Red Deception is book 2 in the Red Hotel series. It follows shortly after the events in book 1 Red Hotel. I read Red Hotel back in 2019 and loved it (read my review). However, I have forgotten many of the details but that was okay as what I needed to know was mentioned in Red Deception.

This is my favorite book in the series. I couldn't put it down. I loved everything about it. In my review of book 1 I mentioned that I hadn't read a spy thriller this good since Tom Clancy stopped writing the Jack Ryan series. It is still true for book 2. The wink to Jack Ryan in book 2 was a fun touch.

A hotel executive seems the odd choice for the protagonist in a spy thriller. You have to wonder if it isn't a cover - something the characters are starting to wonder as well.

I think part of the reason that I was so drawn into this novel is because of the plot thread of Russia invading Ukraine. Red Deception was published in July of 2021 - months before the actual invasion of Ukraaine. But I do wonder if some of the issues surrounding the fictional invasion aren't the same for the real invasion.

I hate that this book got buried in my TBR but I'm glad that I picked it up while I'm on vacation. It was hard to put down. I kept bargaining with myself - wash a sink full of dishes and then read for 30 minutes.

Dan Reilly is a great main character. He is instantly likable. He has a lot of the same qualities of Jack, Sr in Tom Clancy's Jack Ryan series. While he does have intelligence training after serving in Army Intelligence and then the stat department. Yet, he knows when he is out of his area of expertise and pulls in experts to help him fill the gaps.

If you are looking for a totally engrossing story that harkens back to the spies of the Cold War, then you not to read this book. You can get the ebook for just 99 cents right now. Now that is one heck of a deal that you just can't pass up.

My review will be published at Girl Who Reads on Tuesday - https://www.girl-who-reads.com/2022/12/a-must-read-series-for-fans-of.html

"Red Deception" by Gary Grossman is one of the most exciting reads for me in the first 9 months of 2021. I felt like I had a connection with Dan Reilly. His relationships with Marnie Babbitt and Ms. Pudovkin are most explicit and exciting at the same time. I marveled as the Russians named their geographic targets for destruction in the United States. I did get tired reading about acting president Battaglio and his political shortcomings. Russian President Gorshkov controlled Battaglio's every move. This is the first book by Grossman that I have read and as much as I enjoyed the mystery, intrigue, and character development, I will be reading more of Gary Grossman.

Following a blueprint provided by American ‘intelligence’, enemies are attacking US infrastructure. Meanwhile Soviet forces are invading other countries. Coincidence? Hardly! In this well-written sequel, the authors move skillfully through a number of plots which can really only be solved by super “hotel employee” Dan Reilly.

First and foremost, thank you to @meryl_moss for the #gifted copy in exchange for an honest review!

Red Deception is an action-packed geopolitical thriller. I really, really enjoyed this book. I can’t say I’ve read too many books in this genre, but I definitely will now!

I loved the main character, Dan Reilly—he was very clever, likeable, and an all-around great protagonist. I liked how the book was told from multiple POV and places around the world. This book had so many moving pieces, but they all fit together really well. The technical portions of the book seemed to be really well researched.

Overall, I think this book is very well written and enjoyable. If you have any interest in global politics or thrillers, I definitely recommend Red Deception!

I admit I am not an avid reader of political thrillers, but “Red Deception” had me engrossed from the first page. This book was a whirlwind, roller-coaster ride of action, adventure, and thrills!

Firstly, I wasn’t aware that this is the second book in a series. But, after reading this, I surely want to pick up “Red Hotel” to see Reilly’s previous adventure. Reilly is terrific in the lead as he travels around the world, trying to stop the catastrophe. However, what’s lovely about the book is that it is not a one-person show. Although Reilly is the primary character, the author balances the plot with other memorable characters like Savannah, Moore, Marnie, and President Crowe. I particularly liked the conversations between Moore and Reilly. Similarly, Nicolai Gorshkov is so conniving that you wonder how far he would go to reclaim his territories.

