My thoughts: I give it ♥♥♥♥. I enjoyed the first book in this series so I was excited about the sequel. All the things that made the first so enjoyable are to be found in Hong Kong Black. The main character, Nick Foley, is wonderfully written. The authors have avoided all the pitfalls that are usually found in this genre (I.e. Macho, hair-trigger tempers, etc). The supporting characters are also well drawn–they exist beyond serving as props for Foley, they have lives and thoughts of their own. This would be worth it on its own, but the story is terrific, too. I love the China and Hong Kong setting, and I found the glimpses into modern day espionage (perpetrators and preventers) to be fascinating. This was a quick, enjoyable read and a series that I plan to follow.
Author’s Blurb:
Former Navy SEAL Nick Foley reluctantly agrees to help investigate when American CIA operative Peter Yu goes missing in China. But when Yu’s mutilated body washes up on a beach near Hong Kong, along with dozens of other victims, the case takes a macabre turn. Suddenly, Nick finds himself embroiled in another bio-terrorism investigation being conducted by China’s elite Snow Leopard counter-terrorism unit and the Chinese CDC, this time involving illegally-harvested organs for an unknown and nefarious end.
But Nick’s investigation does not go unnoticed, and soon he finds a target on his back. After thwarting an attempt on his life, he is forced to go off the grid and enlist the help of beautiful CDC microbiologist Dr. Dazhong “Dash” Chen to help unmask his would be killer. On the run and looking for answers, their budding romance is tested at every turn.
With each step closer they take to unmasking the truth, Nick and Dash find themselves drawn deeper into a global conspiracy that began over two thousand years ago with the First Emperor of China and now threatens to upset the world order as they know it in Hong Kong Black, the heart-pounding sequel to Alex Ryan’s Beijing Red.
My Brain Vacation 