Fabulous plot which I could not put down. Brilliant characters, and twists and turns. Highly recommend to other fans of this genre!!

Author #Russell Fralich novel is a wonderful debut.Claire Marcoux is captaining a Naval ship for the first time.She is off the coast of Nova Scotia.Daniel, a professor with an interesting past is to meet with a multi millionaire who is murdered just before their appointment. The two stories will come together for quite a ride.
Thank you,
#Netgally,#Russell Fralich and #Dundurn Press

There doesn't seem, on the face of it, any reason why Claire, a naval officer, and Daniel, an entrepreneur and professor to be connected. If you aren't familiar with Canadian politics, this will be an eye opener as it's a thriller based around an effort for Alberta to separate from Canada (and perhaps join the US- although there's not much on how the US might view this;). There's terrorism, there's politics, there's a big conspiracy and No Spoilers. I liked the characters, was at times skimmed the fighting parts, was occasionally a tad confused, but generally liked it. It's well written and mercifully different from some many in the genre. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC.

A page turning action thriller. There is an upcoming referendum in Alberta to gain independence and the Yes side will go to any lengths to achieve their goal.

Claire Marcoux, captaining a naval ship for the first time, fires upon a boat off the coast of Nova Scotia. Daniel Ritter, an economics professor with an interesting past, is asked to meet with a multi millionaire who is murdered just before their appointment. The two stories come together for a terrifying look at what money, big egos and political ideologies can do.

A good debut novel leaves me looking forward to more adventures of these two main characters.

I read this book as an ARC, and the publisher also publishes my books that are nonfiction.
A rip-snorting good thriller with excellent tension and pacing set in Canada where the stakes are high. I especially enjoyed the naval connection in which Claire, a new and young commanding officer, takes centre stage when her career looks like ending before it's truly begun and Daniel, a professor, joins her to unravel the mystery.
Recommended.

An entertaining adventure story taking place in Canada comprises the first published novel by Mr Fralich. He does an entertaining job of putting two quite diverse people together working to solve a mystery that could affect the future direction of the country. The province of Alberta is getting ready to vote on staying or withdrawing from the Canadian union and there are a great many diverse opinions on both sides of the isle. The direction taken could make fortunes for people betting on the right side. All of the country is involved in examining the situation remembering all to well the conditions surrounding the preceding occurrence when Quebec underwent the same path and remained in the union.
Claire Marcoux is a career naval officer and has just taken over her first command of a ship on active duty. She is tested when her ship encounters a probable smuggler who attacks her instead of surrendering as should be. With no choice in the matter she orders her gunnery mate to fire back with subsequent sinking of the smugglers 's boat. As commander of the vessel Claire faces a board of inquiry and enters into a period of uncertainty when she finds herself facing the dislike of an officer over her.
Daniel Ritter is a new professor and falls into a strange problem when a self made and celebrated entrepreneur invites him to meet and discuss the man's actions, but is suddenly found murdered. Both Claire and Daniel apparently have completely different problems, but strangely find that they have mutual interests in solving what is before them. Claire is not at all backward in handling different and often violent situations, and it appears that Daniel has a background that involved at some point use of weapons and the fighting arts.
Where this goes is well done by Mr Fralich and sets the stage quite neatly for future novels involving the two principal characters or if not other novels that would be very well prove entertaining to read.

Thank you to Netgalley for the opportunity to read and review this book. The premise for this book is very interesting. Most people know about the attempts over the years of Quebec trying to gain independence from Canada. This story revolves around the idea of the province of Alberta gaining its independence or even becoming a new state of the United States. Interesting aside, the character development is disjointed and confusing. The relationships beween the good guys and the bad guys was very hard to follow. After introducing the female hero in the first chapter she did not return till chapter 13. Interesting enough to finish but not get excited about.

Thanks to NetGalley and Dundurn Press for this uniquely Canadian action thriller. It includes an edge of the seat explosive tension, Canadian political divisions, terrorism, and dishonest offshore financial scams. The book cover and NetGalley show the title as True Patriots, but both Amazon and Goodreads list its title as The Calgary Connection. I hope it will be published under the more distinctive title of The Calgary Connection, as I see a number of other books titled True Patriots.

Centre to the story is an approaching referendum in Alberta to separate from Canada. There is a fringe group of right-wing extremists with criminal intent who will resort to terrorism to meet their goals.

There was much to enjoy and admire in the writing, but I felt that it included many technical terms which made the story feel authentic but might distract from the thrills and suspense for some readers. There were so many names for different types of weapons, unfamiliar navigational terms and acronyms which slowed the pace.

The locations appealed to me as they were original and unique to this type of action thriller. Most of the events, including smuggling, explosions, and killings occur in or around Halifax, or in the Bay of Fundy, New Brunswick, but the criminal activities lead back to Alberta. Descriptions of hand to hand fighting were very well done, but larger battle descriptions were diluted for me by all the names of weapons involved.


The story gets off to an exciting, gripping start. Claire Marcoux, a naval officer, commands a warship off the coast of Nova Scotia. Her ability is in doubt because of her inexperience, and the fact she is young and female. There is a storm raging in the Atlantic, and they spot a fishing vessel which seems to be in danger. Claire’s intent is to rescue it, but the ship opens fire on them and an overhead helicopter. Claire orders her men to return fire, and the vessel sinks and its cargo is lost with no survivors. The speculation is that it must have been smuggling something of great value which they didn’t want discovered. Claire is either going to be commended for heroic action or lose her naval commend for rash, impulsive orders.

David Ritter is living a quiet life as an economics professor after leaving a shadowy past in China where he was involved in international business. He has secret, special skills. He has a TV show based on his expertise in business and economics. One day he receives a call from a wealthy entrepreneur requesting a meeting in his hotel room. David arrives just after the man has been murdered, and he witnesses the killer leaving. This puts him in danger, the target of a ruthless hitman.

When David and Claire meet in Halifax, they realize that events they have witnessed may be connected, and they gradually learn that much seems to lead back to the upcoming Alberta referendum on separation from Canada.

I thought both David and Claire were strong, intriguing characters and would hope for another book featuring them which I would definitely read.