Moreover, the author did a fantastic job with the story and will keep you on your toes. I even found some parts difficult to read because of its theme, as it could very well happen. The plot intensifies up to a point to the brink of another world war. There are so many memorable moments in the story. Some of the most intense moments were when something happens to President Crowe to jeopardize his health and when Reilly is on the bus with the hostages in Ukraine. At the same time, I also liked the personal moments where Reilly tries to spend time with Marnie.

Overall, “Red Deception” is a gripping thriller filled with political espionage, spies, and intense action. Even if you haven’t read the first book, you will thoroughly enjoy this one.

I got 100 pages into this book and gave it my best shot. I really wanted to like it, as I enjoy thrillers, I liked the premise, and it is certainly topical. Unfortunately, I am at the point where it is a chore to read and I will not be finishing it.

My main problem with it is the writing style. It jumps around, with a section only being a page or so long – I have enjoyed many books that start out this way, but they eventually settle into longer passages that let the stories and characters develop. Looking ahead, this scattershot style continues until about halfway through the book where we have about 3-4 pages before it switches up. It makes it extremely difficult to get invested in the story, seeming like it was written as a movie script or In this case it seems like either a movie script (where you don’t have 425 pages to develop the story), or a novel for people with ADD.

As a side effect of this style, it seems to me that the characters aren’t very well developed – 100 pages in and the main character (Dan Reilly) really has no personality or dimension. There are descriptions (really lists) of characters, their titles, and their career positions, but nothing that differentiates them to me. Again, I am disappointed – I went into this really looking forward to the story, subject matter, and author’s last name.

In light of this, I did not post a review of the book online, particularly since I have no desire to finish it. Perhaps it gets better, and I hope other readers have the stamina to stick with it.

Red Deception is a deep dive into the world of intellegence and crime around the world. This in depth novel could be written directly from the desks of our national intelligence department. A thrilling, captivating and mysterious read

A Thriller Ripped From the Headlines

The authors of this book really know their stuff! Unlike many kinds of fiction, presenting a thriller of this quality isn't something that could be done with only reasonably good writing skills and a lot of imagination.

I suppose that access to resources like Jane's Guides, Stratfor, or Bellingcat on a premium level would help. But, there's still no substitute for experience. Years of familiarity with history, world travel, espionage, political intrigue, and the procedures of a plethora of government TLAs are evident. This story feels real.

I hadn't read the first volume of the Red Hotel series, but that didn't hamper my enjoyment of this second book. There is no cliffhanger, and I enjoyed this one so much that I fully intend to go back and read Red Hotel ASAP.

Red Deception is a thick and meaty tome with many switches of scenes and characters, but I was hooked from the first chapter and burned through to the end in no time. If you like thrillers, you will love this series.

I received a free review copy of Red Deception via NetGalley and count myself lucky, because it's truly an exceptional read!

“Red Deception” is a fast-paced thriller that takes a different look at terrorism. The story is told from the perspective of global hotel industry employees in a challenging and dangerous world who, by necessity, must become experts on international terrorism. They must protect their guests and staff, safeguard tourism, and save the world all at the same time. The book opens as rogue teams strike all across the country, one tragedy, explosion, assault, after another. The drama hopscotches around the world at a frantic pace with multiple attacks straight out of a handbook. Dan Reilly, president of Kensington Royal Hotels’ International Division goes into “crises mode.” He is very familiar with the three “Ts” terrorists, targets, and timing; he has experienced this before, and he knows the risks and the results.

The emergency escalates as actions and reactions pour in from all around the globe. The narrative unfolds in alternating views, going back and forth in time so readers know what the characters do not. Tension increases on every page as traffic snarls, thousands line up at airline ticket counters, and Facebook Live videos stream around the world. The attacks are well-funded and well-rehearsed. It is a big game board, and even leaders of the United States are under assault.

