Total Blackout by Alex Shaw is a page turner that grabs you in the first couple of pages.

Jack Tate is an MI6 agent and former SAS officer on vacation in Maine when a rogue Russian and Chinese taskforce triggers an electro-magnetic pulse device that wipes out all electrical and electronic equipment in the US (apparently this is also a side effect of a nuclear explosion). In the chaos that follows the leader of the Russian team is determined to settle several scores with those who he believes have insulted the Russian state and ultimately with Tate and his brother.

Total Blackout feels like it has been written to make into a Netflix type production and you can see further adventures for Tate and his brother. It’s not deep and it’s not that believable but it is fun and would make a good holiday read.

I hate taglines in titles and they usually make me just roll my eyes but, in this case, "gripping, breathtaking, and fast paced" is definitely the right definition for this book. It's also quite busy and flits about a bit so my recommendation for you is to make sure you have a chunk of time to read this book rather than just a couple chapters at a time. I started off flitting in and out (life got in the way) but I got a bit bogged down so I paused it until I had enough time to dedicate to it and started again properly.
We start with an EMP device being tested by a joint Russian and Chinese task force. As you can imagine it has devastating effects. We also then follow an assassin as he takes care of his hit list. We also see our hero Jack Tate get arrested for being in the wrong (right) place at the right (wrong) time. He's on holiday in Camden (USA not London) recuperating before visiting his brother in Washington but his peace is shattered both by the arrest and the events which unfold thereafter. Things escalate and with technology compromised (in the worst way imaginable) he has to really dig deep into his training and box of tricks to try makes sense of what is going and and, more importantly, stop it in its tracks.
Action packed this most definitely is. We have a bit of everything you'd expect in a high octane book of this genre. There are quieter moments interspersed throughout the narrative which as well as adding colour and background, also serve as moments of well needed respite before it all kicks off again.
But action is nothing without a plot and here the author has excelled. It's intricate and tight and, as all good books should, weaves several threads around and about before eventually everything comes together towards the end. In a very satisfying way.
Characters are also really well drawn and all have their parts to play and do so with aplomb. In Jack Tate the author has created a wonderful action hero who does whatever he needs to do to protect those who need it, and get the job done. Nothing more, nothing less. He's fair and firm, has a no nonsense attitude and has his own code. He's also one smart cookie and very adaptable.
It's not the longest book, well it didn't feel like that, but it definitely packs a punch. It left me breathless but satisfied and also hanging for more next time. Surely a sign of a cracking series opener. My thanks go to the Publisher and Netgalley for the chance to read this book.

A great fast paced terrorist story. A joint Russian Chinese private venture set off an electromagnetic pulse over Washington destroying anything electrical Tate, a British agent on holiday in Maine gets involved. As with all these type of novels one has to suspend credibility at time, but it is still a fun read. Highly recommended.

This was a fast-paced thriller. The link between the murders and the electromagnetic pulse took time to unravel but worth reading.
The main character Jack Tate - is a typical hero with a past - but you want him to win!
I would recommend this book and read the next in the series.

There’s a new hero on the block, in the form of SIS operative (MI6 agent) Jack Tate, and his first outing in this new series is pretty full on.

A terrorist attack in the US using EMP (Electro Magnetic Pulse) destroys everything controlled by electronics, all the things that are deemed essential in our modern world of technology.

That means that not only is communication impossible, (unless you have an old fashioned radio set) but all modern cars are rendered useless - only the much older cars are not affected, so mobility becomes a serious issue too. This in itself is enough to cause widespread panic, but in addition, the EMP attack is designed to distract attention from some very high profile assassinations.

Jack Tate is on vacation in Maine when the attack begins, but he needs to get to Washington to protect his Diplomat brother Simon, who works at the British Embassy, before Simon becomes just another number on the terrorist’s hit list.

This is a really tense and action packed start to the series, one that pits the wits of the Brits and Americans against that of the Russians and Chinese. Jack proves himself a great protagonist, brutal when the occasion calls for it though, because he’ll move heaven and earth to protect his brother - he has no patience with the predators in society, and can be as brutal as his adversaries.

Fast, furious and absorbing, and a terrific start to this new series.

