I am delighted to share my review for Stalin’s Final Sting by Andrew Turpin. I am a fan of this authors Joe Johnson series, a series that is action packed and is very addictive reading.

Let me show you what it is all about…

The darkest secrets of a Russian oligarch—a legacy from Stalin. A hidden batch of the CIA’s Stinger missiles. And the insatiable Afghan thirst for revenge.
Ex-CIA war crimes investigator Joe Johnson is sucked into an inquiry which delves into the deadly world of Soviet and US undercover operations in Afghanistan during the 1980s—and mysterious connections to current US and Russian politics.
Johnson and his ex-MI6 colleague Jayne Robinson find themselves pursuing a Russian oligarch with strong links to Putin and a past he would rather keep hidden—and also an Afghan mujahideen bent on the most bloodthirsty revenge.
The investigation is thrown awry by Johnson’s crooked former CIA boss, now on the run, and by a miscalculation of the dangers lurking in the Hindu Kush mountains, ridden with heavily armed Taliban insurgents.
The story reaches a raw climax in Brooklyn, Manhattan, Moscow, and Kabul, as Johnson battles to overcome the powerful forces lined up against him, including former KGB agents.

**This thriller comes with a link inside the book allowing readers a COMPLIMENTARY download of a prequel novel in the Joe Johnson series — The Afghan**

This is the fourth book in the Joe Johnson Thriller series, and I have read and loved each one. There is also a mini novel that I would recommend reading before you read this book though, its called The Afghan.

Stalin’s Final Sting sees the main protagonist ex-CIA Joe Johnson take a step back into his past. His current job is investigating war crimes as well as undertaking other investigative work with long time friend and ex-MI6 Jayne Robinson. Together these two have a great network of resources and they are going to need them.

The setting is in Afghanistan, this is where Joe has a history from the late 1980’s during the Russian-Afghan Conflict. His current brief is to do background checks on some of the major players for bids on an extremely lucrative deal. Not a war crimes job, but one that sparks an interest that has links to his past.

There is one thing I recognise with this author and it is the detail and research that goes on behind the book. It is very evident as you read and then at the end of his books you get an amazing few pages of research notes that make ideal pointers for further reading.

The next thing that I find about the books is the fast pacing and it is pure action right from the outset. The author is very good at keeping everything clear and on point.

Now as for the story, for me it felt stronger and more in depth as it addresses some story lines that have been present from a previous book. If you are not up to date with the series then there is enough info to get you up to speed but in all seriousness… just read the series. The story delves into the Russian-Afghan conflict of the 1980’s. It was a brutal period where many innocents were caught up in the conflict. Many were tortured and killed. While the author does go into some details he keeps things to more of a minimum which as a reader I sometimes prefer.

I really enjoy the thrill of this series, it is fast, action packed and things get deeper and deeper as the intrigue and the mystery builds. It is one I sit and read and don’t try to work things out. I never know how the author is going to use his characters and what twists there are up his sleeves.

If you are a fan of historical, thrillers, mysteries and action reads then you really do need to check this series out. It is a brilliantly fast-paced and intensive ride. I would definitely recommend the series as well as this book.

Andrew is a former journalist who has always had a love of writing and a passion for reading good thrillers. Now he has finally put the two interests together.

His first book, The Last Nazi, was published in August 2017, and the second, The Old Bridge, in January 2018. The third, Bandit Country, followed in February 2018. In January 2019 the fourth, Stalin’s Final Sting, was published along with a prequel to the series, entitled The Afghan.

The themes behind these thrillers also pull together some of Andrew’s other interests, particularly history, world news, and travel. They explore the ways in which events and human behaviors deep into the past continue to impact on modern society, politics and business.

All of Andrew’s books draw strongly on these themes. They feature Joe Johnson, an ex-CIA officer and former U.S. Nazi hunter with the Office of Special Investigations, part of the Department of Justice in Washington, D.C.
Johnson has a passion for justice and a drive to investigate unsolved war crimes in different parts of the world.

Andrew studied history at Loughborough University and worked for many years as a business and financial journalist before becoming a corporate and financial communications adviser with several large energy companies.

He originally came from Grantham, Lincolnshire, and lives with his family in St. Albans in Hertfordshire, U.K.