Grossman and Fuller take readers to another city and another hotel, all over the globe, where events play out. The pages are filled with drama and overpowering urgency; it is an unending and unsettling ride. I received a review copy of “Red Deception” from Gary H. Grossman, Edwin D. Fuller, Meryl Moss Media, and Beaufort Books. The book is different from a “typical” thriller with an approach that is pertinent to the general travelling public. All of us should certainly check the security measures when we travel; I know I will.

Alert for readers, the dog is killed but provides valuable clues.

Calling all lovers of a good espionage/terrorist novel that contains all the elements of a great mystery; this is the answer to your prayers. I loved the first book in this book series, “Red Hotel”, and I am loving the second in this series, just as much. Already, I am eagerly awaiting the third book, “Red Chaos”. I hope the series continues beyond that, Their amazing backgrounds make them perfectly suited to writing this kind of a novel which is both current and prescient.
Dan Reilly, President of the Kensington Royal Hotels International Division, just happens to be on a bridge when a foreign enemy, with no moral compass, attacks it and begins a diabolical plan to regain world power. The carnage on the bridge is monumental, and Reilly springs into action to try and rescue the injured. Using newly developed technology, and agents motivated by dissatisfaction or greed to do the bidding of an enemy, an enemy that presents an innocent, although false face to the world, it looks to all like this enemy’s tactics may have gained the advantage. Can he be stopped before he creates further terror?
In the first book, Red Hotel, the stage is set for the hotel executive/intelligence operative, Dan Reilly, to become more involved in world affairs, as both his private and work life are constantly compromised by the international community. In the past, he had written a top-secret paper describing possible scenarios for attacks that our enemies might try against our country and others, ranging from infrastructure, communication, points of interest, damage to the water supply and more, imagining all possible attack scenarios, outcomes and responses. He also developed a plan to protect compromised locations, like his hotels. This attack on the United States, which seems to be following his playbook, has suddenly thrown him into the crosshairs of the investigation. At first, he is even suspected by some of being complicit in the terrorist’s plot, but as the power-hungry player manipulates the situation, pointing fingers in one direction or another, like a trompe l’oeil painting, creating terror and pandemonium, attempting to distract his enemies from his goal, Reilly is vindicated and instead called upon to help stop the madness. impending death and destruction.
While the action is relentless, this novel is never boring. It is tempered with common sense. The reader never has to suspend disbelief which often happens with many of these espionage novels that are being spit out by the publishing industry, with unreal speed, leading to many books having similar themes that are often coupled with unrealistic scenarios, foul language and unnecessary sex. In this novel, the romantic interludes, language and sexual content are completely relevant and in good taste. It is happily unlike the many echo chamber books being turned out with regularity that contain trash talk and titillating sex for no apparent reason. These authors are not only well suited to writing such a great spy novel, they have character and class! The reader can easily imagine this very plausible plot occurring in our suddenly much more unpredictable world.

Ed Fuller & Gary Grossman – RH Bk 2 – RED Deception – Reviewed 5/31/21 – Read 5/28/21

Terror and intrigue continue in the exciting new “Red Deception” by Ed Fuller & Gary Grossman.

Washington DC, Dan Reilly has a meeting on the hill, he is in a taxi coming from Reagan Airport on the 14th Street Bridge when an explosion occurs. Everyone is running for their lives, except Dan. His instincts kick in and he is trying to help anyone that needs it. What Dan did not know was, this was not the only explosion, not only DC but NYC, and St Louis were all hit at the same time. Back when Dan worked for the state department, he wrote a report detailing the areas that needed to have tightened security, as they were key points that made the US vulnerable, he remembered that these bridges were on that list. Dan had not thought of that report for years, but he was giving it thought now.

Meanwhile, on Capitol Hill, President Crowe is dealing with the encroachment of Russian troops near the borders of Latvian and Ukrainian. He is debating evoking Article 5 of the NATO agreement to stop Russian President Gorshkov from proceeding any further. We know from past history that Gorshkov is trying to force NATO out, and away from his borders so that he can take back the countries that were given up in the past. Right now, his plans for chaos in the US are being implemented. The bridges were just step one! Gorshkov relishes the next steps in his plans and some of those plans include Dan Reilly. This is a man on a mission and that mission includes destroying his enemies!