Based on the reviews by others who received this book, I thought I would love this book. Instead I found it just OK. It was fast paced story based on an attack on the power grid that puts us in a blackout but some parts I didn't find too believable. I loved the character Tate but he was a little too over the top for me. The chief of police seems to work alongside him when that seems unlikely he would partner with a stranger so quickly.. It appears I am alone in that sentiment and others liked the book a lot. I guess this one just wasn't for me.
Thank you Netgalley, Alex Shaw and HQ Digital for the DRC for my honest review.

The fast pace and totally believable scenario make this a compelling read.
The characters (some you will love and some you have to hate) are fantastically 3 dimensional and you live through their experiences with them. The catastrophic effects of the terrorist attack on America is told through the eyes of Jack Tate, innocently on holiday and rapidly embroiled in the investigation into the attack.
I read the book in one sitting and thoroughly enjoyed every single page!

An all- action story from Alex Shaw with a new all-action hero in Jack Tate, ex-SAS guy who finds himself caught up in a plot to attack USA by knocking out all electric/ electronic powered devices and transport. The story romps along at pace, and our hero is in a race against time to discover the cause and the culprits of the attack. Well written and pacy, this is an enjoyable read to lose yourself in.
Also thought provoking - I’m thinking of getting myself an older car powered solely by mechanical means, with no electronic gizmos whatsoever! I rather fancy an MGB GT......

My thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for my advance copy of this title.

I wasn't sure i would like this book but I really did! I'm nof the target audience im sure but I really would reccomend you give this a try. The plot was fun and the puzzle was interesting. Very good read.

Jack Tate is on leave in America and plans to visit his bother Simon while there. But his plans go astray when America comes under attack. Individuals are assassinated and all power across Ed the country blacked out.
How, why and by whom are they being attacked?
A fast paced, well written novel. Loads of action from beginning to end, enjoy.

Been a while since I gave a book 5 stars (I think!) but this one deserved it. Really easy to read, gripping and a fantastic protagonist in Jack Tate. He's likeable, energetic, a character and a bad ass! The book flows very well and is over before you know it.

The book isn't long, at least it certainly didn't feel long and there are a number of characters you get to know. Some you love and some you hate - but a good balance between good and bad.

Highly recommended, thoroughly enjoyed this adventure and can't wait to read the next book and see which characters make it to the second installment and how they progress. Bravo.

Alex Shaw takes one on a rollercoaster ride. The pace is relentless but the author has created much more than just another action thriller.
In simplistic terms, as you might expect, the good guys are the British and the Americans, and the bad guys the Russians and the Chinese.
The plot is a clever hybrid: part modern day Alistair MacLean, with a distinctive touch of a John Wyndham dystopian world-end scenario. It works, and it works very well.
The nearly all male cast is drawn with distinction, something often missing in a high octane thriller.
The most powerful country in the world has come under attack by the man who wants to be the next president of Russia. Jack Tate is a great hero. Surely he will return to save the world again.

I liked this book. The description from some of the reviews comparing the main character to Reacher, the book is very different. I liked the fact that it was fast paced and Tate was an interesting person. Overall I would recommend this to people who enjoy thrillers.

Ex-SAS trooper Jack Tate is on holiday in Camden, Maine, when he is picked up for speeding. He has rented the same car as the suspected assassin of a retired senator., and the police want to know if it was him. Russians staying at the same motel as him have the same model Tahoe - are they involved?
Things go a bit crazy when the USA is hit by an ElectroMagnetic Pulse (EMP), launched by a Russian/Chinese Organisation, that wipes out everything controlled by electronics - from cars to phones. The only way to contact anyone is via an old fashioned radio set - Jack contacts his handler and London and finds the whole of the USA is under attack. His mission is to get to Washington and get his diplomat brother to safety any way he can.

Fast paced with lots of gun fights - the body count increases as Tate and Police Officers Donoghue and Chang fight back against Blackline.

Good read, wanting to finish it in one sitting, although slightly far fetched in places.

Fast paced and exciting, look out James Bond! The book introduces us to ex SAS solder and now MI6 operative Jack Tate, it is a good read that you just can’t put down until you know how it ends. Nicely written if a shade unbelievable but then that it sometimes what makes a good book.

This is a competent action thriller with a more credible Geo-political scenario than most. The key plot device is an apparently non-nuclear Electro-Magnetic-Pulse device which knocks out pretty well all electrical and electronic hardware in the continental United States. As a plot device this is fine: it allows the protagonists to move through Maine and indeed Washington DC as if the authorities are not there, for to all intents and purposes they are not. The hero is an ex-SAS man, Jack Tate, who is believable. However, he's portrayed as working for a direct-action division of MI6, and direct action is something MI6 has never been keen on in real life. Action is largely incompatible with intelligence-gathering, in their view.

