Quite the amazing thriller debut by Steve Urszenyi, with a good cast of characters, twisting plot, and a whole lot of action. The writing is very detailed and very authentic.
Alex Martel is a lethal sniper, FBI agent on loan to Interpol, and is looking for a stolen nuclear weapon. She's notified of suspicious circumstances, regarding the death of an old friend and MI5 officer.
Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for providing me with a free ARC of this book in return for an honest review.
I highly recommend reading this very entertaining book and look forward to this series to continue on.

Overall I think this was a great book. I liked the strong female character and the story. I did think it had to many acronyms and I felt that Caleb’s character was written to seem he wasn’t as competent as Alex, which didn’t make sense to me. I think his character could have been better. I did like Alex and thought she was a great character.
I enjoyed reading Perfect Shot and recommend others to read it too

I was invited by the publisher to review this book. I was intrigued by the title and the book description and also the early reviews that it had received. I started the book without much expectations since it was mentioned that Steve is a debutant writer. The story did takeoff a bit slow in the beginning. However, it quickly picked up steam and there was no putting down the Kindle and I just completed the entire book in couple of settings. It’s quite fast paced. The writing is very detailed and very authentic. The descriptions take you to the situation and the locations very well. I’m pretty impressed for the first time author. I would highly recommend this book to people who love thrillers. .

A formidable female protagonist, a missing nuclear weapon, interagency rivalries both foreign and domestic, spies, traitors, US vs Russia rivalry, Paris, disinformation — what more could one ask for?

Special Agent Alexandra (Alex) Martel is a force to be reckoned with, and a woman of multiple skill sets (combat medic, world class sniper, counterterrorism expert). These skills will be necessary as she attempts to unravel an intricate plot and facedown opposition from colleagues and superiors who are convinced that she is on the wrong track.

The story has plenty of action and intrigue. There is a great supporting cast. One of my favorites is London cabbie and former soldier Gareth.

I hope “Perfect Shot” is a success, so there will be more opportunities to read about the adventures of Ms. Martel.

Alex Martel is a lethal sniper and FBI agent on loan to Interpol. She is currently on assignment in Europe, with a mission to thwart a nuclear weapon transaction. When she learns that an MI5 operative and old acquaintance has been killed, she promptly starts an unofficial investigation that could somehow be tied to her recent mission. As she tries to untangle the mystery of her friend’s death, and make sense of her CIA impromptu partner, she learns that the fate of thousands of innocent people could lie in her hands.
Thoughts
This is an action-packed, entertaining military/spy thriller that features a tough and capable female main character. Alex Martel’s life is marked by a long military lifestyle and the painful loss it brought her. Her tough but vulnerable character made me root for her, especially when she reveals herself as a conscientious patriot. Her mysterious partner, Caleb, provides an element of moral ambiguity throughout the story. The various settings are interesting, and the action scenes are expertly written. The pace of the novel is swift and the story propulsive once you get over the variety of acronyms used for the different agency dependencies and programs.
This is my first reading of this genre, and I loved the action. I had to read it with an open mind but found myself totally engaged through the satisfying end. The first book in a series, I highly recommend it if you are a fan of spy and military thrillers, weapons, international intrigue, and lots of action.

Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for providing me with a free digital copy of this book in return for an honest review.

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Cinematic quality with a strong female protagonist that wasn't portrayed as some femme fatale who is merely sexy. She was realistic! I was mentally casting this novel the entire time!


Thank you to NetGalley for this ARC. All opinions expressed in this review are my own.

Perfect Shot follows Special Agent, a former battlefield medic, turned expert sniper, that is on loan to Interpol through the FBI.  If readers are looking for a tough, strong, and clever female badass, look no further than this character.  The author paints Aleandra Martel, as a no-nonsense type of protagonist, that just wants answers, after receiving a call from a woman about the suspicious death of a friend, which leads to something much larger.

Steve Urszenyi paints a vivid picture of the different settings throughout Europe, as well, as the different characters Alex meets along the way in her quest for answers.  He has a way of making you feel the character’s personalities through the dialogue with each other.  With so many twists and turns, you will not be able to put the book down, as Alex uncovers a diabolical plot involving a nuclear weapon, that can have catastrophic consequences on a global scale.

Thank you NetGalley and St Martins press and Minotaur books for the e-arc version for my honest review.

I just finished this OUTSTANDING book. I loved the tension and edge-of-my-seat excitement all the way through the novel.
The author did an incredible job of doing his due diligence with military information.
I felt like I was being chased through the streets of Paris and Turkey.
I hope there will be another installment so we can see where Caleb and Alex with their relationship.
I loved it!

