A really good story from start to finish. You follow special agent Alexandra Martel in her travels around Europe taking out and looking for the terrorists. You also get her back story along the way which just adds to the story and you see the skills she has is more than just shooting. I found this to be a very good book from start to finish with a lot of action and was able to finish it in a few hours. Good characters and very much worth the read.

Timely and complex thriller focusing on a female decorated sniper now working with the FBI and Interpol in Europe. When a close friend from MI5 is killed, Alex gradually uncovers a conspiracy that really heats up when a nuclear warhead goes missing. Old connections and a CIA agent intent on recruiting her enable her to unravel the mystery while staying alive. Fast moving plot with lots of daring action, and interesting characters with a good bit of depth. All the details hold together in what makes for an excellent thriller in what looks like a new series. I will keep my eyes open for the next one. Highly recommended.

Special Agent Alexandra "Alex" Martel has had a remarkable career in the U.S. Army - as a medic and as a well-decorated sniper. Now she works for the FBI and is currently on assignment, loaned to Interpol when she learns of the death of a friend, an MI5 agent, who died under mysterious circumstances. Alex feels a duty to investigate her friend's death and partners with a CIA agent (who is actively trying to recruit her) to dig deeper into the circumstances around the woman's death.

Their investigation takes them around the globe and puts them in danger at every turn. Alex's reputation has made her a target for everyone who might be considered a terrorist. Alex will need to defy direct orders for her own superiors when she strongly believes she knows where a stolen nuclear warhead has been placed. No one seems to take her 'hunch' seriously but if it should detonate, it would kill millions and wreak havoc internationally for decades. She'll risk her career, and her life, to find and disable the bomb.

I haven't read a lot of modern thrillers - for no particular reason - and when I saw this, and that it was a first book in a proposed new series, I decided to take the plunge.

I thought that there was a nice development of the two main characters (Alex and the CIA agent Caleb). There could be a romance blooming here, but right now in this first book it's not much more than a hint of possibilities (and the end of the book promises even more potential for Alex).

The fact that our protagonist is female is really great. But I would say that I didn't sense anything here that was specific to her gender - in other words, is it important that Alex is a woman? Not yet. "Alex" could have been male and it wouldn't have changed anything (other than that hint of romance ... maybe).

The action moved swiftly and the last quarter of the book was a true page-turner.

There were moments that kept this from being best seller material, despite the thrill ride. For instance, early in the book we have this:

"Nyet," replied Alex, all but exhausting her Russian vocabulary. "But she apparently thought me a better friend than I was."
"It's a pity we don't realize such things until it's too late."
"Da," agreed Alex, realizing her knowledge of working Russian was quite extensive after all.

Seriously?! This Special Agent thinks that "Nyet" and "Da" indicate an extensive knowledge of Russian?! Then I'm a freaking linguist!

This was a fun read and I think more excited to read the next volume than I was with this.

Looking for a good book? Perfect Shot is the first book in a new, international thriller series by Steve Urszenyi. A female protagonist offers some exciting new possibilities, though Urszenyi doesn't capitalize on it just yet.

I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher, through Netgalley, in exchange for an honest review.

I really liked this book and hope that this is a start to a new series. I did love that it didn't turn mushy and into a love story at the end. It was action packed with strong leading women in the military.

I both read and listened to Perfect Shot, so thank you to Minotaur and Recorded Books for this opportunity in exchange for my honest opinion. I wanted to like this book more than I did, but there are many good things about it that make me want to see where the series goes. I liked the character of Alex because girls can be badass ex-sniper FBI agents, too. and the action was pretty good Caleb was a little smarmy, but we'll see where that goes. My problem with the book itself was that there was an overabundance of minutia around random things, mainly the military gear, that pulled me away from the story and bogged down some of the quieter parts. My problem with the audio was that, with this badass female character in play, the narrator seemed to read her as an overwrought, over-emotional girl instead of a capable tough girl. I do appreciate the publishers above for giving me early access and look forward to seeing where Urszenyi takes Alex from here.

Special Agent Alex Martel is a former military sniper, now working for the FBI and Interpol. She finds herself in a deadly cat and mouse game with Russian spies who think she knows more than she does about their upcoming plot to set off a nuclear bomb stolen from an American air force base in Turkey. Following clues left for her by a now deceased MI-5 agent she met and became friends with at a security conference, Alex fights to be believed by her superiors and CIA agent Caleb Copeland, who she is teamed up with. Her gut instincts tell her that the Russian threat is real, and the Russians will do everything in their powers to stop her before she can find the bomb. This is a fast-paced action thriller and strong debut for protagonist Alex Martel. I look forward to seeing more books in this series. I would like to thank the publisher, Minotaur Books and NetGalley for an advanced readers copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

When Alex learns a friend has been killed, she’s pulled back into the dangerous world of espionage.

