Special Forces Cadets : Missing by Chris Ryan

The second in the series, Special Forces Cadets, see the quintet sent to North Korea to try and find a British agent who has gone missing. Not a place for the faint hearted, the five go into the secretive state disguised as a tour group, to avoid any suspicion they may attract. Once there they must break the spy out of the prison where he is being held and make their way to a boat which they can use to escape. All sounds straightforward on paper. But North Korea is not your usual destination and they are watched, almost falling at the first hurdle.

The series now has six books beginning with Siege (2018) where the quintet, Abby, Sami, Lukas, Lili and Max are sent into a situation in an inner city school where a suicide bomber has threatened to blow himself up.

The five cadets are interesting and involving, their back stories giving them an authenticity while bringing their skills to the fore. Training in the first outing for this series is hard, reflecting the intimate knowledge of SAS procedures by the author, Chris Ryan, once a SAS soldier. One of the group, Max is an orphan, looking for somewhere to belong and this colours his early life.

Following on from Missing comes Justice (2019) Ruthless (2020) Hijack (2020) and Assassin (2021). All are exciting and involving, all the more so because of the authenticity of the background which never flags.

Themes: Spies, Espionage, Adventure, Mystery, SAS, Army training.

Fran Knight