Alex is a legitimate badie. She seems quite humble, but thrives in whatever chaos she find herself in. This is great book that starts out in the middle of a fire fight over a stolen nuclear bomb and just picks up speed from there. I highly recommend for anyone that enjoys Jack Ryan like action.

Another new author to me. Found the storyline and characters very interesting. Would definitely read more

Thanks to NetGalley for the eARC of this book. All opinions are my own.

Special Agent Alex Martel has a reputation as a decorated Army sniper. She is relentless and lethal. Now working for the FBI on loan to Interpol, she is pulled back into a world she left behind. Alex must follow clues left by a former friend to try and stop a nuclear warhead from detonating. She must use all of her Spec Ops skills to survive and save the world from the worst.

I wanted to like Perfect Shot more than I did. I love the characters of James Reece, Scot Harvath and Mitch Rapp. I was very excited to pick up a book with a female version of some of my favorite characters. Instead Alex was slightly annoying and I just couldn't get invested in her. I felt like the story was missing something to connect her to readers. Everything just felt a little flat.

What a great story. Contemporary tale of intrigue and international politics. This was a treat to read. A real escapist story to get lost in. The characters were so well drawn the reader can easily picture them. This is a read for men and women who love this genre. I’ll read more of this author’s books given the opportunity.

A former military sniper has left her days on the battlefield behind her….until the fight is brought right to her door.

FBI Special Agent Alexandra Martel is working in Europe as a liaison to Interpol. As the story begins, she and her team are working in the Netherlands to prevent the sale of nuclear material to an up and coming Islamic terrorist group. Despite their best efforts they are unable to complete the takedown of the involved parties; two of the terrorists make an escape with the contraband, and Alex and her mysterious new teammate Caleb (whom she suspects is CIA) pursue them in a helicopter. With the chopper almost out of fuel, she calls upon her extraordinary sniper skills to bring the fleeing criminals down. Local law enforcement is less than thrilled with the wild chase and the gunfight, but Alex’s bosses try to smooth it over given the satisfactory outcome. Alex, it will become apparent, is very good at what she does, but her actions often result in gunfire and dead bodies…and that tends to annoy the locals. On the heels of this situation, Alex receives notification that Krysten, an MI5 agent with whom she had struck up a friendship some years ago at a security conference, has died. It has been ruled an accident, but Alex is not so sure and heads to London to investigate. Shortly after her arrival Alex finds herself being tailed by Russians (and yes, another firefight ensues), which only intensifies her suspicions. She discovers more about what Krysten was doing undercover for MI5, and learns disturbing facts about Krysten’s background that make her question their friendship….and the encrypted information that Krysten sent to Alex in her final moments. When Alex is yanked out of London and directed to Turkey where a nuclear weapon has gone missing from the American airbase, she reluctantly reunites with Caleb to find out who stole it and why….and must find and neutralize it before it can be released upon the world.
In this first book of a projected series, I enjoyed reading the exploits of a highly trained and very capable woman who started her military career as a medic, morphed into a legendary sniper, and then after experiencing several losses opted to dial back her level of engagement in the world’s conflicts. While she wants to continue to contribute to the effort, she no longer chooses to be the tip of the spear. Caleb has been sent to persuade her otherwise, to remind her of the breadth of her skills and the satisfaction that using those skills brings her. When she is thrust into the murky world of spies and disinformation, she taps into her instincts to sort truth from obfuscation, and follows those instincts even when they contradict direct orders. The author’s background both as a medic and as a CBRNE incident responder provided interesting details throughout the chase, and he wove an interesting plot. Alex seems to get away with a lot of breaches of procedure and protocol to a degree that might strain credulity, but overall it was a fast paced and engrossing read. Readers of Jack Carr, Mark Greaney and Marc Cameron (all of whom have blurbed the novel), as well as Francine Mattews and Cara Black, should pick up a copy and give Alex Martel a spin. Many thanks to NetGalley and St Martin’s Press/Minotaurs Books for allowing me access to an advanced reader’s copy.

Steve Urszenyi storms the thrillerverse with a debut that brings with it incredible action, a memorable and powerful female protagonist, and a killer story that opens up a lot of doors for future adventures that I’m desperately looking forward to.

Perfect Shot introduces us to Special Agent Alexandra Martel, a formidable and lethal Army sniper now utilizing her skills in service to the FBI for kinetic operations. When she learns of the suspicious circumstances regarding the death of an old friend and MI5 officer, she’s catapulted into the shadowy world of espionage where she’ll need to sharpen her spycraft in addition to employing deadly force. Pairing up with an enigmatic CIA operative who’s trying to recruit her for his team that responds to timely threats, Alex finds herself in a muddled battlefield where failing essentially means changing the world order for the worse.