Perfect Shot is the first book in the Special Agent Alexandra Martel series. Alex is charming, lethal, a sniper, and a special agent with the FBI.

This book is action packed, and takes place all over the world. A fast-paced read recommended for fans of spy thrillers with female protagonists.

I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I cannot get over how well thought out and layered this story was, and I won’t be surprised when someone like Netflix buys the rights and makes one kick ass series out of it! Now to try to wait patiently for the next book to come out, so I can see what kind of butt Special Agent Alexandra Martel kicks next!

Thank you to the author, publisher and Net Galley for providing a free e-ARC of this title in exchange for my review.

This book was offered to me by the publisher, based on my other requests, so not one I looked for. But I'm really grateful for the nudge to read the book because I quite enjoyed it. The main character is a female ex-Army sniper, and I can't think of another serious thriller that featured a female as the main character. It was a great change.

There is some confusion with the military jargon - I know a little, but some of the phrases I did have to look up and that broke up my reading a bit. But all in all, I really enjoyed this one.

3 stars for "I liked it"

. . . ⭑ ⭑ ⭑ ⋆ ⭒
In some ways this book was exactly what I expected and it surprised me in others, but overall it was a decent read.

First in a series, it follows FBI Special Agent Alex Martel, a highly-trained and expertly skilled sniper, as she investigates the death of an old friend, is pulled into a political tug-o-war, and searches for missing nuclear warheads. Safe to say, it’s definitely an action-packed and fast -paced novel. It truly starts off with a bang, and while it does pull you in quickly, it started so intensely that it almost gave the impression that it was picking up where it had left off, only there was no prequel.

It’s also fully-armed ( pun intended ), with incredible detail in regards to weaponry, procedure, political relations, and tactical information. Reading it, I knew that it wasn’t just well-researched, but that the author must have personal and professional knowledge in these realms, and so I wasn’t surprised when I found out that his author bio lists him as “an expert in chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear, and explosives incident response”, as well as having served as a paramedic and police tactical medic. Quite a bit of these technical details were discussed in depth, so plenty of it went over my head, even a little lost in translation at times, but it was interesting nonetheless.

I generally liked the characters, and would likely read the next installment. It was definitely the type of book that I can easy see portrayed in the big screen, and something I might even enjoy watching more than reading, which isn’t usually the case.

~ 👩🏻‍🦰

I thought this was a great book. I love the design of the cover. Steve, like his writing peer Stewart, could totally be writing for Tom Clancy's estate at some point in the future. His writing reminded me so much of Clancy's as far as the ease of reading. The plot was engaging and I thought the presented trade craft was top notch. I liked the interplay between the two main characters.

My only knock is going nucluar first instead of later in series. I liked the reality of the ending. I liked the opening for more .

Reading Steve Urszenyl’s debut novel, PERFECT SHOT, reminded me of watching the Netflix series HOMELAND. PERFECT SHOT is fast paced with lots of storylines. I could definitely see this book being made into a series for one of the streaming stations. The author painted vivid pictures of his characters, and there were several storylines bouncing the main characters into different life-saving situations. Main character, Alexandra (Alex Martel), a trained medic when she was in the service and became a sniper called in to take out bad guys. After the service, she became an FBI agent and is currently on loan to Interpol. On assignment in the Netherlands looking for nuclear material, Caleb a CIA agent wants to recruit her for his team. In the middle of all of this, she finds out that a Krysten, a good friend of hers in England is dead. After arriving in England, she has a whole lot of problems and finds herself being chased. There is definitely not an opportunity to take a break from reading. Perfect Shot is definitely not part of my normal reading. I enjoyed this book immensely and will definitely look forward to the next book in this series. My thanks to St. Martin’s Minotaur for an ARC of this book. The opinions in this review are my own.

If you are looking for an action filled thriller, look no further. FBI agent Alexandria Martel is currently working with Interpol in the Netherlands on an operation to stop the sale of nuclear materials. At its’ completion she is notified of her fiend Krysten’s death in London. She was an MI5 agent working undercover and was killed in a traffic accident. Martel, however, is suspicious of the circumstances and heads to London to look into it. Before her death, Krysten sent Martel a cryptic letter with clues that tie the theft of a nuclear weapon in Turkey with a planned attack. On Martel’s arrival, she is attacked by Russian agents.

