Publisher: Blackstone Publishing (ebook – 23 July 2024)

Series: Rick Carter – Book One

Length: 327 pages

My Rating: 4.25 out of 5 pages

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I read a bunch of fun debuts in 2024, but one of my favourites was the awesome and action-packed thriller from Gregg Podolski, The Recruiter.  Following an entertaining protagonist as he faces the mistakes of his past, as well as a crew of ruthless assassins he personally recruited, this was a fantastic first novel from Podolski that I honestly had a ton of fun with.

Plot Synopsis:

When bad guys need good help, they call Rick Carter.

He’s a criminal recruiter, searching for contract killers, cyber hackers, gun smugglers, and any other assorted villains-for-hire a European crime boss might need. But, when the family he left behind in New Jersey is caught up in a client’s plot to monopolize the black market, Rick has to save them from two of his own top candidates: deadly assassins known only as Ghost and The Persian.

Fixing his own mess will require a set of skills he doesn’t have—not a problem, as finding qualified help is where he excels. But stepping into action, becoming the hero his family needs, that’s new territory. For a man who’s spent the last ten years being the best at helping the worst, this may be his last chance to do something right.

I really liked the central plot idea that Podolski came up with for The Recruiter, as his protagonist, rather than being an extreme action-orientated hero, is someone who took their corporate recruiter job to the next level and started working with criminals in the same capacity.  This was an interesting change of pace which I think worked well, especially when combined with a sinister conspiracy and threats close to the protagonist’s home.

Podolski starts The Recruiter off hot and fast as you are quickly introduced to the protagonist, Rick Carter, and the recruitment business he has built up.  The story takes an interesting turn when Rick is kidnapped and forced to work for a shadowy organisation that wants him to pull together a team of killers to take out several law enforcement officers across the world.  Reluctantly agreeing to work with them, Rick is soon forced to turn against his new employers when he discovers that one of their targets is connected to his own family who Rick abandoned years before.  Suddenly finding his two top recruits working against him, Rick is forced to pull together an unlikely last-minute team to accompany him back to America to save his family and work out who is trying to kill them.

The Recruiter’s resulting story is the awesome and captivating action thrill ride you would expect with that sort of set-up.  Podolski keeps things moving fast, and there is always something awesome or interesting on the page as the protagonist attempts to keep his family safe while trying to determine why they are being targeted.  There are some excellent betrayals, compelling twists and big action moments as the plot proceeds, and I had a fun time seeing the protagonist’s unique plans in action.  Podolski does a good job balancing this excitement with some moving character moments as the protagonist reunites with the wife and kids he left behind, and the resulting heartfelt sequences add a fantastic emotional edge to the entire book.  The author ends The Recruiter on an excellent note that keeps the reader strongly engaged right up to the end and finishes with some thrilling confrontations with the protagonist’s former assassins.  There is also a fun reveal that, while not entirely unexpected, was interesting, especially as it indicates Podolski has plans to continue the series in the future.

You can tell that Podolski had a great time writing this novel, and I personally loved the awesome story and exciting writing style, which made The Recruiter very easy to read and power through.  I especially enjoyed the fantastic characters, as the author introduced several compelling and memorable figures throughout the plot.  The main one naturally was protagonist and point-of-view character Rick Carter, who serves as an awesome central figure for the story.  While I do think that Podolski occasionally made Rick a little too zany, for the most part he was a great sarcastic protagonist that thriller fans will appreciate.  Thanks to his skillset as a recruiter rather than an operator, Rick stands out compared to your typical thriller protagonist, and there are some entertaining sequences where he uses his talent for networking and other corporate skills to defeat his opponents.  There is also the great emotional element to Rick’s story as he deals with his own guilt at abandoning his family, and it proved captivating to see how he reflects and moves forward through it.  Other great characters include a rookie operative recruit that Rick hires who proves to be both a real badass and a potential love interest, Rick’s former ace assassins who more than live up to their reputation, as well as a great overarching antagonist who steals the early scenes they are in and remain a threatening presence throughout the entire plot.

I had an absolute blast with The Recruiter, and it ended up being an outstanding debut from this first-time author.  An exciting and compelling character-driven read, The Recruiter was a book that was very easy to have fun with, and I am very glad I decided to check it out.  I look forward to seeing if Gregg Podolski will continue this series in the future, and I know that I will be grabbing the sequel when it comes out.

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