It’s not often that the thriller begins with a bang and offers one of the most badass introductions in the thrillerverse as we get action in abundance while falling in love with the protagonist. Urszenyi masterfully packs action and storytelling into a taut and lean narrative that progresses the story through gritty combat in a manner that also builds up and offers insights into Alex’s character. It’s a tough line to walk but it’s one that Urszenyi masters much more confidently than one would expect from a debut author. There’s no dull moment to bog the story down as we get to experience the characters through their actions more than lengthy backstories. The cherry on top is the vibe of a globe-trotting adventure filled with suspense and danger and mystery as Alex has to fulfill her role as an FBI agent as well as her loyalty to an old friend. The well-timed twists and turns keep the narrative exciting and ultimately result in an intense finale with a new side to Alex to be explored in the upcoming books which are all but guaranteed with such stellar writing.

Full review to be posted on https://www.bestthrillerbooks.com/kashif-hussain

Wow! This story starts our with non-stop action that really caught my attention. I loved that the protagonist was a strong female. I would have liked it if the beginning action had been consistent throughout the book. I found there were a few too many times when there seemed to be a big data dump of information explaining various government areas and how they operated; and a bit too many acronym drops with explanations of what they were. That got me skimming some middle sections of the book as it tended to take me out of the story. Alex is an interesting character and I think the dynamics between her and Caleb are well set up for future books in this series. The ending was a big improbable, but that was easily overlooked because the action started up again. I enjoyed the story and would like to see more from this author (with a bit less data dumps of information and more intertwining of that information as part of the plot.)

Enjoyed the story and looking forward to future efforts from Urszenyi. I found the characters engaging. The story was interesting while stretching credulity at multiple points including inexcusable lack of situational awareness in multiple tier one situations, silly lax nuke security, ridiculous operator access to Russian President, lack of resources for a tier one team, silly opsec with phones, etc. Over many years reading technical thrillers, this first effort naivete is common and can be expected to improve greatly with experience. Readers of the genre will enjoy this debut effort and welcome a new and promising talent.

Crackerjack opening and well written action, The story moves along at a cinematic clip, although it could use some trims; the technical digressions are not always useful, and tend to pop up mid-set piece.

Plot and character, however, are strictly in the we-have-been-here-before section of the Dad Books section, despite the female hero. Alex is likable enough but bland, and the narrative is so deeply in the bag for her that there's never really a sense of jeopardy. The bad guys are sub-Clancy cartoons, and the plot doesn't have any of the stunning reverses that would justify the length.

That said, it was a fast, fun enough airplane read. I don't feel obligated to finish this kind of book (action, but I've seen it all before and know there are no big surprises), but I did. Doubt, though, that I would pick up the next in the series without an additional reason.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC of Perfect Shot. First of all it caught my eye because of the Mark Greaney comment on the front cover.... Huge fan. I always find it interesting when a man is writing as a woman protagonist. Alexandra (Alex) Martel is a special agent who was a former sniper. This is an action packed highly anticipated thriller that I would highly recommend. It is the kind of book that when you read through the action series you actually read at a faster pace like you are really inside of the book.

This book was a different journey in my reading. I don't usually read or listen to a lot of thrillers set in the present era or with such military jargon. I was very pleasantly surprised at the extent that I enjoyed this novel.

The main character Alexandra, (Alex), Martel is smart and witty and likes to go with her gut. A former Army sniper, Alex is now an FBI agent on loan so to speak to Interpol. From the first chapter, the action is non-stop and it is almost hard to believe that only a few days pass throughout the course of this first book. Alex is a smaller sized woman and regularly gets beat up by various bad guys and the fight scenes are believable and plausible.

The author takes great care to give you all kinds of assorted military acronyms, (it is almost too much to keep up with). Because of the nature of the story-line, (A missing nuke), all of these are required to carry the story.

This is a very well written and well executed action thriller. If there was anything to complain about, it is that the descriptions of the countryside while she and her CIA compatriot, Caleb, are driving back to the Hague are a tad bit long. In the early chapters there was a repeated sentence that was probably just an adjustment to the speech a character was giving and that should be corrected in the final edit.

I am very impressed by Urszenyi's story telling ability. This reads like a well seasoned writer crafted it. Well done.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC of Perfect Shot. First of all it caught my eye because of the Mark Greaney comment on the front cover.... Huge fan. I always find it interesting when a man is writing as a woman protagonist. Alexandra (Alex) Martel is an a$$ whooping special agent who was a former sniper. This is an action packed highly anticipated thriller that I would highly recommend. It is the kind of book that when you read through the action series you actually read at a faster pace like you are really inside of the book. Love!