Waiting on Wednesday – 2021 Thrillers

Welcome to my weekly segment, Waiting on Wednesday, where I look at upcoming books that I am planning to order and review in the next few months and which I think I will really enjoy. I run this segment in conjunction with the Can’t-Wait Wednesday meme that is currently running at Wishful Endings. Stay tuned to see reviews of these books when I get a copy of them. For this week’s Waiting on Wednesday I look at three amazing thriller novels set for release in early 2021 that I am going to really enjoy reading.

About this time last year, I did another Waiting on Wednesday article that featured three thriller novels that I was looking forward to. Each of these upcoming thrillers were sequels to books I had read and loved in 2019, and I had high hopes for all three of them. Well, earlier this year I managed to read all three of the books I featured in this 2019 Waiting on Wednesday article and I ended up reviewing them on my blog. All three of these thrillers were really incredible reads and I even featured two of them on my recent Favourite Books from the First Half of 2020 list. Due to how much I loved this books I have been keeping an eye out for any planned sequels, and I recently found out that all three of them have new entries in their respective series coming out in early 2021. So, for a nice bit of symmetry, I thought I would do another Waiting on Wednesday article for these upcoming thriller novels and feature them all together again.

Prodigal Son Cover

The first of the books that I am looking at is Prodigal Son by Gregg Hurwitz, which will be the sixth book in the Orphan X series. The Orphan X books are some amazing thrillers that focus on Evan Smoak, a highly trained assassin who worked under the codename Orphan X, before becoming a vigilante known as The Nowhere Man. I got into these novels by first reading Out of the Dark, a fun and exciting novel that saw the protagonist attempt to kill the President. Hurwitz followed this book with the fifth entry in the series earlier this year, Into the Fire, which was a really cool and clever thriller that saw Smoak do one last job as The Nowhere Man. Into the Fire was an outstanding read, and I ended up giving it a full five-star rating because I enjoyed it so much.

As a result, I am really looking forward to Prodigal Son and I am hoping that it will be just as good as its predecessors. This upcoming book is currently set for release on 26 January 2021 and I am excited to see how it turns out, especially as the plot is tied into the big cliff-hanger reveal at the end of Into the Fire.

Goodreads Synopsis:

Forced into retirement, Evan Smoak gets an urgent request for help from someone he didn’t even suspect existed.

As a boy, Evan Smoak was pulled out of a foster home and trained in an off-the-books operation known as the Orphan Program. He was a government assassin, perhaps the best, known to a few insiders as Orphan X. He eventually broke with the Program and adopted a new name – The Nowhere Man―and a new mission, helping the most desperate in their times of trouble. But the highest power in the country has made him a tempting offer – in exchange for an unofficial pardon, he must stop his clandestine activities as The Nowhere Man. Now Evan has to do the one thing he’s least equipped to do—live a normal life.

But then he gets a call for help from the one person he never expected. A woman claiming to have given him up for adoption, a woman he never knew—his mother. Her unlikely request: help Andrew Duran—a man whose life has gone off the rails, who was in the wrong place at the wrong time, bringing him to the deadly attention of very powerful figures. Now a brutal brother & sister assassination team are after him and with no one to turn to, and no safe place to hide, Evan is Duran’s only option. But when the hidden cabal catches on to what Evan is doing, everything he’s fought for is on the line—including his own life.

I really like the sound of this great synopsis, and it sounds like readers are going to be in for another fantastic and exciting story with this one. It looks like this upcoming book is going to feature several narrative threads from some of the previous Orphan X novels, including the character’s work as The Nowhere Man, the overarching conspiracy surrounding the creation and cover-up of the Orphan Program and the recent development of someone claiming to be the protagonist’s long-lost mother. All three of these plot elements have a lot of potential, and together they should make for an incredible read.

The Kaiser's Web Cover

The next novel that I am featuring in this article is The Kaiser’s Web, the 16^th entry in the long-running Cotton Malone thriller series by the legendary Steve Berry. The Cotton Malone books are an intriguing thriller series that sees the protagonist, the titular Cotton Malone, get involved in espionage or political plots that are usually related to some historical conspiracy or nation destroying secret hidden by time. This allows for some clever and captivating tales that are not only exciting and entertaining but which also contain intriguing and detailed examinations of relevant historical elements, as well as some excellent depictions of some key landmarks or historically significant locations. I have so far found this unique combination of a thriller storyline and fascinating historical inclusions to be extremely enjoyable and I had an incredible time reading Berry’s last two novels, The Malta Exchange and The Warsaw Protocol.

