I'm on a thriller "kick" now, but only good to great ones. While the Robert Ludlum in the title caught my eye, Joshua Hood has done an excellent job of grabbing and holding my attention throughout this story of a man trying to clear his conscience and atone for his actions as a Treadstone agent. But Fate has ways of twisting a man's best intentions. As his sense of responsibility takes him into situations he thought he'd never enter again, he'll use his "talents" to fight through and save the day. An excellent thriller.

Absolutely brilliant thriller with a fabulous plot which I could not put down. Brilliant characters, and twists and turns. Highly recommend to other fans of this genre!! Just love this series!!

A first class roller coaster of a ride. Ideal for losing a few hours on a long haul flight or on a beach - when we are allowd to travel again! Buy it, you won't be disappointed.

The Treadstone Exile is the sophomore instalment in the Treadstone series, which is the newest addition to the Robert Ludlum universe. It follows former Treadstone Operative Adam Hayes as he finds himself at the center of a web of warring factions and high-level secrets. After the revival of Operation Treadstone, former agent Adam Hayes has retreated to Africa, determined to leave behind the black-ops CIA program behind for good. As a former Treadstone operative, Hayes knows just how destructive the program can be, as it turns government agents into nearly superhuman assassins. He is more than proud to say that he has now managed to refrain from killing for 152 days. But his quiet life in Africa changes irrevocably, when, while attempting to complete a charitable mission in Burkina Faso, Hayes is attacked by extremists. Forced to make an unexpected landing, his plane is damaged and he is left in a hornet's nest of trouble.

In order to get back in the air, Hayes agrees to transport a passenger--Zoe Cabot, the daughter of a tech baron--to a small coastal city. But just after Hayes completes his flight, Zoe is kidnapped. During his search for Zoe, Hayes funs afoul of multiple enemies, including a rogue Treadstone operative, all of whom are searching for him--and for the information about a wire transfer of millions of dollars bound for the relief effort in Burkina Faso. In an action-packed, twisty showdown, Hayes must outrun the factions that are hunting him, and prevent the theft of the much-needed millions from one of Africa's poorest nations. A fast-paced fun romp from one firefight to the next Hayes crosses paths with many enemies, wields a vast array of stunning weaponry - from the traditional to the technologically advanced and shows exactly he why he was chosen to be a CIA assassin with his calm and cool exterior even in the face of extreme danger. A wildly entertaining thrill ride. Highly recommended.

Thankyou to NetGalley, Head of Zeus and the author, Joshua Hood, for the opportunity to read an advanced readers copy of The Treadstone Exile in exchange for an honest and unbiased opinion.
I thought was book was a great read.
The storyline was well written with compelling characters and plenty of action.
Well worth a read.

If John Wick ever existed in a book, he’d be Adam Hayes. The Treadstone Exile is a beast of an action thriller, ramping up badass shootouts and hand-to-hand combat in wonderful detail that will please every single action thriller fan out there. You will not go more than a few pages before Adam Hayes takes down his opponents in spectacularly vivid and gruesome shootouts with a myriad of weaponry ranging from 1911 and Beretta 92fs to HK416 and 12-gauge shotgun. This is an action-fest for hardcore readers.

The Treadstone Exile picks up Adam Hayes, a former Treadstone operative on the run after assassinating a US Senator, living life in the shadows after being declared persona non grata. Trying to curb the bloodlust inside him programmed by the scientists in charge of the Treadstone program, he is helping out an NGO in Africa with medication and supplies. His righteous mission puts him right in the middle of a power play of a private intelligence group, a nuisance that Hayes steps willingly into to save the life of a young woman. As Hayes is trying to survive motorcycle chases, brazen ambushes, and petty street crime, the powers that be in Washington D.C put a bullseye on Hayes to cover up the dark history of Treadstone once and for all, sending a highly trained operative out to do the job. The chaos makes for a fun and amped up read when Hayes is dishing out punishment so frequently with so many different antagonists. That chaos however does not make things murky, as the author does a great job of keeping the narrative easy to understand while pumping up the adrenaline more and more.

The highlight of The Treadstone Exile for me was the action. Shootouts and knife fights filled with great tactical and environmental detail to visualize the scenes properly and easily, you will not tire of Adam Hayes kicking ass. At the same time, Hayes is shown to be very much human, compassionate for his wife and kid who he hasn’t seen in a while, curbing his bloodlust to be more than the lethal killing machine he was molded into, and an older man in a world of violence where those in his line of work are generally younger than him. His interactions with his wife, while limited in this book, are still presented with an emotional layer that lets readers know he is more than a cold-blooded killer. I was rooting for him to get back to his family to a life of tranquility. After the violent events of The Treadstone Resurrection, Hayes is trying to put the genie back in the bottle and take a less violent path in life, though that plan backfires spectacularly. We see Hayes falter with an assassin younger and faster than him, but we also see Hayes go to town on the guy with the experience and the training he has received. With so many close calls, the action feels intense and fun, especially with Hayes’s witty remarks and quips in the face of danger. While Adam Hayes is his own character, fans of the original Robert Ludlum series will be able to feel the nostalgia at times, especially when the voice in Hayes’s head guides him to survival and violent retribution, much like it did for Jason Bourne, a byproduct of the Treadstone program.

I loved the setting of the book. Keeping most of the action in lawless regions of Africa gives Adam Hayes the freedom to wreak havoc without worrying too much about the cops and the law. With such brutal and frequent action, the lawless locale suited the dangerous situations Adam Hayes finds himself in. The locations do span to Washington D.C and Spain, the latter featuring a badass action sequence involving Hayes and his STI Staccato XC. The ending definitely hints at more exotic and exciting locations in the next adventure by Joshua Hood.

The best advice I can give based on my intense and captivating reading experience of this book, one I devoured in a day, is READ IT! It’s an absolute treat for hardcore action thriller fans and it doesn’t miss the aim of being a fun, fast-paced, adventurous, action-packed escape.