Cold Barrel Zero (John Hayes Series, 1)

Well written and full of action. Never boring. Enjoyed the plot twist and good guys winning. Can’t wait for the next episode.

Book Review – Cold Barrel Zero – Matthew Quirk Author Matthew Quirk has written an energetic, but complicated military/espionage thriller in the first book of the protagonist John Hayes series entitled, “Cold Barrel Zero.” With a crisp, uncluttered style that does more with less, Quirk pens an interesting ‘David versus Goliath-like’ story that explodes with pulse-racing action, interesting supporting characters, and penetrating and wonderous suspense. He delivers a remarkably powerful conspiracy read that leaves the reader questioning how much we, the American people do NOT know about deep undercover intelligence missions and how easily today’s paramilitary black ops operators can become tomorrow’s most wanted. There is more than meets the eye in this highly intense and absorbing conspiracy thriller. If thriller readers like an abundance of action, sly spying, and high anticipating suspense, then they will find Cold Barrel Zero a powerful and gripping read. Quirk's writing makes the reader keep reading, and while the story is a little puzzling at times, it led me to focus and concentrate which made the narrative more appealing and alluring. This "nothing is what it seems" story along with its breakneck pace of action is what made this novel an intriguing read. Cold Barrel Zero is an exciting first book of the John Hayes series.

Matthew Cork never leaves you knowing what’s going on, there’s always twists in the plot thickens. Keeps you engaged throughout the entire book.

This was a story jam packed with action. So much so that I wished it would slow down a bit and do a bit more character and storyline development. It was good - don't get me wrong. I just wanted a bit more time to savor different aspects of the story before dashing off to another action sequence. Also, it was full of characters and I had a difficult time keeping track of all of them. This is a tale of a group of operatives wrongly accused of heinous acts and their struggle to get their reputations cleared. Leading them is Captain John Hayes. He and his team came from Joint Special Operations Command’s special missions units. Those are all classified, black. Joining them is Thomas Byrne, ex-corpsman who now travels around the world as a fill-in doctor and battles his nightmares. Byrne was my favorite character, well described and full of angst. This was an okay story for me, pretty formulaic, though there was a twist at the end that caught me by surprise. I'm now off to read the next book in the series DEAD MAN SWITCH.

Very well developed strong characters. Story also Well developed with plenty of twists and turns. Makes you want more in a sequel.

Love john Hayes. Some surprises after you think its over Next book was even better. Night agent and assassin are fantastic stand alones.

As a trauma surgeon, I appreciate the research resulting in accurate medical depictions herein. Captured the bond between military brothers and sisters in a suspenseful and dramatic storyline. Highly recommend!

As the reviews state; action packed, crisped writing and an enthralling story. BUT it takes awhile to figure our who is right and who is wrong and who is partnering with whom.

Top Plot Top Characters Top Read This is a must read for the military thriller action genre Well deserving of 5 stars Looking forward to the next Hayes thriller

A really good, suspenseful book with many twists and turns. I don't really want to tell too much, just read it :)

Thoroughly enjoyed reading this book! Unputdownable!

Initially I chose this novel because the hero was a retired soldier. After I started it and I was introduced to the characters, I had some confusion as to who the central hero was: Thomas Byrne or John Hayes. The author switches from the third person point-of-view to the first person point-of -view (through Thomas Byrne’s eyes). I cheated and went back to the Net and found out that John Hayes was the central figure. As I continued to read the story, there were great actions and reactions among the various characters, but little was revealed about John Hayes. He was a genius , a great statistician, and a great leader. We are never really privy to his thoughts as we are with Thomas . The plot is an interesting battle that starts covertly in the States and expands. Conspiracies and revenge are key factors. Action is key. My only regret is that John Hayes’ character is built through his reactions with Thomas Byrne and we,the readers, do discover a lot about Thomas Byrne. The action scenes are great . The struggle that John Hayes goes through is very realistic and contemporary. The A Team has nothing on John Hayes.

Great story.