Another action packed political thriller. Reading the acknowledgements of when Taylor put pen to paper and how he worked the political angles made this Pike Logan series more prophetic and realistic. Logan and his team were not set up for a mission however, the mission was set up for his team. Going on a down under vacation with his bride to be Jennifer. Jennifer is more than a partner and it continues to show itself. They both have each other's back. In Australia, they plan to meet with an old business associate who now works with computer programing for special weapons for Taiwan. He spots some monkey business and reports it. Very quickly he is marked by the Chinese and is running for his life. With Pike and Jennifer set to meet him, they too are caught in the cross hairs and become the hunted to only become the hunter. This goes on back in forth thru the country of Australia and Taiwan.

It is battle of wits, know how of political landscape, and keeping one step ahead that saves the world of corruption of power. It is the battle of the future. Not of the battlefield but of world powers that manipulate markets, democracy, polls, and social media. Highly recommend.

A special thank you to William Morrow and Custom House and Netgalley for the ARC and the opportunity to post an honest review.

Pike Logan and Jennifer Cahill decide to take a vacation to Australia. While there, they are going to see an old colleague from the Taskforce, code name Dunkin, when they stumble into trouble. Dunkin is now working for an American firm doing artificial intelligence work for Taiwan when he discovers that one of his associates may be doing unauthorized activities in a highly secure environment. Pike and Jennifer manage to escape the unknown (but surely Chinese) agents, but this is just the beginning as the Chinese are relentless in their aim to bring Taiwan under its control, and its agents are brutal in furthering a scheme that will bring that dream to fruition. The Taskforce is a deep, undercover force that is not supposed to be involved in foreign state activities, but Pike convinces his new boss that his full team (Brett, Knuckles, and Veep) should be sent down under to stop someone who is hellbent on seeing the unthinkable happen. With the help of a Taiwanese intelligence agent, the Taskforce team must act quickly and decisively to prevent a doomsday scenario. This is the 15th book in Taylor’s Pike Logan series (along with a number of other short stories featuring him). I must confess that I have not read them all - and only gave the 14th book in the series a 4-star rating when I had the opportunity to review the ARC because it seems that you need to have read them in order to understand a lot of the characters and their relationships. But this novel was pulse-pounding from the beginning. The action is non-stop and the scenario, although truly fiction, is very plausible in today’s world. My thanks to William Morrow and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review the ARC of this novel (although I wish I had more than just a couple of days to read it before its release today, January 5).

BLUF: American Traitor is a globe-trotting high adventure that gives Pike Logan fans a front-row seat to a showdown between world powers. The Taskforce is brilliant (as always), but Taylor’s real brilliance in this novel is the evolution beyond his traditional counter-terrorism plot to offer a graduate-level course in geo-politics. Class is in session!

On the heels of the wildly successful Hunter Killer, Brad Taylor’s latest installment in the Pike Logan series opens by giving the reader a glimpse into the shifting landscape of war. In a time when artificial intelligence and computer code can play a greater role in combat than tactics, techniques, and procedures, Taylor proves that the words of Sun Tzu are still as poignant as ever: “All warfare is based on deception.”

When Pike Logan and Jennifer Cahill leave Charleston, South Carolina to travel down under for what they swear isn’t a honeymoon, their adopted daughter Amena senses that a threat is looming greater than a Great White shark on the Great Barrier Reef. Despite Pike’s reassurance that it’s just a vacation, she knows better. And so do we.

After arriving in Australia, Chinese assassins disrupt Pike and Jennifer’s plan to meet with former teammate Clifford “Dunkin” Delmonty. Using their anonymity to their advantage, they flip the switch from tourist to operator, turning the tables on their attackers and mobilizing Project Prometheus to uncover how American Jake Shu fits into the threat against their friend. With their vacation officially over, Pike and team peel back the layers of a conspiracy with global ramifications and discover that it hits surprisingly close to home.

What follows is one of Taylor’s best so far. In a tale of espionage and subterfuge reminiscent of a cold-war era novel, Taylor balances the complex geo-political intricacies of the “Taiwan question” with the formula that has made him one of the preeminent story-tellers of the genre. And he pulls it off flawlessly! As with his previous works, Taylor breathes life into the characters and settings and leaves you feeling that you stood shoulder-to-shoulder with the Taskforce team as they saved the world.

