THE SHADOW LIST is a thrilling read with a lightning fast
pace. The tale is believable and it is obvious that the
author, through experience and research, has given factual
information. It has a complicated plot filled with many
twists and turns. Kidnapping, betrayals, greed, and
political power grabs that take us to exciting locales. From
Washington, D.C, to London, on to Lagos, then Nigeria, and,
finally, to
St. Petersburg, Russia.
Judd and Jessica Ryker, married, have two children and live
in Georgetown. Judd is a rising star at the State Department
while Jessica is a CIA agent. Both careers carry danger and
secrecy. To protect their family and their marriage they
make an oath. It is called the Ryker Rules of
Engagement. When it comes to their jobs, they will avoid
talking about their assignments. Where they were,
who is involved, etc. They will assist each other, when
possible. Admit
or abandon when necessary, but always they must do it
together. So far they have been kept safe in their secretive
and treacherous occupations.
Judd's newest assignment given to him urged swift and
immediate. A NBA basketball star, Tunde Babatunde, was
dedicating a children's hospital in his hometown in Lagos,
Nigeria in Western Africa. Judd's mission: Travel to
Nigeria, find Tunde, and bring him back home QUICKLY. While
he is in Nigeria, Judd will investigate the
disappearance of American, Jason Saunders, a hedge fund
executive with the firm of Harvey Holden, who owns the
Brooklyn Nets. Judd's investigations point to a financial
scam by an group of thieves in Lagos known as the Coyotes.
Jessica is on her way to St. Petersburg, Russia for a
terrifying assignment. She is to meet a powerful Russian
Mafia Boss known as "the Bear." Jessica must convince him
that she is Queen Sheeba, a paid assassin and try to
discover his next movements and what her next target will
be? I found her kick-ass tactics in defending herself
against three of the Bear's bodyguard to be very enjoyable.
This espionage drama that will have you turning the
pages, keeping you on the edge of your seat until the
startling finale. What are the chances the Rykers would
meet in Lagos? That's when the action heats up, the
suspense builds, with a cast of characters in Western
Africa, a country I have not read much about.
Todd Moss is a former Deputy Assistant Secretary of State
and knows how to tell a story. This is the fourth book in
the Judd Ryker novels and I look
forward to the next. My
praise for Todd Moss....outstanding writing and riveting
events. It is all there for an adventure you will truly
enjoy. My recommendation and 5 stars!
We laugh when it pops up in our inbox: the scam letter
promising a windfall. We wonder: How does anybody fall
for these things? But it is no laughing matter. It is one
of the biggest organized crime rackets in the world, it
is deadly - and State Department crisis manager Judd
Ryker has fallen right into the middle of it.
The disappearance of a young American in London sends
Ryker into the heart of a corruption scandal in Nigeria,
at the same time his CIA agent wife Jessica finds herself
chasing a Russian master criminal known as the Bear.
Unknown to either of them, they are pulling at two ends
of the same lethal thread, a staggeringly vicious
enterprise of piracy, extortion, and murder.
The world is messy and dangerous, Jessica warns her
husband. More dangerous than you know. But he is about to
find out.