Price of Duty by Dale Brown

I’ve come to think that cyber warfare and hacking are the next big problem and here is a bang up-to-date American thriller that deals with my worst nightmares. Price of Duty is actually classified as a military techno-thriller. If you are into technology and warfare then this is definitely the book for you. 

The Russian president Gennadiy Gryzlov has commissioned a secret underground network of bunkers deep in the Ural mountains to host a cyber warfare unit capable of destroying the world as we know it. The United States and its western allies are the target of its deadly focus. The first strike is against Warsaw and sees the records of nearly all bank accounts wiped out. When the financial system implodes, the rest of Europe starts running scared.

The American president is unable to counter this threat and it falls to Brad McLanahan and his Scion team to try and stop this scourge.  

This fast-paced action thriller is number 27 of the long-running Brad McLanahan series. I’m not familiar with the series, but many of the numerous McLanahan fans feel it has injected new energy and direction into this popular series. I found the cast list of characters at the front of the book particularly helpful, as there are many Russian, Rumanian and Polish names I’m unfamiliar with. But I was most impressed by the author’s grasp of technological warfare and cyber crime. Drones, for example, have been taken to a whole new level. Brave New World, here we come. I’m not sure I’ll ever sleep peacefully again.

Dale Brown was an American Airforce officer before becoming a bestselling author. Price of Duty was published in July 2018 by Corsair in Paperback (£9.99)