Book Review - Perfect Shot by Steve Urszenyi

 

Perfect Shot by Steve Urszenyi is about a former US Army sniper who uncovers a nuclear threat.  Special Agent Alexandra Martel is no longer in the battlefield where she had a reputation as one of the most decorated Army snipers in the service. She is now an FBI special agent on loan to Interpol. When on assignment with Interpol, she learns that an old friend, Krysten, had died under mysterious circumstances.

Krysten was an MI5 officer that Alex had met years ago but fell out of touch with. Alex is unsure whether or not to get involved because she lost contact with Krysten and feels that if there was foul play involved, MI5 would get to the bottom of it. However, Krysten’s roommate isn’t letting Alex off the hook and has been persistent that Krysten’s death is sketchy and that someone needs to look into it.

Alex decides to take a look into Krysten’s death after receiving a mysterious email from her. As Alex tries to piece together the clues, she realizes that Krysten might have been warning Alex of something. While Alex is trying to figure out the clues, an American nuclear warhead goes missing on her base. Alex is trying to figure out if Krysten’s death and the missing warhead are related before it’s too late.

I thought that the novel was an okay read. It was a fast paced read that was filled with action. I didn’t like that it included a lot of military terms and acronyms I am not familiar with. I wish that they included a dictionary or glossary.  The novel had a bit too much detail that it was overwhelming to read and parse out what was pertinent to the storyline.  There were times that the story seemed a bit unrealistic and there were too many coincidences happening.

I liked that Alex was a confident character that was able to get things done. However, there were times I would question her skill level and found her annoying. She kept using a device that she knew was compromised to share sensitive information or she would share mission details with people she just met. It was confusing because sometimes she would be on guard right off the bat and then other times she seems so trusting of others. I would have liked if the author had included more of her backstory because it was hard to connect with and understand her sometimes. That said, I am interested in reading more of Alex’s adventures and learning more about her.