The First Order is Jeff Abbott's 5th book about Sam Capra. I haven't read the previous four books, but there were no problems whatsoever to get into the story.

Six years ago, Sam's brother Danny was killed in Afghanistan, beheaded in a video. But, now Sam has found evidence that Danny may still be alive that the video was just a ploy to let everyone think that Danny was dead. But, why was Danny spared, and why haven't Sam heard from his brother since then? What has Sam been doing these last six years?

I was quickly drawn into the story, it didn't matter one thing that I hadn't read the previous book. I found the main characters Sam and his best friend Mila instantly likable and I was intrigued by the plot in this book. Sam, has before this book been through much with a wife that turned out to be a traitor and a young son that was kidnapped and that he had to get back. Now he found out that his brother may be still alive. A brother, whose death made him join CIA six years ago. And, if that's not enough it seems that his brother is a trained assassin that is hired to kill the president of Russia. So now Sam doesn't just have to find Danny, he has to stop him from killing a world leader. Luckily he has Mila by his side, or is he so lucky? Mila has some secrets of her own that could ruin everything.

The story is action-filled and exciting to read. I did feel towards the end that the story dragged a bit, I felt a bit impatient with the story and wanted it to move faster forward. Although I do understand that there were things that needed to happen, but the intensity of the story seemed to slow down a bit instead of speeding up. But, then towards the end, the story picked up the speed again when everything came to the explosive finale.

I was impressed with the book, I found it well-written and I think that it will intrigue fans of spy novels. This is a series that I want to read more from, both books before this one and future books.

I want to thank the publisher for providing me with a free copy through Edelweiss for an honest review! ( )

Quite an exciting book. Hard to put down except for important interruptions. ( )

Pretty interesting story & characters... Fast-paced, too. ( )

Average Mental chocolate ( )

OK, but not great international vengeance, political assignation plot sort of thriller. ( )