Jack Mars

Description
When nuclear waste is stolen by jihadists in the middle of the night from a New York City hospital, the police, in a frantic race against time, call in the FBI. Luke Stone, head of an elite, secretive, department within the FBI, is the only man they can turn to. Luke realizes right away that the terrorists’ aim is to create a dirty bomb, that they seek a high-value target, and that they will hit it within 48 hours. As Agent Stone peels back layer after layer, he soon realizes he show more is up against a vast conspiracy, and that the target is even more high value than he could have imagined—leading all the way to the President of the United States.

This was a fast paced, edge of the seat thriller with many twists along the way. I also found both the story and the characters mostly believable. There’s a cliff hanger at the end that makes me want to read more too. show less

Any Means Necessary by Jack Mars
#1 in The Luke Stone Thrillers Series
4 stars.

Amazon Description
When nuclear waste is stolen by jihadists in the middle of the night from an unguarded New York City hospital, the police, in a frantic race against time, call in the FBI. Luke Stone, head of an elite, secretive, department within the FBI, is the only man they can turn to. Luke realizes right away that the terrorists’ aim is to create a dirty bomb, that they seek a high-value target, and that show more they will hit it within 48 hours.

A cat and mouse chase follows, pitting the world’s most savvy government agents versus its most sophisticated terrorists. As Agent Stone peels back layer after layer, he soon realizes he is up against a vast conspiracy, and that the target is even more high value than he could have imagined—leading all the way to the President of the United States.

With Luke framed for the crime, his team threatened and his own family in danger, the stakes could not be higher. But as a former special forces commando, Luke has been in tough positions before, and he will not give up until he finds a way to stop them—using any means necessary.

Twist follows twist as one man finds himself up against an army of obstacles and conspiracies, pushing even the limits of what he can handle, and culminating in a shocking climax.

A political thriller with heart-pounding action, dramatic international settings, and non-stop suspense, ANY MEANS NECESSARY marks the debut of an explosive new series that will leave you turning pages late into the night.
Review
A cracker of a read! The synopsis tells you almost all you need to know. It really did grab hold of me and I was reading until late in the night. The nearest I can compare it to is the Mitch Rapp series written by the late Vince Flynn.
Luke Stone is not only very efficient at what he does, but he is also an engaging character with an attractive wife and son. Accompanied by the indomitable Ed Newsham, he takes on a very deep rooted conspiracy, the perpetrators of which would like to remove him from the scene at any cost.
He never knows whom he can really trust, as former friends are either involved or executed at the hands of certain very violently minded people.
The whole of the USA is under threat and at different times it does seem as though the “bad guys” are going to win, but Stone does come through in the end. The denouement is almost a little too easy, but works for me, and the fact that it leads on directly to the next in the series is intriguing. No sooner than having resolved this situation, the President immediately gives him another assignment!
Numbers 2 and 3 already purchased which should indicate that there is a new and noteworthy writer on the block. Keep it up Mr Mars! show less

I thoroughly enjoyed "Any Means Necessary" by Jack Mars. As a thriller, this book held my attention from the very beginning. The storyline was plausible and our government needed people like Luke Stone and his partner, Ed, both former Delta Force members. All the gadgets used in the story is actual technology used today. I also feel that in the war against terrorism, the US needs to use whatever means are necessary to complete its mission.

Many reviewers were condemning the story because of show more the choice of politics and going way overboard in their reviews. This is a fiction story which affects the government and its leaders. Get over it...and enjoy the story...leave your political views out of reviews!

After finishing this story, I quickly downloaded book #2 and can't wait to see what happens next. I also feel that this first book in the series could stand alone. There is a bit of a cliff hanger at the end and it does seem rushed - but there was closure and I was thrilled for the adventure. Keep up the good work, Jack Mars and keep them coming!

John Podlaski, author
"Cherries - A Vietnam War Novel" and "When Can I Stop Running?" show less

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Title: Agent Zero
Series: Agent Zero #1
Authors: Jack Mars
Rating: 3 of 5 Stars
Genre: Thriller
Pages: 322
Words: 115.5K

Synopsis:

Kent Steele is getting over the death of his wife and is doing his best to show more provide stability for his 2 daughters. One night he is kidnapped and told he's a secret agent for the CIA, the most lethal agent the world has ever known. Kent, a history professor, knows this isn't true and is convinced the kidnappers have the wrong man. Then they remove a small module from his head and suddenly he's having memories that seem impossible.

Turns out Steele WAS a secret agent going after a organization that was so scattered that no 3 members knew more than 3 other members. They had penetrated governments and security agencies and it was obvious to Steele that the CIA had a mole or 3. So he chose to have his memory suppressed, faked his death and was trying to hide in plain sight.

Now that he's back, Steele means to see the job done. He hunts down the organization and puts a stop to them killing hundreds of world leaders and business moguls. Now Agent Zero is back.

My Thoughts:

Jason Bourne meets John Wick, with kids. This was a decent story. However, this was originally published in 2019 and right now, in 2022, the series has ended at book 12. That's 4 books a year. I know that output doesn't HAVE to indicate quality (as evinced by the Galaxy's Edge series by Anspach and Cole) but it usually is a good indicator. This was well written and I really hope the quality stays this high.

While I did enjoy this, we'll have to see if the author has the imagination to keep the story interesting for 11 more books. What concerns me is that Kent Steele has a dead wife, 2 young daughters and in this book gets a potential love interest from his past. That's a LOT of drama potential. The kids especially worry me because most authors either kill them off OR end up making them non-entities. Neither of those options is enjoyable to read about nor does it ever indicate a skill level that is above average in terms of story telling.

I realize I'm being pessimistic here but sometimes it is hard not to be. I'd like to end this by saying I did enjoy the story and the main characters name just made me laugh. If you're a comic fan, you might have already picked up on it. Kent is the last name of Clarke Kent, who is also known as the Man of Steel.

★★★☆☆ show less