Red Star Falling

By: Steve Berry, Grant Blackwood - contributor

Narrated by: Scott Brick

Length: 13 hrs and 42 mins

Publisher's summary

From New York Times bestselling authors Steve Berry and Grant Blackwood comes an action-packed adventure: in the waning days of the Cold War, Luke Daniels embarks on a quest in search of the legendary library of Ivan the Terrible—the unlikely key to ending a looming threat orbiting two hundred miles above the earth.

Wrapping up his latest assignment for the Magellan Billet, Luke Daniels receives a surprise visit from the head of a former-CIA operation named Sommerhaus — a failed attempt to assemble an espionage network within the Ukraine on the eve of the Russian invasion. Sommerhaus ranks high on Luke’s list of painful regrets for it was during this mission that his friend, CIA case officer John Vince, was captured by Russian operatives and supposedly executed. But Luke is provided some shocking news. Vince is alive, in failing health, locked behind the walls of Russia’s brutal Solovetsky Island prison, and has a critical message he’ll give to no one but Luke. Needing no further convincing, Luke vows to bring Vince home.

However, just as he manages to extract his friend from prison, Vince tragically dies, and his final words are rambling and incoherent. Just bits and pieces. But enough to plunge Luke into a hunt for something lost since the 15th century. The legendary library of the first Tsar of All Russia, Ivan the Terrible.

Within that priceless collection of rare manuscripts is the key to unraveling a modern-day cipher and stopping a secret Soviet satellite program that still exists. But Luke is not the only one on the trail. Others, both inside and out of Russia, want the library for a totally different reason — to re-start the Red Star program and finally unleash its destructive potential. Luke’s mission is clear. Find the lost library, solve the puzzle, and prevent Red Star falling.

©2024 Steve Berry and Grant Blackwood (P)2024 Grand Central Publishing

Great story

This is a great story by Luke Berry and Grant Blackwood the second and the Luke Daniels trilogy. I really enjoyed the combination of historical and modern Russian political politics. I can’t wait to hear and read the next book in the trilogy.

Another Awesome Book

A must read for anyone who enjoys Steve Berry novels. The story and characters are great and keep you on the edge of your seat. So glad he is writing the Luke Daniels novels. It's so nice getting more of his back story and continuing travels. Can't wait for the next novel and the continued stories of Cotton Malone.

Another fine Luke Daniels story

Another Luke Daniels solo adventure, this time behind enemy lines and operating semi unofficially to retrieve a captured American CIA agent from a Russian black ops prison. Along the way he finds himself sucked into a plot to nuke a major city. Throw in the odd psychotic Russian oligarch/mobster and his dance card is pretty full.

Highly entertaining. My only issue with the performance was that most of the Russians sounded identical and it sometimes became difficult to determine which character was speaking. Totally understandable, but still a minor ding. All in all I recommend this book.

Great book

Great story and awesome narrator! Luke Daniel’s and Cotton Malone make a great team. Even when they aren’t in the same book.

Luke Daniels only gets 3 Books???

Loved the book, loved the story, loved the narrator (as always)! But how come your character Luke Daniels will only get 3 books??? He’s like Cotton Malone’s little brother and keeps Cotton’s character and storyline going- just from a different perspective.

Nevertheless, NEVER stop writing the Cotton Malone books. You’ve given me great delight for over 20 years with your books so keep ‘em coming!

Great spin-off!

I've read or listened to every book that Steve Berry and his occasional co-authors have released in the world of Cotton Malone. This new Daniels series is an excellent example of how to effectively do world-building through storytelling. The characters, plots, and stories drive readers deeper and deeper into the complexity that makes this world exciting, compelling, and sticky. Well done! I look forward to the 3rd release in this series.

another stellar book by Steve Berry

as always extremely well written, intriguing, and informative. the voice over is fantastic as always. really enjoying the new series with Luke Daniels. Cotton is fabulous, but it is nice to get a younger character to follow along with as well. loved and highly recommend.

The story, while not true, but great interesting story.

No Cotton Malone., but good story. Liked location, had me looking up some of the places mentioned.

Old story- nothing new

I tried to listen to the whole book but it dragged on for so long about nothing that held my attention…good descriptions of Russian areas and history… but little story to keep me engaged. Scott Brick can be a great reader, but lately he only has ONE tone, which is “desperate”.

Boring as heck

I really liked the first book and so pre-ordered this one. So when it came in I read it immediately. Did the same guys who wrote the first book actually write this one? Hard to believe.

They said they wanted it to be a travelogue of Russia. That it was. But I didn’t care. They spent WAY too much time describing places and people. So there was very little action and a whole lot of tedious exposition. I won’t be ordering the third book.