He goes by the code name "Watchman" and prefers to be anonymous, to blend in with his surroundings. That keeps him alive to take another contract job with the CIA. This time, Marc Portman is called upon to extract Edwin Travis from the Ukraine. Travis is a State Department official who is on a fact-finding mission when he is taken at gunpoint back to his hotel and told not to leave. Portman's job is to get Travis out of the hotel and to his first cut-out, a CIA asset in the Ukraine who will pass him on to the next cut-out until he is out of the country. Sounds relatively simple, but it's not.

Portman arrives in the Ukraine to find that Travis has been moved to another hotel, heavily guarded by someone: could be police, could be military, or could be pro-Russian separatists. The Ukraine is a very fragile, volatile country right now, and it's hard to tell who's who and whose side they're on. Portman trusts none of them. With MacGyver-like skills, Portman extracts Travis from the hotel, but has several factions on his trail in the process. He barely gets Travis to his first cut-out and on the road to safety before a group of thugs come down on the tiny apartment. The pass-off to the second cut-out is not so smooth, and Portman ends up having to get Travis out of the country himself. What a whirlwind ride they have in the process!

If you're a fan of military or political thrillers, CLOSE QUARTERS is a just right for you. It's filled with plenty of fire power, riveting action and lots of political plays. You'll find everything from corrupt politicians to CIA newbies in the characters portrayed in this story. It toggles back and forth from the Ukraine to Washington, DC and the close quarters of the CIA handler who guides Portman along his way. Secrets keep leaking out, and we're not sure if the Russians are after Portman and Travis or someone in DC is out to have them exterminated. Throw in a group of financial investors looking to make a profit off of the political and economic situation in the Ukraine, and you have a dynamic story. Adrian Magson blends fact with fiction to bring us an incredible thriller, filled with well-reasoned actions, confrontations and diversions. This is the second book in Mr. Magson's Marc Portman series, but it has enough background to be a great standalone read.

Book Summary

The return of The Watchman - deep cover specialist Marc Portman.

Close protection specialist Marc Portman is used to finding himself in hostile situations. But none can be more unpredictable than troubled Ukraine, teetering on the brink of civil war.

When a US State Department official on a fact-finding mission to Ukraine is placed under house arrest, the CIA hire Portman (codename: Watchman) to get him safely out of the country. In that dangerous and volatile region, Portman will find himself up against local gangsters, Ukrainian Special Forces, professional snipers, pro-Russian separatists and power-crazed cops. What he cannot know however is that his most lethal enemy comes from his own side …

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