The enemy is a partnership between a Chinese electronics company and a Russian private military contractor. (These do exist and one came to grief in a big way in Syria at the hands of American forces a little while back.) However, while Russia is an authoritarian state, Communist China is a totalitarian one and there is no such thing as a Chinese company (with more than 30 employees) outside of direct, daily and detailed Chinese Communist Party control, even though they all claim to be independent when targeted by American sanctions!

So there are many aspects to this tale which are realistic, but the EMP device itself is not.
Non-nuclear EMP devices, or Explosively-Pulsed Microwave Weapons do exist, but being powered by non-nuclear sources they work by focusing the limited energy available onto a small area, a few acres, say. They can be quite efficient at damaging equipment in the small area and even in underground bunkers, because the microwave energy they radiate can be coherent (like a laser) as well as focused and directional. But to affect the whole of the United States they would have to be converting energies on the scale of a largish single-stage nuclear bomb. (Multi-stage thermonuclear devices are less efficient at producing EMP. But they can make up for what they lack in efficiency by sheer power.)

Furthermore, the EMP device is portrayed as killing all modern electronic devices unless they are specially shielded, when in fact many modern devices could escape EMP effects simply by being too small for meaningful energy to be collected from an EMP and discharged in a way that would do permanent harm. So the all-powerful EMP device in the story is a plot device, (or a propaganda threat) not likely hardware.

Although an interesting premise for the plot, and one many people worry about, I couldn't get into it. The 'blurb' was a reason for my request, and I am sorry not to have enjoyed it more.

But thank you to NetGalley and HQ Digital for an advance copy.

Jack Tate, ex SAS and now MI6, is on a months holiday, forced on him by his boss. As he’s from Camden UK, he decides to take a trip to Camden, US. His brother, who is a British diplomat in the US, is one of a number of people being targeted by a foreign group intent on bringing the US to its knees.

This is a well paced thriller, all the more terrifying as it is so plausible. There is quite a range of characters, but this is so well written it’s easy to follow and keep them all in order. I look forward to reading more by this author.

Thanks to netgalley and the publishers for an ARC in return for an honest review.

Jack Tate? Meet Jack Bauer….I don’t know if it is because I am currently re-watching 24 for the fifth time, but this novel reminded me of Jack Bauer; the relentless and known policy breaker of the box set world. Despite the similarities, this thriller is set a bar above the rest.

From the prologue to the end, you are gripped and also realise that this situation could happen in reality. Jack Tate works for MI6 but is on holiday; he has been told to have a break. Obviously this does not got to plan when an EMP (electronic magnetic pulse) is detonated over the White House and plunges the US into an electronic darkness. No phones. No cars. No medical equipment. It would be consider an apocalypse by some.

Jack Tate is not aware either that is UK diplomat brother is a target alongside other hunted officials by the Russian ex-military. The leader of the group also has a personal vendetta against his family. Paralleled with the EMP and a personal agenda, the pace of this thriller is constant.

It did not take me long to read this, I am a fan of a crime thriller but what stands out with this one is the characterisation and how well the plot was linked. There seemed to be far more characters than a normal crime thriller; everyone was involved (unbeknownst to them)and the characters stories and actions are linked throughout the day. Like an episode of 24, where the mise en scene follows the characters throughout that one day of crisis; we normally see this in 4 separate shots on the screen. We know at each minute, where each character is and what is happening in their own story. This thriller follows suit. Eventually they are drawn together by events towards the end.

I am looking forward to the next in the series! Give it a go.

Thanks Netgalley and HQ Digital for allowing me to read this.

With more acceleration than a Mig with afterburners Total Blackout sets a pace few thrillers match. Just like the Mig with its miniaturised valves was designed to withstand an EMP, so too was a savvy special ops guy called Jack Tate equipped to understand what lay behind the total blackout affecting the USA. Whilst the weapon which caused the EMP may be theoretical, the tech which both hunter and hunted used was plausible and this gave the story some authority. If you like a full-on thriller which doesn't let you catch your breath then this one's for you. It's a five star score from me.
One little niggle which might need explanation was how the taxi turned up next to the Tahoe on the perimeter of the airfiled when it had no fuel.