- Title: The Nemesis Manifesto
- Author: Eric Van Lustbader
- Length: 352 pages
- Publisher: Forge Books
- Release: May 19, 2020
- Rate & Recommend: ⭐⭐⭐⭐ probably
Thank you to Bookish First and Forge for the raffle win ARC! I loved his work in the Bourne series and was psyched to have a chance to read this one early.
Here is the description from GoodReads:
Russian meddling, American fragmentation, and global politics collide in this action-packed, international thriller.
In The Nemesis Manifesto, New York Times bestselling author Eric Van Lustbader, “the master of the smart thriller,”* delivers an epic and harrowing adventure of the predatory forces that are threatening the very fabric of democracy and kicks off a compelling new series with a singular new hero for our time.
Evan Ryder is a lone wolf, a field agent for a black-ops arm of the DOD, who has survived unspeakable tragedy and dedicated her life to protecting her country. When her fellow agents begin to be systematically eliminated, Evan must unravel the thread that ties them all together…and before her name comes up on the kill list.
The list belongs to a mysterious cabal known only as Nemesis, a hostile entity hell-bent on tearing the United States apart. As Evan tracks them from Washington D.C. to the Caucasus Mountains, from Austria to a fortress in Germany where her own demons reside, she unearths a network of conspirators far more complex than anyone could have imagined. Can Evan uproot them before Nemesis forces bring democracy to its knees?
As the description makes obvious, The Nemesis Manifesto has a massive scope. It is a classic spy novel with modern day conspiracy theories and such a tangled web of operatives and agencies that I could hardly keep track of the layers of intrigue. It was very well written and so full of action that it was quite hard to put down at times. From Washington D.C. to Russia, Georgia to Germany, arching eyebrows to immaculate suits and a Russian mafia style blood feud, this is a huge sweeping MUST for fans of spies and international intrigue
The book introduced Evan Ryder. She is a truly kick ass agent, proficient and deadly and wanted all over the world. After a small dissertation on why females do or don’t work as agents, the book smoothed out and let her do her job. There was a fairly slow start in general but once the action started it moved so quickly. The other female agent, Brenda, seemed to be there to serve as an example of a bad female agent. She was a bit of a mental loose cannon which issues that seemed to stem from seeing her dad in a compromising position. For example there was some clearly consensual sex going on in her adult consensual relationship, but then as soon as she found out the guy was a double agent she started on a rape tirade and made all sorts of terrible field agent decisions. Crying rape is never cute and omg did I want to reach through the page and shoot her! Thankfully throughout the book a handful of other agents, and ultimately Evan was there to bail her out.
Other than a few analogies and similes that seemed a bit over-written, the writing was fantastic and I don’t have much to say about it. The author is a strong storyteller.
Other than Brenda, my other small qualm is that I don’t know if quite enough loose ends were wrapped up. We were dealing with everything from a hilariously childish interagency blood feud to some fucked up family ties to Nazis, and somehow the DOD got thrown back in at the end. Nemesis seemed to provide a lot more questions along with their answers, and I never quite understood how things pieced together. Why were they ever targeting Butler, and what happened to him? I think, maybe these questions are going to be the basis of book 2, which had it’s own can of worms opened up by a minor cliffhanger.
The most impressive part was how relevant the plot is to today’s world. The American left and right are so obnoxiously far divided that it almost feels believable that Russian based dezinformatsiya is fueling it. Why not? They were alluding to a Trump type of POTUS as well, and it was even more interesting to consider who else in the international committee could be involved.
Last but not least – it’s time for the @OneReadingNurse infamous medical rant. The book states a patients IV was pulled, and the nurse rushed to “put the needle back in.” Guys that is not a thing, once we get it into the arm THERE IS NO NEEDLE, just a plastic cannula. There is NO way to reinsert it. Huge cringe moment but otherwise the book passes inspection.
Overall I would definitely recommend this to anyone who likes international thrillers and spy / black ops novels. There’s even a little agent holding a gun on the cover. Thank you again to BookishFirst and Forge for my copy. It releases in May so keep an eye out for it or preorder now!
OneReadingNurse.com 