Monday, August 1, 2022

Sleeper 13 by Rob Sinclair

 
When Aydin Torkal was nine, his father took him to Afghanistan to be trained to fight the infidels. At the Farm, he and fourteen other young boys were taught to kill. They called him Talatashar, number thirteen.

Now grown, Aydin has been stationed in Paris, one of thirteen militants about to pull off a series of deadly attacks across Europe. He doesn't know all the details; he doesn't even know where his other twelve brothers have been sent. Then his sister, Nilay, who's been searching for him for years, is killed in Syria, and Ayden knows that it had to have been one of his brothers who was order to kill her because she was getting too close to the truth. So he leaves Paris to go in search of the man who murdered his sister.
"...all of the others, they were out there, and Aydin was damn certain they all wanted him dead. They would come for him .... again and again to kill him .... and they would harm anyone who got in their way. If he ran he had no chance. What he needed was to fight back. It was time to use his hatred. It was time to become the hunter."

The other main character in this novel is Rachel Cox, a British SIS agent in MI5. She's been hunting for any information on the thirteen militants for years, but she can't find any real proof of their existence until Aydin, or Talatashar, breaks ranks. His defection just might lead her team to the other twelve in time to stop the deadly attacks. If she can get to him before his brothers do.

Sleeper 13 is an entertaining read with lots of action and suspense. It has a similar vibe to the Jason Bourne movies and the Orphan X books (although it's not quite as good). I liked how strong and determined Rachel was, even when she didn't get any support from her superiors. And Aydin? He's a conflicted yet ultimately sympathetic character. I liked him, too. All in all, this was a fun read. I look forward to checking out the next book in this series.  

Happy reading!


 

42 comments:

  1. Aydin does sound like a sympathetic and brave character. In a sense he never had a choice, his father taking him to Afghanistan when he was nine to train to fight the infidels. The fact that he was able to break free after years of indoctrination is remarkable. True his sister being killed was a wake up call but many in Aydin's position would have continued on with the life they knew. He decided no more.

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    1. What made Aydin so great was his inner turmoil, and how he fought against his training, but then turned around and used it against the men who trained him.

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  2. I may like this. Thank you for sharing. Regine

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    1. It's fast-paced and action-packed and a fun read. :)

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  3. I love the Bourne movies so anything like those gets my attention. :) And this does sound good. It's kind of scary how ffective indoctrination like that can be!

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    1. It is scary! And it really shows up in the other twelve boys who were taken and trained like Aydin was.

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  4. As I started reading your description, I thought, "This sounds like a Jason Bourne tale." And then you confirmed it for me! It certainly sounds like an entertaining read.

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    1. It's very much in that Jason Bourne vein...which I do really like now and again. :)

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  5. Wow, this sounds like an exciting read. The kind you can almost see playing out as a movie in your head.

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    1. It would definitely make for a great action movie! :)

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  6. This sounds like a thrilling read. The fact that it has a Jason Bourne-vibe to it has me very intrigued. :)

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    1. I liked that about it. And I found Aydin an easy character to root for. :)

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  7. I think this one sounds good and I'll look for it. A series?

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    1. There are two more books in this series (trilogy?) about Aydin and Rachel.

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  8. A very exciting book, and I enjoyed your review, Lark.

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  9. This sounds like an action-packed read. Both Rachel and Aydin sounds like intriguing characters.

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    1. They're great. And if they team up in the next book that'd be even more fun. :)

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  10. This sounds good. I'm watching the Homeland series right now (I'm in Season 7) and this one reminds me a lot of Homeland - and I LOVE the series.

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    1. It's got that spy/thriller vibe, too? Sounds like a good series.

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  11. Glad that you enjoyed this one, and I hope that you get to the rest of the series soon :)
    claire @ clairefy

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    1. Thanks! Getting to the next book in a series is always hard for me because I have so many other books I also want to read. :)

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  12. This sounds fabulous. Probably intense, but good. Thanks for visiting my blog today.

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    1. It's a compelling read, that's for sure. :)

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  13. So young and wow, what an interesting conflicted character. I can see why this made a good thriller.

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    1. The author did a good job creating such a layered and conflicted character in Aydin!

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  14. Terrorist attacks in Paris are always scary ... so I hope the agent was able to stop all 12 threats! yikes.

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    1. The threat of all those attacks definitely added to the suspense!

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  15. I love all kinds of espionage, and this sounds intriguing. Have you read anything else by this author? He is new to me, but he has written a good number of books in the last few years.

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    1. I haven't read anything else by this author, but he writes so well I wouldn't mind trying some of his other books. :)

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  16. This does sound like a fun read Thanks for the review!

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    1. It's been awhile since I've read this kind of action/thriller so I really enjoyed it. :)

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  17. I haven't read a thriller like this in a long time -- I tried Orphan X but couldn't quite stick with it unfortunately. Maybe I'll have better luck with this one!

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    1. It's worth trying. I liked Aydin and Rachel, and there's lots of action. :)

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  18. This definitely sounds like an action packed story. I have backed off a bit from books with a lot of violence, thus, this might not work for me. Wonderful review, Lark.

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    1. You have to be in the right frame of mind for a book like this. It's not super graphic, but there is violence in it.

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