White wolf

Prolific thriller writer Lustbader, one of whose series includes 11 Jason Bourne novels commissioned by the estate of the late Robert Ludlum, returns here with the fifth of his Evan Ryder novels. Readers can expect vividly realized international settings, an abundance of perilous situations, and a plot that hinges on a technological advance with potentially apocalyptic consequences. Series hero Evan Ryder, a woman of great physical and mental resourcefulness, works as a field intelligence operative, first for the U.S. government and now for a private tech firm called Parachute. Ryder must make sure that leaders of the Axis of Evil, headed by Russia, don't access the prototype. Ryder's antagonist, Ilona Sarkova (the white wolf of the title), is a mercenary who specializes in assassination, hostage-taking, and terrorist attacks. Sarkova is infernally ingenious. Her frequent physical battles with Ryder and others are not for the faint of heart. Engaging and propulsive, but readers will better understand the complicated plot if they read the preceding thriller about Ryder and tech giant Parachute, The Quantum Solution (2023).