Dark State – Jack Slater: Book Review

Dark State, the first Jason Trapp action thriller by Jack Slater, is a fast-paced, adrenaline-charged, technically smart, and complex, politically loaded action thriller. The plot is superlative but well-executed, mixing an NSA super cyber weapon, Middle Eastern terrorists, White Supremacists/Neo Nazis, an Israeli private sector hit squad, the Scorpion tactical unit of the NSA, the CIA, the FBI, domestic political conspiracies, deepfake technology, mass surveillance, and much more in a mind blowing thrill-ride. Though almost everything in this book is purely fictional escapist entertainment, the level of details and research behind it brings about an air of authenticity. 

 

   Jason Trapp, a former CIA paramilitary assassin, is officially declared dead after an operation went horribly wrong and killed his best friend. Now, alone and cynical, Trapp doesn’t trust anyone and blames his former paymasters for betraying him. When a well-coordinated ring of terror attacks strikes the US at many places, the FBI and the CIA are left dumbfounded. Trapp is at the right place and at the right time to intervene and take out a few of the bad guys at one of those locations. He then gets arrested by the cops, choppered away by the CIA, and dragged deep into a nuclear bunker, which is attacked by a US Air Force jet that’s been ordered by a voice on the radio. Trapp is reunited by his former colleagues, an analyst, a spymaster, and two other Ground Branch operators who drag him deeper into a bigger conspiracy behind the attacks. 

 

   Though he and his team suspect the involvement of a foreign nation behind the attacks, they have no real intelligence. Presumed dead, Trapp and his allies investigate the attacks from the shadows, while a female FBI agent who is like the co-protagonist of this story is also digging into the situation when most of her colleagues get arrested for treason. Her path crosses with Trapp’s and they race against time to uncover the truth behind who is controlling the cyber weapon and to prevent a coup from within the nation. A lot happens in the story and there are many characters involved, but it’s paced well and technically descriptive just enough to be smart without dragging the narrative. 

 

   The action is brutal, weaponized, and awesome, and the author’s research shows despite some scenes being too outrageous. The villains who are a mystery for the most part are complex, smart, and diabolical and give the heroes a real challenge. Despite being technically futuristic, Dark State also has a lot of spycraft and tradecraft to satisfy hardcore fans of the genre. Jack Slater uses many of our modern day fears like the DeepFake technology, AI based cyber weapons, false flag operations, the collapse of the intelligence apparatus, and many other things to portray a chillingly haunting alternate reality that is very diabolical. Nobody is safe in this story and things keep escalating with each sequence. 

 

   Jason Trapp aka the Hangman is a haunted and complex character with many personal demons, who is a lot like a darker version of Mitch Rapp, but equally heroic and awesome. The scar around his neck that created his callsign and his troubled childhood, his time in the military, and then in covert operations are painted just enough to give a bleak look at his enigmatic persona. Trapp is no antihero as he’s a badass heroic character who’s personally connected to the President by the end of the book. The female FBI agent character is also an interesting part of the book and I felt that she had more life in the story than Trapp. Though the book’s villains are hyper conservative fringe alt right characters, it does have the values of classically conservative heroism in it. 

 

   Though most of the book happens in the US, it has a post apocalyptic vibe to it and feels like a superlative take on our real world political issues. Trapp is a badass tactical action hero but still remains grounded with his complexities, flaws, and humanity. Hardcore fans of the action thriller genre who like conspiracies, technological elements, politics, espionage, and awesomeness will like this series. This is the first book in the Jason Trapp series and I plan to continue reading it someday. 

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