Title: Standing AloneAuthor: Stephen Leather
Series: Matt Standing #2
Published by: Hodder And Stoughton Ltd. on Apr. 4, 2022
Genres: Mystery/Thriller
Pages: 320
Format: Hardcover
Source: Mobius Books US
Book Rating: 8/10
How can you follow orders if those orders are to kill a friend?
A Navy SEAL has gone rogue, selling his skills to the highest bidder as a professional assassin.
Ryan French no longer cares who he kills so long as the price is right.
His former bosses want him taken down, but they’re not prepared to get their hands dirty so they need a Brit to do the job.
SAS trooper Matt “Lastman” Standing is a lethal killing machine with experience in Afghanistan, Iraq and Syria. Plus he’s worked with French in the past. It’s not a mission he wants, but Standing made a bad choice in his past and it has come back to haunt him.
Now he’s hunting French in the lawless Wild West forests of Humboldt County, where the US produces most of its legal – and illegal – cannabis.
But French isn’t the only predator in the wilderness – there are Mexican cartels, Russian Mafia and Hungarian gangsters – and Standing has to overcome them all to get to his target.
Review:
Adrenaline-pumping, suspenseful, and fast-paced!
In this second instalment in the Matt Standing series, Standing Alone, Leather has written an action-packed thrill ride that sees the cocky, talented SAS trooper Standing being blackmailed into taking a side mission for “The Pool, a shady organization headed by Charlotte Button that sees him hunting down ex-Navy Seal Ryan French in rural California where organized crime is rife, people live wild and free, and cannabis grows in abundance.
The writing is brisk and tight. The characters are ruthless, persistent, and experienced. And the plot keeps you on the edge of your seat as it submerges you in a menacing tale full of violence, deception, mayhem, danger, control, power, and murder.
Overall, Standing Alone is another tortuous, pacey, exciting tale by Leather that, with its well-drawn characterization, creative storyline, and thrilling conclusion, is sure to be a big hit with longtime fans of this author’s previous novels.
This book is available now.
Pick up a copy from your favourite retailer or from one of the following links.
Thank you to Mobius Books US for gifting me a copy in exchange for an honest review.
About Stephen Leather
Stephen Leather was a journalist for more than ten years on newspapers such as The Times, the Daily Mail and the South China Morning Post in Hong Kong. His bestsellers have been translated into more than ten languages. He has also written for television shows such as London's Burning, The Knock and the BBC's Murder in Mind series. For much of 2011 his self-published eBooks - including The Bestseller, The Basement, Once Bitten and Dreamer's Cat - dominated the UK eBook bestseller lists and sold more than half a million copies. The Basement topped the Kindle charts in the UK and the US, and in total he has sold more than two million eBooks. His bestselling book The Chinaman was filmed as The Foreigner, starring Jackie Chan and Pierce Brosnan and grossing more than $100 million.
