Cover Image: Total Fallout

Total Fallout

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Member Reviews

This is typical Alex Shah very fast paced and really gets into it It didn't really matter that I hadn't read the first book it just worked. A great way to spend the afternoon totally escaping from everything.

I was given a free copy by netgalley and the publishers but the review is entirely my own.

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What a thrill ride. Great storyline with well rounded characters. Not read Alex Shaw books before but are now on my TBR list.
Thank you to HQ Digital and Netgalley for letting me read a review copy

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Unfortunately I haven’t read the first book in the jack tate series and felt a bit lost with this book so didn’t find I could complete it but I would imagine it’s a fantastic read for his fans

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Powerful, gripping and thought provoking, unusual to find all these attributes in one fast paced read of this genre. The reader is on a bare knuckle ride, totally drawn into the powerful main character and with him at every twist and turn of the plot. One of those books you just can't put down, a great read

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Great storyline with engaging characters. Looking forward to reading further books with Tate and Ruslan.

Thanks for the opportunity to read and review.

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Non-stop action as the good guy operator and the bad guy assassin hunt each other for a variety of reasons. High tech gets involved as well in cases of mistaken (falsified) identity.

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Wow I’m exhausted. I feel I’ve been shot at, attacked and have run a gauntlet! The drama and action are so real you feel your adrenaline running through your body. I enjoyed Alex Shaw’s previous book so was very excited to read this one, hoping it would be as good. Well I think this one is even better.

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Total Fallout is the second book about Jack Tate, seconded from the SAS to a clandestine unit operated by the Secret Intelligence Service, and continues his search for the men responsible for the explosion that killed his foster parents. Video footage comes to light that points to the Russian assassin, Ruslan Akulov, as the bomber, but he is being framed and needs to convince Tate before it is too late.
A mysterious company called Blackline is behind technology that can manipulate digital images so that even the experts believe they are genuine. If this was possible – and maybe it is? – the repercussions would be frightening; it would be virtually impossible to trust any news, CCTV or mobile phone footage, if it could all be faked.
This is a fast-paced action thriller with a likeable main character, and a cast of thoroughly convincing villains who deserve everything they get. Although you could read this as a standalone, I really recommend you read Total Blackout first, as they have a lot of characters and backstory in common. Hopefully, this is not the last we see of Jack Tate. Thanks to HQ Digital and NetGalley for a copy to review.

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Fast paced, brilliant thriller.

The characters are well developed and therefore human which means you’re invested and involved.

The two stories that intertwine are fascinating and really allow you to understand each point of view.

Great read.

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Wow! What a book. So fast paced. A thrill a minute and the newest technology on show! I couldn’t put it down. One of the easiest books I’ve read. Although it’s hard on the nerves amazing!

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If you like a fast-paced thriller this could be the book for you. It follows on from the lead character’s role in overcoming a dastardly plot to disable the USA via an EMP device (and it will enable the reader to make more sense of ‘Total Fallout’ if the earlier novel is read first). Alex Shaw has a knack of maintaining momentum throughout whilst building tension as the denouement approaches, although like many in this genre the characters can be somewhat two dimensional and the clever detailing ignores some real world realities. But, hey, it’s fiction, right? As suggested in the opening remarks of this review, readers who have an appetite for thrillers that keep the fast-paced action flowing without being too troubled by implausibilities are likely to find this a hard book to put down. Recommended.

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Thank you to HQ Digital for the ARC.
Alex Shaw has produced another excellent, fast-paced read. It has great characters, a fascinating, high-tech storyline packed with tension, twists and action.
I loved the interplay between Tate and Werewolf Six. Is he his nemesis or an ally? It was wonderful to read how that played out, and another novel featuring their relationship would definitely be on my must-read list.
I look forward to seeing how Alex Shaw develops the Jack Tate persona in subsequent books, and I would recommend this highly to anyone who loves action thrillers!

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Jack Tate, ex SAS, now MI6, is continuing his undercover investigations in this latest thriller by Alex Shaw. Dealing with such pertinent issues as deep fake shenanigans and ranging from Oman to USA, this thriller fairly romps along, maintaining the pace and the plot relentlessly. Lots of twists and turns and surprises help to keep the reader guessing.
Although it’s the second in the Jack Tate series, it can be read as a standalone novel. Having said that, I look forward to more escapist reading of Jack Tate’s exploits.
My thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for my advance copy of this title.

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Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for allowing me to read an advance copy of this book.
Total Fallout is the second instalment in the Jack Tate SAS thriller series, Fast paced and well plotted, it moves along at a cracking pace.
I really enjoyed it and would recommend it to fans of Chris Ryan and Andy McNab.

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Non-stop action!

Along with his team, Jack Tate is assigned to extricate a member of the Saudi royal family, His Royal Highness Salmon bin Mohammad Al Nayef. Nayef has agreed to share all the information he has on his uncle’s role in terrorism. In return, he will be given a new identity and life in Australia. The mission goes exactly to plan, and once Nayef is escorted into the Australian team’s hands, Tate can concentrate on finding Ruslan Akulov. The man he holds responsible for killing his adoptive parents, the Hunters, killed by the bomb he set off in Camden Market.

