Book Title: The Instructor
Author: T.R. Hendricks (debut author)
Series: Derek Harrington Book #1
Narrator: Jay Snyder
Publisher: Macmillan Audio
Genre: Mystery Thriller
Pub Date: April 11, 2023
Pages: 320
My Rating: 3.4 Stars

I was drawn to this debut novel when “Jack Reacher’ was mentioned ~ as many of you know he was an Army soldier and MP. Yep! I am a [author: Lee Childs] Reacher fan.

Derek Harrington is a bit like author, T.R. Hendricks; as he is also in the military.
Hendricks is a former US Army and Harrington a former Marine. Harrington is a retired Marine Force Recon and SERE (survival, evasion, resistance, and escape) instructor. He also suffers from PTSD but is an excellent wilderness survival expert. Sometimes finds himself in a battle of wits against both enemies as well as nature herself. Important people in his life are his ex-wife Kim, his son Michael, and his ailing father.


This story starts with Derek’s survival school barely surviving. He needs to get his father into a care facility but is having financial troubles. When one of his students offers a lot of money to instruct a private group for 30 days in upstate New York; he takes the job, However as a survivalist he has concerns when the group insistent on anonymity. Now his suspicions are even greater as they want him to continue with the training longer.

Story is certainly action packed!

The very last part has us all set us up for Book #2

ABOUT AUTHOR ~ T. R. HENDRICKS ~ He is a former United States Army Captain who served as a tank platoon leader, and then as a military intelligence officer, where he was an advisor to the Iraqi Ministry of Interior's National Information and Intelligence Agency. When not working or writing in his home in upstate New York, Hendricks is most likely reading, woodworking, or watching his beloved San Francisco 49ers. The Instructor is his first novel.

Want to thank NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for granting me this early eGalley.
Publishing Release Date scheduled for April 11, 2023

This is the first book in the Derek Harrington series and what a way to start a series. This book was fast-paced and incredible from start to finish.

Derek Harrington is a retired marine who teaches wilderness survival. He is offered a job that pays great money to privately teach a group of people everything he knows. After he reluctantly takes the job he is thrown into an undercover operation and becomes a one-man army to take down a militia group.

As a character I really liked Derek. He is a divorced father who just tried to do right by his ex-wife and his son. Even though we were not given much time to see his relationship with his son we feel his love for him very early on.

The detail and description in all the training exercises are incredible. I loved all of the action sequences. I especially liked the final altercation. I thought it was an excellent way to be authentic.

I can’t wait for more books in this series!