Join Dan as he and his contacts fight to secure the US and save lives…

What did I like? I just jumped from “RED Hotel” to this book, and the action has not stopped yet. I can not believe that I could not get out of my chair and lay these books aside. The action is so intense, the storyline jumped to an unbelievable level. As they say, Defcon FIVE!!! My heart is on the line, I want to help save everyone, and I continue to hold my breath as I turn the pages. Beyond all the turmoil, I have been excited that Dan finally found someone that could understand the mechanisms of his job and could live with the traveling and stress that he was under. It looks like he has found her, or has he? These questions plague me as much as they do Dan.

What will you like? Wow, I thought book one was exciting but wait till you get into this one. Everything is more intense, breathtaking, and absolutely more mysterious! Dan has successfully implemented his new safety program and it seems to be working. He knows that there are many places that need security moved to high alert and is working with the CIA in trying to figure out what will be next. The following blindsided attack on the US will blow your mind. This series has all the elements that make an Espionage Thriller that will take the reader by storm, but don’t take my word for it, pick up your copies, mark your calendar, and don’t miss this killer ending! I know that I will be watching for book three that is scheduled for 2022.

• ASIN: B08TRQPG7G
• Publisher: Beaufort Books
• Publication Date: 6/22/2021
• File Size: 1295 KB
• Print Length: 377 pages
• Genre: Terrorism Thrillers, Espionage Thrillers

This has to be one of the best thrillers I have read in a long time! Great action paced novel that leaves you on the edge of your seat and wanting more! I look forward to reading more by this author. He has taken up where John Le Carre left off with regard to writing about espionage and intrigue!

Great characters and exciting on every page makes a engrossing story. The main character has a talent for analysis that has information in many jobs. While during in the State Department, he wrote an analysis of highest effect of terrorist acts. Now he is no longer in the Government, simultaneous terr0orist .acts seem to following of the plans he described in his report. The international situation brings the brink of a world war. The style of writing keeps details when needed , and flows by when it can. I found the book to be long, but keeps me engrossing on every page. There is no chance to tops to catches your breath. I cannot cover all the suspense and actions, but this is a imaginary and suspense book.

Wow! What an amazing story. If you like Thrillers, then you will love this book. It’s well written, with interesting characters and a plot that absolutely pulls you in. The scary thing is, this could easily become a reality. Many hours of fabulous entertainment.
Dan Reilly would have liked to spend more time with Marnie Babbitt, the woman he was currently seeing, however his job as head of security for Kensington Hotels made this quite difficult, and it was about to get a hell of a lot harder when terrorist’s start to bomb different sites around America. The FBI are very interested in Dan as he wrote a report for the State Department outlining areas of concern around the country that could be vulnerable to terrorist attacks. No one thought it would actually become reality. Hands down this is definitely worth a read. 5/5 Star Rating.

Review of eBook

The vulnerability of America’s infrastructure, detailed in a leaked top-secret report prepared years earlier for the Security Council and the Department of Homeland Security by former Army intelligence officer Dan Reilly, leaves America open to attack. Thus begins a systematic assault designed to distract the nation’s leaders from events taking place overseas. Judiciously-placed spies, an egoistic politician, and relentless reporters follow their own agendas and Reilly, who now serves as president of the International Kensington Royal Hotel Corporation, finds himself in the midst of the action.

Is Dan Reilly the one person who can thwart the threatened catastrophe?

Second in the Red Hotel series, the book works as a stand-alone and provides sufficient backstory for readers new to the series. Strong characters and non-stop action are the hallmarks of this disturbing tale. Bristling with tension, the unfolding narrative packs a few surprises but the telling of the tale is more of plots and plans and adept operatives intent on creating mayhem and chaos.

