Deadfall is the fourth book in Chris Ryan’s Agent 21 series and it continues with Zak Darke’s journey as a young spy. Characters, from previous books in the series, who we met again in this story include Zak’s nemesis Cruz Martinez and the teenage hacker Malcolm Mann.
At the start of the novel Zak and his team, Raf and Gabs, are in Johannesburg, South Africa, on the lookout for Cruz Martinez. Previously though dead, some intelligence has surfaced that suggests that there have sightings of Cruz. Once a friend, the son of an infamous Mexican drug lord, has developed an intense hatred for Zak and in the past went to great lengths to exact his revenge. Zak has come to Africa to determine the truth. Things don’t work out as planned and what started out as simple surveillance in Johannesburg soon draws the three agents, along with an unexpected additional team member, Malcolm, across the continent and into the jungles of Senegal. This is a world far from western civilisation and populated with desperate and cruel child soldiers and kidnapped slaves. You get a real sense of the fear and helplessness of these African children and the stifling closeness of the jungle. The ending is neatly done.
It is another good action-packed novel. The action starts a few pages in and doesn’t let up until the end. Chris Ryan’s knowledge of combat strategy and survival techniques that makes the story realistic as well as exhilarating. It is a novel that can stand alone but to really understand the characters and their motives it would be better read after the previous books in the series. ( )