with Anastasia before the novel’s end (rescuing a damsel in distress has that effect on fictional heroes). Now Anastasia is married to Hisami, who wants Samson to rescue Anastasia — again. The starting point in that endeavor is to understand why she was kidnapped. Samson works with (or against) the CIA and various other intelligence and law enforcement agencies, as well as some criminal organizations, as he searches for answers.

The premise is that American money is being used to influence European politics (a reverse of the traditional use of Russian money to influence American politics). The story’s political background is informed by Henry Porter’s experience editing and reporting news and opinion stories regarding European politics. The plot has an aura of authenticity that is too often missing from international thrillers.

The scheme that underlies the kidnapping involves the timely issue of European nationalism. The mysteries that Samson and his associates must unravel are complex but never confusing.

Porter mixes action scenes into a fast-moving plot. Some of the best scenes involve Anastasia, who proves to be a capable captive as she confounds her captors on a freighter bound for Russia and again in a Russian forest. Samson has his own share of the action, but no character is portrayed as a superhero, in the manner of too many “tough guy” action thrillers.

While the action is fun, some of the novel’s best scenes occur during Anastasia’s captivity, as she debates Russian and American literature (including the meaning of Huckleberry Finn) with her captor. I also enjoyed the return of Naji, who was a focal point in the first novel as a young teen. He enriches this story as a young adult by mixing political idealism with pragmatic strategy.

I thought Firefly was one of the best thrillers I read in 2018. White Hot Silence is nearly as good, placing it near the top of my 2019 list of favorites.

RECOMMENDED

It took me a short while to get into this.. but caring about the kidnapped Anastasia lured me into a complex and haunting knotty situation where refugees, international businessmen and hit men converge .. so the stories of action and people have added complex virtues. That's what's gripping about this .. highly recommended.

Henry Porter is a brilliant writer. He brings current geopolitical realities to the fiercely personal level better than any other author I know, except perhaps John LeCarre. Both create thrillers populated with intelligent, passionate people and rely heavily on the techniques of espionage.

Firefly, the first book in this series, was the best book I read last year, and I recommended it to hundreds of other readers. White Hot Silence brings back most of the pivotal characters, and gives them a whole new series of terrifying adversaries, including kidnappers, violent thugs, and an assortment of nefarious government operatives.

What I've liked most about both books was that the technology and the tradecraft are not the stars of the story -- they provide the solid foundation, and it is the characters and their interactions who shine. Naji, the smart, resilient Syrian refugee boy who was the star of Firefly, returns to help fixer-and-finder Paul Sampson as he tracks down the kidnappers, rescues the woman he loves (who is also his employer's wife), and solves a global financial crime.

The suspense is stellar, but it is the relationships that the reader remembers. Thanks to NetGalley for an advance readers copy.

White Hot Silence by Henry Porter is a great read! Will suck you in and keep you reading until the final page!

I loved Firefly which had everything I wanted in a thriller and was really looking forward to its sequel.

The good news is that all the main characters return and Paul Samson is again coming to the rescue this time of his ex- lover Anastasia.

It’s a well written an researched thriller with tons of excitement and merits its five stars but it doesn’t quite engage to the extent of its predecessor but that was a high bar to match.