Sleeper agents infiltrate key positions and stand ready to carry out their assignments as the story plays out in a global arena. In a narrative filled with presidents, intelligence operatives, spies, and thugs, readers will find the large cast somehow works and the telling of the tale is, for the most part, captivating and suspenseful. However, the story around the female espionage agents feels rather clichéd; astute readers will guess the surprise long before the big reveal.

Recommended for fans of the geopolitical genre.

I received a free copy of this eBook from Meryl Moss Media / Beaufort Books and NetGalley
#RedDeceptionBeaufortBooks #NetGalley

Red Deception is a spy novel that is supposed to be full of action-packed, edge of your seat plot twists. The author gives us everything from terrorist attacks on US soil, sleeper agents, North Koreans trained in Russia, missiles in South America, and a hero who can save us all, in the guise of a hotel executive.

But honestly, I found this book boring and predictable. From the Trump-like VP, to the girlfriend (seriously?), the antics were a bit tired and cliche for my liking, and the story read like it was written by someone who watches a lot movies. I almost DNFd it when Malcolm Nance was referred to in the opening pages. (BTW gentlemen, Nance was a Senior Chief when he retired, not an Officer).

2.5 stars. If you like spy thrillers, pass on this one.

Thank you to NetGalley, the publishers, and the author for an ARC in exchange for a fair and honest review.

If I were teaching a creative writing class that focused on how to write a suspenseful espionage tale, I would hand out this book as an example.

The writing is crisp and the dialogue believable. Although there are many principal characters, the short chapters and movement across multiple characters in some of the chapters made it easy to remember who’s who (and if you do forget, authors Gary Grossman and Ed Fuller provide a helpful list in the initial pages).

The book is strongly researched, and Mr. Fuller has a working background in hotels and their security aspects. Descriptions of the meetings of government and military officials provide plenty of data to make you feel as if you were there. Main character Dan Reilly furnishes intricate details of the security aspects he is concerned with, offering an intimate glimpse into his world. This is the five-star element of this story, as it allows readers easy immersion into the heart of the book.

I had not read the first entry in this series, but that did not matter as there is enough back story to fill in any potential gaps. The authors often tells two highly-charged stories at the same time, pushing the tension by increasing the pace to a bullet-like speed. I tried my best to keep up and finished the book in two days. Highly recommended. Five stars.

My thanks to NetGalley and Meryl Moss Media for a complimentary electronic copy of this book.

Russia! Russia! Russia!

There's a key scene in Red Deception, the latest geopolitical thriller from Gary Grossman and Ed Fuller. A new US President has watched a deal he had just entered into with the Russian President backfire. Against the advice of his Secretary of State and the National Security Advisor, and overriding the vehement objection of the NATO Secretary General whose interests were directly implicated in the agreement, the American President binds the US into a deal the Russians soon abrogate.

As the President ruminates on how to spin the debacle, the Secretary of State scribbles the number 25 on a legal pad, and shares the note with a colleague. The message is clear: under the 25th Amendment to the US Constitution, a sitting President can be removed by majority vote of Cabinet members.

The American President can't say he wasn't warned. The CIA's "top psychologist" is dispatched to warn our President about Russian manipulation and mendacity. The President impatiently dismisses her and directs an aide to "Fire the b***h."

Sound familiar? It should. Red Deception arrives at a time when American's faith in our governing institutions is at an all time low. The coup scenario just described about the mythical American President cuts close to home about a recent actual American President. The role of American intelligence agencies in the permanent coup state official Washington entered into beginning in 2016 was an eye-opening if not a shattering experience for millions of Americans. US Intelligence and Diplomatic communities were supposedly duty bound to advance the interests of the duly elected President of the United States. Instead, we learned it's the other way around. This power inversion was summed up by a prominent US Senator who in a moment of gleeful candor let slip, "You take on the intelligence community — they have six ways from Sunday at getting back at you...”

