The Russian (Rob Tacoma #1), by Ben Coes
[Note: This book was received free of charge by St. Martin’s Press in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.]
Having previously reviewed a work by the author in another series of his, of which this book is a spin-off [1], I was very interested in what this book had to offer with the author’s skill in managing an exciting political thriller as well as the topical matter of the problems between the United States and the Russian mob. And this book rewarded those interests, taking what had been a side character and turning him into a compelling figure of considerable importance in a contest between different groups, and involving an intriguing speculation on constitutional theory to boot. When one reads series thriller fiction like this one, one’s wants are pretty straightforward–one wants a compelling figure to root for, page-turning excitement, and a satisfying conclusion that indicates that the series is going to be a viable one, and this one delivers on all fronts, producing a book that not only reads well and provides gripping and exciting drama and a compelling plot but that also reminds the reader, if such a reminder was necessary, that we live in a nation that has a great deal to struggle with when it comes to organized crime and political corruption.
This book is over 350 pages long and it is an exciting story from beginning to end. When we begin, in media res, Rob Tacoma has come across the scene of a brutal murder, and then we move back to show the setup of this particular scene, where a simultaneous assassination of two political figures who are hard on the Russian mafia leads to a crisis where the incumbent Republican president seeks special power to go after the Russian mob aggressively, a mission that is immediately compromised by a mole among them. From there on there is a high body count as Rob Tacoma first avenges his colleague and then seeks to gut the Odessa mob and its hierarchy in a compelling series of set piece moves that involve high tech support as well as Tacoma’s set of dangerous skills. This book reads like the sort of thing that would make a compelling movie or television series, and that is tribute to Ben Coes’ skill in crafting thrillers with characters who the reader cares about, dead or alive.
At the center of this novel is Rob Tacoma, a character with a compelling back story and a high kill ratio that makes him a very dangerous customer. This book sets up a larger story arc that would seem to involve not only the higher reaches of the Russian mafia, but also the Russian government itself. Given the high degree of hostility that exists among the United States and the Russian government and the tension over Russia’s involvement in the American political system (or even the rumor of it), this book certainly has a timely message that will likely find a great deal of resonance among the book’s readers. Given the author’s bestselling success as a thriller author, though, this book adds a compelling hero to the author’s existing series and allows for the author to expand his exploration of the threats that crime and corruption hold to the American public in a way that quickly turns pages and that also leads the reader to reflect on the way that foreign matters occasionally intrude into even our provincial news media, even if not very skillfully on the part of our journalists. The plausibility of this tale is what makes it so terrifying and compelling.
[1] See, for example:
Edge Induced Cohesion 