Ryan Decker continues to ravage the structures of conspiracy across America. There may be violence involved...

Ryan Decker has returned but is now working with Harlow Mackenzie and company. Border patrol personnel are killed in an odd set of circumstances involving an explosion south the border. Senator Steele calls upon Decker to investigate privately for her. Now, the entire group is in danger. Will they be able to expose the cover-up without losing their lives in the process?

Konkoly’s second novel in the Ryan Decker series, The Raid follows Decker after his life was almost destroyed by a deep state conspiracy. The spark that was ignited between him and Harlow is fanned a bit throughout this book. Old nemeses don’t seem to want to go away.

This story is full of action and adventure as one might expect. But what I found most intriguing was the characters. The support crew is very diverse and add levity in some of the most serious situations. As with the first novel the story touches on human trafficking.

5 out of 5 stars.

Awesome action packed thriller. He does it again, great mix of hardware, characters and plot twists. You never seem to know where you are going, but it is a great ride. If you like action this is a great book.

This is a complex and well constructed action adventure of 72 chapters over five sections.
The storyline is triggered by the murder of two border control agents on the Mexican border with the USA.
An undercover investigation is launched using a team of special agents working in human trafficking by the Mexican cartels who control the border crossing points. What they discover takes them to the highest levels of the US military, congressmen and a senator looking for justice.
The large number of characters in this thriller can be overwhelming but the action-packed main story drives the plot to a satisfying conclusion.

Book Review: The Raid (Ryan Decker #2) by Steven Konkoly

"I was two-point five pounds of trigger pressure away from erasing him from the planet."
"How many pounds of pressure is the trigger?"
"Five-point five."
"May they always separate right from wrong."

The "Southern Cross" conspiracy: An ultra-secret, high-level plot. A power grab. Missing Javelin missiles and other lethal weaponry. Who are the pawns? Who are the players? Who are the masters?

US-Mexico border. In an action thriller that cuts to the chase, Ryan Decker, Harlow Mackenzie, Brad Pierce and company are hurled into consecutive action-pack sorties under the auspices of US Senator Margaret Steele: - on the ground, in the suburbs, in a military-exclusive zone, under the desert, in the stratosphere - another of those HALO infiltration drops, this time a raid through the doors of hell, the hidden lair of the Cartel.

The team takes the fight to the foe faced with booby trapped desert tunnels, spiderbots, reaper drones, hellfire missiles, coyotes, rogue military contractor mercenaries, the Sinaloa Cartel, and corrupt elements in Congress, in the Joint Task Force North's leadership and in cross border military and law enforcement - or all of the above, at the same time.

Worried for his daughter hidden from harm's way and still grieving from the deaths of his wife and son, the culprit and power behind the hideous act, Jacob Harcourt, surfaces from the ether, and makes a pact with even more insidious actors.

What I like most about the Ryan Decker series by Steven Konkoly, apart from the excellent writing, its absence of the political toxicity which permeates the works of otherwise excellent storytellers.

A quick entertaining read!

Review based on an Advance Reading Copy from Amazon UK and Thomas & Mercer through NetGalley.

Having read The Rescue, I felt that this book was much better. The prequel had left me with some nagging questions. The current text doesn't have the same plot holes that I felt The Rescue had. My only complaint, really, is that there never is any resolution whatsoever to the presence of the five children in the desert who are found by the Border Patrol agents at the beginning of the book. Who were they? What happened to them? How did they have anything at all to do with the cartels, or the story in general? It felt as if their existence was created purely for shock and awe.

Action books are not my personal favorite, but this book kept the action level high and was full of comedic banter between characters, so the entertainment was definitely there. I could see this series being picked up by Hollywood with actors like Jason Statham and Liam Neeson.

Still hoping for a spin-off series centered around Harlow and her badass team! They are the real heroes in this series!

With the topic of illegal border crossings in the news it is nice to have a story that addresses it, without becoming preachy. The Raid by Steven Konkoly is an action thriller that is kicked off by the deaths of border patrol agents.


The novel starts with the two agents discovering a group of young looking kids out in the desert. As the agents investigate, they get attacked. When the investigation reveals a coverup, Ryan Decker a former special forces soldier turned private security consultant, is called in. During his investigation Decker ends up putting himself and his team in the crosshairs of the people in charge of the coverup.

During the novel Decker shifts between being on the defensive and offensively taking the fight to the suspects. At points in the story Decker’s team narrowly miss being ambushed, while at others they are setting a trap. At the same time Decker’s boss, Senator Steele is also a target for the conspiracy to take out.

Overall, the book has good pacing. There are chapters filled with action followed by chapters that explore what is going on in a big picture view. including chapters written in the point of view of the enemy. Reading the plan for the ambush then reading how the hero escapes for me is always exciting.

My one issue with the novel was a female assassin. Some statements made about her backstory and motivation for becoming a professional killer did not match up. Maybe there was more to her story. However she enters and exits the book quickly. Maybe if she was in the novel for longer, her story would have been fleshed out more.