Red Deception is at its core a sprawling geopolitical pot-boiler playing out across continents. The plot is built around a complex and convoluted scenario in which two of our legacy cold war enemies unleash a series of orchestrated terror attacks on American soil. Not standoff cyber attacks as we witnessed with the recent real-life pipeline incident, but a coordinated plot by operatives smuggled into the US to topple critical domestic infrastructure.

It's left up to of all people the President of an international hotel chain to thwart the attack because as we learn, the hotel guy played a key role in envisioning such a diabolical threat in the first place.

In authoring Red Deception, authors Grossman and Fuller are walking in the footsteps of some of the great espionage writers of our time, from Robert Ludlum to Frederick Forsyth and John Le Carre. But those literary giants spun their tales of dark deception during the Cold War. It was the collapse of the Berlin Wall and the fall of Soviet Communism that was supposed to usher in a new world order, and relegate the espionage thriller to the dustbin of history.

Yet nearly thirty years since the breakup of the Soviet Union, we are still apparently obsessed with old world Russia in the popular imagination. Despite Russia's standing as the world's 11th largest economy with a standard of living lower than that of Hungary and a credit rating equivalent to junk bond status, Russia remains the all purpose go-to geopolitical boogeyman. Anyone remember Macedonian content farmers? Russia remains the dark author of fantastical plots and the wielders of futuristic high-tech terror weapons straight out of science fiction novels. In Red Deception, Russian security forces dispatch a harem of high-heeled Mata Hari types seducing and poisoning unsuspecting American businessmen. In case you were wondering, these orchestrated honey traps are helpfully referred to as "sexpionage.'

We have now entered a new era of the espionage thriller, one in which there is an inverse relationship between literary threat and actual threat. Experts in national security have been sounding the alarm for years about China's long march to military and economic hegemony on the world stage, but given trade ties and prevailing political sensitivities we shouldn't expect Red Deception to include that other brand of Red anytime soon.

In an unintentionally ironic coda to Red Deception, our hero protagonist imagines a lethal threat manifesting itself on darkened Washington DC street. Just as he is about to take defensive action, he learns the situation is not quite what it seemed. Take that to heart.

Red Deception did not start well, in my opinion. The very short chapters were irritating and did not lead me to care about any of the characters. Thankfully this changed in Part Two and I began to enjoy the novel more. The slithering female spies were intriguing, but ultimately the protagonist Dan Reilly was the character who made the novel work. I would definitely be interested in a sequel.
Thanks, Netgalley, for the ARC.

Description
Intelligence experts and thriller authors concur: Red Deception is “A page-turner by authors who might as well sit on the National Security Council.” When terrorists bomb bridges across the country and threaten the Hoover Dam, the vulnerability of America’s infrastructure becomes a matter of national security. But Dan Reilly, a former Army intelligence officer, predicted the attacks in a secret State Department report written years earlier—a virtual blueprint for disaster, somehow leaked and now in the hands of foreign operatives.

With Washington distracted by domestic crises, Russian President Nicolai Gorshkov sends troops to the borders of Ukraine and Latvia, ready to reclaim what he feels is Russia’s rightful territory. Tensions in Europe threaten to boil over as a besieged American president balances multiple crises that threaten to upend the geopolitical order. With the US at the mercy of an egomaniacal leader, and reporters and covert agents on his tail, Reilly may be the one man who can connect the dots before an even bigger catastrophe unfolds.

Red Deception is the second book in the Red Hotel series.

MY REVIEW:
When I first read Red Hotel I was blown away by the accuracy and imagination of these great authors.

However, Red Deception is everything I expected and more! This is truly a winner.

Fuller and Grossman together are the new Tom Clancey.

In this book, Dan is still flying around the country ensuring his hotels are secure for guest. However, someone that you would not expect has other plans. Soon, we see how really these incidents can happen in today's reality. Red Deception captivates you and does not let go. It is a thrill ride in which you hold your breath until the very end.

What an amazing and excellent storyline. Bravo to Ed Fuller and Gary Grossman for an excellent novel.

Hope you are hard at work for the next book. I need to know what happens next!