For fans of the adrenaline-inducing sequences Taylor is known for, American Traitor is chock full of page-turning action that lives up to its legacy. For those who understand the growing technological and military threat from China, Taylor offers a sense of validation. But for those who just want to see Pike do what Pike does best, this is a must read.

Amazing story. Well developed characters that are in a twisted engrossing thriller. Highly recommended. Super suspense that comes to a satisfying end! Highly recommended . A true roller coaster thrill ride

January is a great month for new thriller book releases, and it’s become an annual tradition of mine to pick up the latest Brad Taylor book shortly after New Year’s Day every year. Lucky for me, I didn’t have to wait until 2021 to get a look at the latest Pike Logan adventure, thanks to NetGalley providing me a sneak peak at American Traitor (coming out January 5, 2021). I had high expectations since Brad is one of the best writers, and Pike one of the best operators, in the genre today. After devouring the book, I can honestly say this is one fantastic novel! American Traitor is a cerebral and elaborate story with a tangled plot that combines complex geopolitical shenanigans with that special Pike Logan magic badassery we all know and love.

American Traitor follows Pike and fellow Taskforce operator/now-wife Jennifer Cahill (aka Koko) as they head to Australia for vacation and some diving around the Great Barrier Reef. They’re hoping for a relaxing vacation visiting a friend and former Taskforce member, but with Pike nothing is ever that simple. No sooner do they get to their friend’s apartment than the bloodshed ensues, and this time Pike and Jennifer don’t know why they were targeted. They get involved as a means to protect their friend, but that quickly expands into a kinetic operation across Australia, then Taiwan, with the other illustrious Taskforce members joining in on the fun. As they dig deeper, they unravel an ominous conspiracy with global implications that could start a costly war with China. Now in a race against time, Pike and his team must stretch the limits of the Taskforce charter to save the world…again.

What makes American Traitor one of Brad Taylor’s best books to date is that it’s much more than a large body count at Pike Logan’s hands. Yes, there is plenty of action and dead bad guys along the way to make die-hard fans happy. But this book is so much more than an action thriller. In fact, I believe it’s more of a political thriller combined with a spy thriller. There’s a great deal of insight into Pan-Asian politics with the plot exploring Chinese espionage activities in Australia, the nine-dash line in the South China Sea, the tenuous China/Taiwan relationship and the United States ambiguous diplomatic policy towards Taiwan. These elements make for a compelling story that moves between key characters on multiple sides of the equation until it all comes to a head with an explosive conclusion.

In addition, this book represents a transition point in the series. After the events of Hunter Killer (the previous Pike book), George Wolffe is pressed into action as the new leader of the Taskforce and Brad does a great job of developing him as a character. It would have been easy for George just pick up where Kurt Hale, the prior Taskforce leader, left off. Instead, he is shown to be his own man with more political savvy and a penchant to let Pike work his magic with a little less oversight. George is also faced with the Taskforce charter possibly evolving in a new direction, which requires a different approach. We’ll have to wait and see how George develops over the next few books, but I’m intrigued to see how he progresses and deals with Pike’s unique skillset of pushing the boundaries of authority and mission approval.

I highly recommend picking up a copy of American Traitor. It’s the latest in a long line of absolutely bankable great thrillers by Brad Taylor. It has everything you could want: politics, action, espionage…and Pike taking out everything and everyone standing in his way of mission success. In addition, it feels like a book that is predicting one of the next big world-shaping conflagrations. I’m willing to bet that we’ll see real life actions that mirror the plot of this book. Hopefully not to the same extent, but we’ll just have to wait and see. So read about it now and be prepared for what’s to come!

Wow. Talk about timely. The enemy is China. This is a book that will really make you wonder what the heck is going on in our world. Pike and Jennifer are great, believable, characters. Even though this is fiction, it does have some elements that will provide the reader with why China is a problem Country. Each chapter moves into the next seamlessly. 5 Stars! Can't wait to recommend this to my readers at the store.

A good continuation of the series. The plot is compelling and holds your interest. The characters are well developed. If you enjoy the previous books in the series, you will enjoy this one.

Thank you to #NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

always a fantastic read when you read Brad Taylor. I have never read a brad Taylor that I didnt' love.