The International Space Station (ISS). Underwater archaeology. Bullet trains in Iran. And a host of gunfights. Ryan Pote’s debut novel, “Blood and Treasure,” has plenty to keep the summer reader entertained.
Penguin Random House, the home of works from Mark Greaney, Brad Thor, and the late Clive Cussler and Tom Clancy, looks to have added another fictional former military character to its repertoire in Ethan Cain. Cain, a former special operations pilot, has turned to private archaeological contracting with his company called Pathfinder Survey Systems.
Cain and his team are contracted to find a stone chest for a buyer willing and able to pay a handsome sum. Cain, as would be assumed, is very fit, trained in combat, and more than capable of flying any machine he commandeers. He has extensive burns across his body, save for his hands and face. This physical condition is an interesting choice by the author. The reader is only given hints as to where these burns originate from; that story is obviously saved for another time.
Too Much Action?
“Blood and Treasure” presents a host of characters who possess backstories one can only imagine will be fleshed out in later novels. Pote did a good job of moving back and forth between locations, like the Johnson Space Center in Houston, CIA black sites, and the numerous places Cain and Zahedi end up. Heightening the suspense is that the Americans and the Iranians are trying to locate Zahedi. The brilliant astronaut is also a dangerous intelligence agent with an axe to grind against some of her pursuing Americans and a job to finish with the Iranians.Pote did a fine job of suspending the payoff of this character—for good or ill—until the last second. I couldn’t figure out how that aspect of the story would end.
As is expected from these military thrillers (or ex-military, quasi-mercenary thrillers) is the violence and action. The violence is often graphic and sometimes gratuitous. These types of thrillers are contingent upon action, and this book has plenty of it. I think, however, that “Blood and Treasure” suffers from too much action. I’m sure that sounds like a misnomer considering the genre.
“Blood and Treasure” is sold as an Indiana-Jones-meets-Jason-Bourne concept, but Ethan Cain proves to be neither. Perhaps Pote will develop the character more in later books (I can only assume there will be others). While there is the globe-trotting of Jones and the fight sequences of Bourne, the cleverness of Jones or Bourne never emerges. Too often the action swoops in to move the story along, and it seems like the action is used as a plot device to bail the story out.
Characters and Dialogue
Pote establishes a number of characters, many of whom I assume will be in later books, like Bob Meretti (CIA), Victor Cashmere (NSA), Jordin Devine (NASA), and Cain’s love interest, reporter Lana Foster. The romantic tension between Cain and Foster works in the story. The NASA scenes work as well, where the origin story of Zahedi’s fall from the sky and the destruction of the ISS develops. Most importantly, the final scene is a memorable one. Its brutality is fitting and its outcome believable—at least within the acceptable realm of the suspension of disbelief.The author proves that he knows his military equipment. His personal combat piloting experience comes into play in the flight scenes—from helicopters to airplanes. At times, Pote gets sidetracked with the details, like when trying to either describe a military piece of equipment or a certain organization. The dialogue could use some work, but military thrillers aren’t particularly known for the strength of their dialogue.
“Blood and Treasure” was an entertaining read. But if Ethan Cain is to become a series character, I hope Pote will let his future stories unfold more cerebrally and not let the action overtake the storyline.
