The Annihilation Protocol by Michael Laurence

This is another action packed novel from Laurence and sequel to The Extinction Agenda. (You can read my review of that novel here.) In order to fully understand this novel you would have to read the first one.

This novel seemed darker to me than the first one. There is a very evil villain who has some kind of a plan to kill millions of people with a lethal nerve agent. There is a secret society who wants to rule the world and has infiltrated many U.S. government law agencies. Mason is again the man who must save the world almost by himself. The villain gets pleasure out of torturing people so there are some unpleasant and quite gruesome deaths in this novel.

The plot is very complex. The villain is playing Mason, making him pursue lead after lead and avoid getting killed time after time. Trying to find out who the villain is and where the deadly nerve agent is stored requires lots of trudging through shell companies, people in the military, scientists. I felt the plot in this novel moved more slowly than the first in the series. I have to admit, I skimmed through much of the descriptions in the latter part of the book.

This is a book for readers who like consistent, if repetitive action with a complex conspiracy plot and lots of history and background material.

You can read an excerpt here.

My rating: 3/5 stars.

Michael Laurence was born in Colorado Springs, Colorado. He studied biology and creative writing at the University of Colorado and holds multiple advanced certifications in medical imaging. Before becoming a full time author, he worked as an x-ray/CT/MRI technologist and clinical instructor. He lives in suburban Denver with his wife and four children. You can find out more at https://michaellaurencebooks.com/.

St. Martin's Press, 448 pages.

I received a complimentary egalley of this book from the publisher. My comments are an independent and honest review.

(My star ratings: 5-I love it, 4-I like it, 3-It's OK, 2-I don't like it, 1-I hate it.)