Caleb Copeland is the head of a special CIA unit who hopes to recruit Martel. He involved himself in the Netherlands operation and followed Martel to London, arriving in time to save her. He is careful in his recruitment approach. They work well together, but he questions her judgment when it comes to Krysten. Martel believes that she was pointing to an attack in Europe. Her letter, however, revealed a personal history that made her information suspect. Caleb is acting on information pointing to an attack in the U.S. Martel trusts her own instincts and puts her career and her life in jeopardy to find the truth. A stolen nuclear weapon, the revelation of a traitor in their midst and a Russian colonels’ plan to destroy the Western alliance keeps Martel and Caleb on the move and the tension high. This is the first book in a new series. I can not wait to see where Steve Urszenyi takes his characters next. I would like to thank NetGalley and Random House - The Dial Press or providing this book or my review.

Great debut novel that kept my interest throughout; really enjoyed the plot and story pacing in this book. A realistic plot about a stolen nuclear warhead is something that I’ve always thought possible. I can’t wait to read the next book in the series and find out the next adventure for Agent Martel

Alex Martel has put her days on the battlefield behind her. Before stepping away, Martel had earned a reputation as one of the most renowned and decorated Army snipers.

Alex, now an FBI special agent on loan to Interpol, must fall back on her Special Ops skills when she learns that an old friend, an MI5 officer, has been killed under mysterious circumstances and a global nuclear threat is imminent. She's pulled back into the dangerous world Alex left behind: a world where some people fear her, some want to recruit her, and everyone seems to like her dead because she is a threat to the people behind a dangerous conspiracy. Everything isn't as it seems.

The story takes place in various locations, from London to Turkey and on to Paris. There is a lot of action behind the scenes, but most of the action for the reader is in the last thirty percent. Before then, we got abundant technical military/government agency talk throughout the book with short action scenes, which made it hard for me to stay connected with the story.

The story is at its best when there is action. I found the downtime hard to get through. There was a lot of dialogue that felt disjointed and choppy at times. The book is relatively long, and by sixty percent through, I still didn't know what was going on.

It was hard to connect to Alex, but as this will be a series, Maybe the author intended the first book to be her origin story. I will read the second book because I'm curious about the author's direction for the series.

I want to thank St. Martin's Press, Minotaur Books and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC of The Perfect Shot in exchange for an honest opinion.

Special Agent Alex Martel is a sniper and a good one. This book was filled with lots of action but not a lot of character development. I don't think this was a book for me after all. I like more about characters and this tended more for action. As things unfolded I felt I was just along for the ride and didn't see twists coming at all. For someone who can read and picture the action better than I can it would be more enjoyable.

Thank you to Netgalley and St. Martin's Press for providing me with a digital copy.

Perfect Shot is the beginning of a new series featuring the skills of Alexandra Martel. Alexandra has just finished doing what she does best, thwarting disaster with her skill as a sniper and black ops when she finds out a friend in the same profession is missing. As she uncovers a horrible plot to destroy she finds the answers to her friend's disappearance. She must risk all using her wits, talents, and skills to save many.
This first novel is a thriller. A good read for those who love stories about women as the lead characters and thrilling world-changing events that are stopped by them. Thanks to #NetGalley#PerfectShot for the opportunity to read and review this book.

Thus is one intriguing and fast paced debut novel with super hero characters, conspiracies too terrifying to contemplate and just the right amount of back and forth snark and sarcasm. Urszenyi portrays his protagonist, Alexandra Martel, as many faceted, complex with extraordinary intelligence and logic. Her counterpart is a CIA operative who is equally talented, operating in the shadows, and he wants Alex, but to what purpose. So wow, wow, wow - the heroine knows how to use her skills, knows how to shoot, knows how to fight, and is fiercely loyal. Her back story is filled with accolades, commendations and heartbreak. Thrown into one conflict after another, it seems as if her next fight might be her last. She lives by the mantra “Here I am. Send me?” She is dedicated to making the world a better place and if a few bad guys have to die she feels no remorse.

This book kept moving and changing with a plot that was completely believable. The threats and evil have become commonplace and recognizable. The ending was so frustrating, acknowledging that is precisely how things go down within government agencies. There just has to be another installment of Alexandra Martel coming and I can’t wait.

Thanks to Minotaur Books and NetGalley for a copy.

I thoroughly enjoyed this new to me author’s debut novel. It kept me on the edge of my seat and trying to turn the pages as fast as I could to see what was going to happen next. I can’t wait to see what more this new author is going to bring for us.


I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley. This is my honest and voluntary review.

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for an eARC of Steve Urszenyi’s debut novel PERFECT SHOT.

I struggled to get into this book for a few reasons:
1) I started with the audiobook, but the narrator was so annoying. Her narration of Alex is fine, but she does all of these male “accents” which were difficult for me to get through. By the time I tried the ebook, the narrators voices were stuck in my head and the book was unsalvageable.
2) I got very lost in the acronyms
3) Military action doesn’t seem to be my thing, but I really don’t know why…

It’s really too bad because I tend to like action books with female protagonists, but this just didn’t do it for me. Maybe it’s a right now thing…