Otherwise this was a great read. I was hooked from the first chapter. If you are looking for a good book with a pulled from the headlines feel pick up The Raid by Steven Konkoly today.

A free review copy of this book was provided via NetGalley for this unbiased review.

Here's a much too long story for little good stuff. It's slow, repetitive and with lots of dialogue that's not really helpful. The plot is very weak as well, so it's definitly not a book for me.

Excellent sequel! I love the bond between Ryan and Decker. As well as the humor and overall chemistry among all of the characters. The action continues to keep you turning the pages all the way to the end. There is also a love story slowly developing.

My personal favorite parts are the mastermind planning that keeps Decker, Harlow, and team one step ahead. It comes with quite a bit of risk and suspense, but the team is up for it for the sake of what is right.

It was great to learn that there will be a third book. Hopefully sooner than later. I would recommend to anyone.

First of all I would like to thank #ThomasandMercer and #Netgalley for giving me this opportunity to read Steven Konkolys second book about Ryan Decker. This is a good story that concludes some of the stuff that started in the first book. Konkoly also promise in the afterword that he is working on an even better third installment in the series. Great news since I was really hooked by this character from the start. I really love that they have a different ground theme than most thrillers with military connections today. I think there are not enough books about trafficking and environment issues today. Most are still stuck on terrorism and russians. Don't get me wrong those are also problems. I recommend this series.

Steve Konkoly NEVER disappoints. The Raid is a straight-up techno-thriller full of guns and cars and sexy hardware. Decker and his partner are a perfect pair with their back and forth repartee. There's always an unspoken, "I'm going to regret this, aren't I?" when an idea is on the table. They are heroic without being supermen (like when Decker dropped all the water when he tripped in the rocky arroyo.)

The story careens from thriller to thriller to near-disaster with a continually ticking clock. Jam-packed with action from start to finish. Highly recommended.

I received this book through Net Galley Read Now program.

If you enjoy action, then this is definitely a book for you. It starts with Russian Human Trafficing and then hits on the Border Patrol, finally ending with Mexical Cartels.

Ryan Decker is a civilian contractor working with Senator Steele trying to put a stop with Human Trafficing. Ryan, along with Brian Pierce, Heather and other members have starting investigating the disappearnce of two Border Patrol agents who reported see what they thought was Human Trafficing. Pierce abd Decker were sent to check out a bunker to find out why it had been blown up. Their investigation led to discovery of a crate for the Javelin missile. Further investigation put them in the crosshair of an individual identified as Jupiter. Jupiter was working an operation with two conressen/Senators and individuals in the military called Southern Cross.

If you want to find out who the individual callled Jupiter is and what Southern Cross refers to, then you need to read this book which I highly recommend.

I read the first book in this series recently, and really enjoyed it, so I was excited to see this book come out. This book is a great continuation of the first book. Easy to read and action packed. I'm looking forward to the next book and I'm looking forward to the character development. I highly recommend this book.

Continuing where The Rescue left off, The Raid is the second book in the Ryan Decker series. You do need to read The Rescue in order to know exactly what is going on in this novel.
Steven Konkoly is a master when it comes to military/thriller based novels, and this one is no different. It appears that some folks took issue with the amount of "foul language" in The Rescue, based on reviews, which caused them to give lower starred ratings. Apparently, these folks have never been in the military, been around military, nor ever been in any situation similar to Decker and Company. Oh fudge, just doesn't cut it.
However, because Konkoly is such an awesome guy, he did cut back on the language quite a bit in this novel. It's there, but it is quite reduced. To remain true to the "former" military life, there are still witty, smart-assed comebacks and nicknames to make your day, if you're into that kind of thing; and this reviewer is. KILLER BEE is nowhere near as funny as the previous call sign guys, just saying.
Getting back to the story, it's fantastic. There are some spit-your-drink-out one liners, a tiny bit of romance (don't worry guys and gals, it won't make you gag), thrills and chills to keep your heart pumping, and the patented dry humor between Decker and Pierce that hopefully, you've come to expect and love.
If you're disappointed, honestly, I don't know what to tell you.
Decker and his team are back, this time, investigating what may be human trafficking at the US/Mexico border. Border Patrol agents, on regular patrol, happen across something they are not meant to see; in a military exclusion zone where they are not supposed to be. What appears to be immigrants, crossing the border, except, they aren't Hispanic. They are European children. The agents are murdered, and the bunker in the area is blown to pieces immediately. One agent manages to get out one last transmission that is heard over the agency frequency. This information gets to Senator Steele, who you'll recognize from The Rescue. Anything related to possible human trafficking is an automatic investigation for Steele, and involving Decker and his team is a no-brainer.
But with the border, and trafficking, nothing is what it seems. Harcourt, a player from the original novel, and nemesis extraordinaire for Decker and Steele, may be involved. The stakes are higher than anyone could imagine. Decker and his team must play their cards right, and use everything at their disposal, including all that Senator Steele can offer them, in order to make it through whatever lies ahead.
If intense action, suspense, conspiracy, fire fights, and thrills are your favorite type of books then this is the series for you.

