Special Forces Cadets Max, Lili, Lukas, Sami, and Abby are trained for anything and everything. Their latest mission seems the safest yet, keeping an eye on the son of an Iranian Scientist inside an exclusive private school in Switzerland. Only the children of the extremely wealthy attend.

The cadet’s main instructions are – keep Darius safe and to keep their heads down and be as inconspicuous as possible while at the school. Within hours those directives are broken when they see Darius being mercilessly bullied. Their help isn’t wanted it seems, and making friends with the Iranian boy is going to be harder than they thought.

Suddenly making friends is the least of their trouble, and keeping Darius alive is front and centre. Luckily a teacher at the school is an old friend of one of the Watchers (the cadets trainers and commanding officers). This man was also very close to Max’s dad when they served together in Afghanistan. Max appreciates the man’s link to his dad.

Darius’ bullies are nasty but nothing compared to the bullets soon flying within the school. Max knows he must get Darius away from the school fast. A storm is coming, and all five cadets are in escape mode, heading for safety. The gunman at the school isn’t their only problem and they have to abort one escape route in lieu of another.

They have nowhere to go but up the mountain road. With assassins behind them, they are driven up the mountain, into a storm, the snow and the toughest conditions they have experienced yet. Extreme temperatures, hidden crevasses, a blizzard and no knowledge of their surroundings is sapping their strength, skills and resolve, let alone avoiding the gunmen close behind.

As their chosen leader, Max refuses to give up, knowing a sacrifice might be the only way to complete the mission and keep his friends alive. But again, the stakes increase and the truth about his parent’s death is revealed, leaving Max reeling.

No.6 in this series and just as riveting as the previous 5.

Assassin had me believing that there was no way out this time for the Special Forces Cadets. We see a glimpse of their trainers (The Watchers) POV as they despair at the conditions and the danger the cadets are in. The usually staunch, gruff Hector in particular is determined to get to Max, feeling personally responsible for him after seeing Max’s parents die years before.

Every setting in this series is different, putting the Special Forces Cadet’s skills to the test. I enjoyed the way they worked together as always, and all contribute to solving the terrible situations they are faced with. They are far from ruthless too, despite all their weapons and combat training. Taking a life, even to save their own, is not done easily.

Action, nail-biting maneuvers and a gut wrenching reveal, pack another mighty punch in this fantastic series. I love them all!

Author – Chris Ryan

Age – 10+

Read a review for all the episodes in this thrilling series! (Click on the covers)

(Hot Key Books, 2021, Series, Danger, Action, Mountain, Alpine, School, Scientist, Iran, Kidnap, Assassins, Outsmart, Snow, Resilience, Training, Storm, Thundersnow, Outwit, Teamwork, Switzerland, Thriller)