The next book from Berry also sounds like it is going to be extremely compelling, as he dives back into Germany’s turbulent history in The Kaiser’s Web. The Kaiser’s Web, which is coming out on 23 February 2021, will see the protagonist become involved in an intense modern-day political dispute and conspiracy that will apparently have links to the death of Hitler.

Goodreads Synopsis:

In New York Times bestseller Steve Berry’s latest Cotton Malone adventure, a secret dossier from a World War II-era Soviet spy comes to light containing information that, if proven true, would not only rewrite history — it could impact Germany’s upcoming national elections and forever alter the political landscape of Europe.

Two candidates are vying to become Chancellor of Germany. One is a patriot having served for the past sixteen years, the other a usurper, stoking the flames of nationalistic hate. Both harbor secrets, but only one knows the truth about the other. They are on a collision course, all turning on the events of one fateful day — April 30, 1945 — and what happened deep beneath Berlin in the Fürherbunker. Did Adolph Hitler and Eva Braun die there? Did Martin Bormann, Hitler’s close confidant, manage to escape? And, even more important, where did billions in Nazi wealth disappear to in the waning days of World War II? The answers to these questions will determine who becomes the next Chancellor of Germany.

From the mysterious Chilean lake district, to the dangerous mesas of South Africa, and finally into the secret vaults of Switzerland, former-Justice Department agent Cotton Malone discovers the truth about the fates of Hitler, Braun, and Bormann. Revelations that could not only transform Europe, but finally expose a mystery known as the Kaiser’s web.

Whew, now that is an attention-grabbing plot synopsis. I really love the sound of this upcoming book, especially as Berry will be doing his trademark deep dive into end-of-the-war Nazi Germany and tying it into the present day. I cannot wait to see what sort of fascinating conspiracy Berry comes up with that can feature the potential survival of Hitler, Eva Braun and Martin Bormann, as well as some stolen Nazi gold, but I am sure it is going to be something pretty incredible. I am also rather interested in seeing Berry’s take on modern German politics, including the growing nationalistic movement, and I am sure it will work really well with the historical story elements. All of this has the potential to be an amazing read, and I cannot wait to see what Berry does this time.

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The final book that I am featuring in this Waiting on Wednesday entry is Relentless by Mark Greaney, which will be the tenth book in the Gray Man series. Greaney is an author whose work I have been really enjoying over the last couple of years. In addition to his Gray Man novels, he also co-wrote the epic and action-packed military thriller Red Metal, which was one of my favourite books of 2019. The Gray Man books are a great spy thriller series that follows the world’s most lethal assassin, Court Gentry, the Gray Man, who has been recruited by the CIA as part of a top-secret team of agents. I have read two of the Gray Man novels so far, Mission Critical and One Minute Out, with the 2020 release, One Minute Out, probably being my favourite due to its captivating and action packed story about Gentry taking apart a massive sexual slavery pipeline.

The upcoming Gray Man novel, Relentless, looks like it will be more of a pure spy thriller novel, as Gentry and his cohorts attempt to find out who is disappearing several of the world’s intelligence agents. Relentless is set for release on 16 February 2021 and it sounds like it is going to be really exciting release.

Goodreads Synopsis:

The Gray Man’s search for missing intelligence agents plunges him deep into a maelstrom of trouble in the latest entry in the #1 New York Times bestselling series.

The first agent disappearance was a puzzle.

The second was a mystery.

The third was a conspiracy.

Intelligence operatives around the world are disappearing. When a missing American agent re-appears in Venezuela, Court Gentry, the Gray Man, is dispatched to bring him in, but a team of assassins has other ideas. Court escapes with his life and a vital piece of intelligence.

Meanwhile, CIA agent Zoya Zakharova is in Berlin. Her mission: to infiltrate a private intelligence firm with some alarming connections. The closer she gets to answers, the less likely she is to get out alive.

Court and Zoya are just two pieces on this international chessboard, and they’re about to discover one undeniable truth–sometimes capturing a king requires sacrificing some pawns.

This is another great plot synopsis that promises all manner of action, excitement and spy shenanigans. A vast, world-wide espionage related conspiracy sounds like a fantastic basis for a thriller novel, and I am rather curious to see how this novel turns out. It should also be interesting to see another story told partially from the perspective of Gentry’s love interest, former Russian agent Zoya Zakharova, and I look forward to finding out how the two characters’ respective investigations will inevitably connect.

As you can see, early 2021 looks set to be a wonderful and exciting time for fans of the thriller genre. I have to say that I am extremely excited for all three of these books as they sound amazing and have an incredible amount of potential. Based on how much I enjoyed the 2020 releases from these amazing authors, I already know that I will absolutely love these upcoming novels, and now all I have to do is sit back and wait for them to come out.