Ruslan Akulov in on his own mission – finding and destroying Kirill Vetrov. He knows that he is responsible for distorting the truth and making it appear that he is the man behind the Camden Market bombing. He’s sure that Chen Yan, who he had last encountered with Blackline, is the person behind the fake video that the British Intelligence have, showing him walking away after the bomb exploded. What he doesn’t know when he arrives in the USA to search for Vetrov is that Vetrov works for a Mexican drug cartel.

I had no option but to race through the novel to get to the final page. Alex Shaw has excelled in the storyline. Jack Tate and Ruslan Akulov are supported by a strong cast of characters on their respective journeys to solve how and why Vetrov and Yan went to such great lengths to frame Akulov. I found myself fascinated by how “human” both these men, killers, in essence, are. Yan’s software is also terrifying real and, hopefully, will not appear on the market soon.

Alex Shaw, your storytelling is brilliant! I can’t wait for your next book.

Rony

Elite Reviewing Group received a copy of the book to review.

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An excellent thriller. I enjoyed Alex Shaw’s previous book and this one was great as well. It was fast paced.

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Total Fallout is the second instalment in the Jack Tate SAS Thriller series, set in a throng of different countries as Tate searches for his target. Ex-SAS trooper Jack Tate is working for the Secret Intelligence Service, aka MI6, and is currently working on a black op when his mission changes to one most personal. His foster parents were murdered by a terrorist who planted a bomb in Camden four years earlier and he has evidence of exactly who carried out the attack. From the video footage the perpetrator is identified as notorious and prominent Russian assassin Ruslan Akulov, who suddenly appears back on the intelligence scene after some time away. Tate is determined to avenge his parents devastating deaths seemingly at the hands of an old adversary, but it comes to light that the footage may have been doctored through the use of dangerous new technology that leaves no trace that a video has been altered or interfered with. Can he find out the truth and accept that Akulov was framed? He may have to team up with him to discover exactly who is responsible but to complicate matters further Akulov is being hunted by the powerful Mexican Mendez cartel after he stumbled on to an attempted abduction of two women, which he prevented, but wound up killing a Mendez brother. At the same time, Akulov is strenuously hunting members of his old team - The Werewolves - who he believes have something to do with the deep fake footage.

This is a riveting, compulsive and hard-hitting story and from the very beginning, Shaw has you by the throat hanging on his every word. It's exceptionally gritty, violent and the high body count doesn't feel half as bad when those he's offing are dangerous or the pure embodiment of evil, this isn't for the faint-hearted, but I love every second of it. Jack is a fantastic protagonist who is simultaneously hard as nails and compassionate; he has a heart, is intelligent and sticks to his objectives at all times. There is suspense on suspense on suspense and I found my pulse racing at points when the action was fierce. There are a plethora of superbly executed fight scenes throughout and the deep fake and fake news aspects make this a topical tale. I particularly love that you never have to question whether to pick up one of Shaw's books as it's a no-brainer. It's such a fast-paced, engrossing and well-woven thriller with plenty of globe trotting and the way the different plot threads come together is superbly executed. Shaw is adept at ratcheting up the tension right up until the explosive conclusion. There are a slew of these type books on the scene, but I find Shaw to be the most entertaining, enjoyable and filled with scintillating tension throughout. It's an intelligent, rapidfire thriller that has all the elements to make it a riveting read with barely room to breath before more developments happen. Highly recommended.

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In a novel by Alex Shaw there is never a full moment. His bad guys have plans to control the world. His good guys have enough compassion to tip the moral odds in their favour. This new novel has Mexican drug barons, British spies and Russian assassins and the line between right and wrong is blurred.
Jack Tate thinks he has found the man who killed his foster parents four years ago. With the action shifting from Monaco, to Houston, and the borders of Canada, he must reassess friends and does.
I love this series. So much better than most action thrillers now being published.

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This is the second book in the Jack Tate series, and I would strongly advise that you read the first book Total Blackout, before this book. Events from the first story are entwined in this story too, besides it is one hell of a read!


Jack’s parents have been murdered, and video footage clearly shows the man responsible. New technology has to start somewhere and doctoring the footage and leaving no trace of interfering with it had to come one day. The problem is, getting Jack to realise that he was set up as much as the man on film.

Akulov, a global sort after Russian Assasin, with worldwide acclaim had murdered a very high and powerful man whose brother will use everything he has to bring him down. It turns into an all-action, the adrenaline rush as the trail of who is after who grows and comes back on itself. There is always elite undercover operatives from every country but once trained up there isn’t a way back to what they were before.

It is a perfect globe-trotting thriller that brings action, tension and unexpected pump the air moments. A magnificent ending! I hope that there is more on the way.


I wish to thank Net Galley and the publisher for an e-copy of this book which I have reviewed honestly.

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Having read Total Blackout, the first of the Jack Tate SAS thrillers, Total Fallout follows on nicely as we are introduced to the same characters again. Jack believes the Russian, Akulov, killed his parents and he is out for revenge. Akulov wants to know why his previous team leader is out to frame him. They also both want to stop new technology being launched that could change the world as we know it.
Very thrilling from start to finish with lots of twists and turns. A great action thriller and a great read.

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