This Part 2. Looks like Part 1 (The Rescue) was about megalomanic named Harcourt attempting to take over the private mercenary business using Aegis Global, his security company. He didn’t, but he did get away to hatch another plan to make him wealthy and win back his lost power.

Part 2 picks up sometime later on the USA-Mexico border. A couple border patrol agents find a half dozen young kids in the desert. And they aren’t Hispanic. European by looks. When checking out the surrounding desert, an explosion takes one agent and the other is killed. Their jeep is incinerated, and the kids are never heard from.

The loss of agents stirs up Senate and House committees. Senator Steele, who lost her husband and child at the hands of Harcourt, has her own private little army and sends Ryan Decker and Harlow McKenzie (and crew, all of whom have a history with Harcourt) to the border to look at the explosion site. What they find is unnerving.

An underground bunker with crates of Javelin anti-tank missiles that have gone missing from some Army ordinance supply. Someone is preparing for war and it ain’t the USA or Mexico. Only other option at this location is a war between the cartels that control drug, money, and human trafficking across the border.

Harcourt has somehow convinced some Army brass, a Senator and a Congressman that the problem with the drug trade is that it is uncontrolled. So why not start a war amongst the major cartels, supply one group with advanced weaponry, and sit back to watch the well-armed cartel take over and then control border crossings while laundering money to the officers and elected officials.

Almost sounds like Iran-Contra from the 1980s. Konkoly’s bio says he is former military and the plot is replete with street and desert battle details that lend considerable authenticity to the story. And he has over 20 books to his credit meaning a mature presentation. Maybe not having read The Rescue is at issue, but I really didn’t get much of a feel for Decker, Harlow, Senator Steele or any of the other supporting characters (except maybe Garza and he appears to be new to the series). The other thing that nagged me was the dialogue. We all hear about the banter that goes on in stressful situations, but to me, this ‘banter’ seemed forced, bordering on juvenile. Just before a parachute jump, Decker says to a buddy, ‘See you on the ground.” His buddy says, ‘Not if I see you first.’ That kind of stuff is all over the story. Good grief. Read some George V. Higgins or Charlie Stella or Brian Panowich or Chris Offut to see how dialogue is meant to be delivered. Having said that, I did like the story. A lot.

This was a great book in the series, I hadn't read the first book in the series but it really sickened in anyway. The characters were great and it had a great suspense going throughout the book.

Something strange is happening on the border. It isn't illegal immigrants. When a border patrol calls it in, chaos ensues. After Senator Steele learns of the mystery she contacts Ryan Decker and Harlow MacKenzie's team of experts to investigate. It's a get-in and get-out-alive mission that takes a sideways twist into the bizarre.

This second book in the series is filled with top-notch action and adventure. I learned more about these relatable characters. Win-win!

If you aren't sensitive to violence, adult language, or the occasional mention of human-trafficking then you might want to pick up this book for your library.

My prediction: The Rescue, book one of the series, went to number one within a day of its Amazon release. I anticipate this book will obtain this as well and remain there even longer.

Another fantastic Ryan Decker book. Full of action, suspense, and even a murder plot thrown in.
Decker, Pierce, Harlow and their team are on another mission for Senator Steele. Two Border Agents were killed and they are trying to determine what the agents saw that led to their deaths. What the team stumbles across leads to drug cartels, weapon smuggling, corruption and murder. The ultimate goal for these criminals is to undermine the largest cartel of Mexico and collect in the profits. But these weapons are coming from America, and it is up to Decker and his team to determine who the traitor is and stop them.
Great plot and characters as only Steven Konkoly can write. Highly recommend both books in the series. I am looking forward to and hoping their will be a third!

The Raid by Steven Konkoly is the second book in the Ryan Decker series. While this book worked as a standalone novel, I feel that it would have been better to have read the series in order. There are references back to events that occurred in the first book.

This action thriller is well-written. Senator Steele asks Ryan and the team to take on an “off-the-books” mission along the US-Mexican border that involves drug cartels and unscrupulous people in the US government.

The story takes us from California to the border with Mexico to Colorado to Washington D. C. but most of it takes place along the border. It is exactly what you would expect from an action thriller with lots of concern over who can be trusted as well as plenty of information on weapons and covert gear.

There are a few twists to the story, but nothing that was too hard to deduce. There is a little character development, but I did not get a significant sense of what the main characters would be like in their down time outside of missions. Nonetheless, it was so full of action and excitement that it kept me turning the pages to find out what was going to happen next. I was fully engaged in the mission becoming a success.
What is going on at the border? What are the cartels up to and why are some elements of the US government providing support to one or more of them? Who is masterminding the efforts? I recommend this book to those that like thrillers with a lot of action.

Thanks to Netgalley, Thomas & Mercer and Steven Konkoly for providing me with a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. This did not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

Excellent. Decker is a cool character, and this book kept me engaged. The author is talented and writes a solid plot with interesting characters and dialog; and good action sequences. Good stuff. Recommended.

I really appreciate the ARC for review!!