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Strike Back is a series of novels from celebrated author Chris Ryan. Chris Ryan has made a name for himself producing military fiction. And it is quite fitting that Ryan would take that route. The author spent a notable amount of time in the army, joining the SAS in 1984.
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Order of Strike Back Series
| # | Read | Title | Published | Details |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Strike Back | 2007 | Description / Buy | |
| 2 | Deathlist | 2016 | Description / Buy | |
| 3 | Shadow Kill | 2017 | Description / Buy | |
| 4 | Global Strike | 2018 | Description / Buy | |
| 5 | Red Strike | 2019 | Description / Buy | |
| 6 | Circle of Death | 2020 | Description / Buy |
Chris Ryan distinguished himself wherever he was deployed, eventually gaining fame as the only one of his 8-man team to escape Iraq during the Gulf War. Ryan earned military medals for his troubles. Besides using the opportunities granted him to train new SAS recruits, Chris Ryan has lent his military experience to the entertainment industry.
The author has also written several dozen books over the years, each of them availing an authentic glimpse into the lives of the men and women trained by their nations to stop injustices around the world.
The Strike Back series, which began in 2007, is one of Chris Ryan’s lesser known collections of books. The series follows the exploits of John Porter. Strike Back, the first book in the Strike Back series, finds John Porter a broken man, shattered by the mistakes he made twenty years ago.
When a new crisis in the Middle East arises, John Porter is called upon once more to do his duty. The Strike Back series is essentially John Porter’s redemption story. Each new novel forces him back into the field, drives him to ignite old connections and relearn forgotten skills as he is availed unique opportunities to make the world a safer place.
Strike Back Books into Movies/TV
The Strike Back series was adapted into a television drama that debuted on Sky1 in 2010. The series explored the operations of a special Branch of the British Intelligence Service known as Section 20.
Section 20 was created to undertake high risk missions around the globe. The Strike Back Television show eventually premiered on Cinemax which took up the task of co-producing the spy drama.
Interestingly enough, when Andy Harries, the Executive Producer, acquired the first Strike Back novel and pitched it to Sky1, he hadn’t even read it. Rather, he appealed to Sky’s recent Commitment to adapt more novels into original dramas following the success of the Discworld novel adaptations.
The Strike Back series received relative success; though, the entire concept had to be re-imagined after Richard Armitage, the lead in the series, was called away to New Zealand to begin filming the Hobbit movies.
Best Strike Back Books
Strike Back isn’t particularly popular, especially when compared to Chris Ryan’s other works, though the series definitely has its fans, with some of the best Strike Back books including:
Strike Back: John Porter’s life changed during a hostage raid in 1989. John saw many of his men die and the raid fail spectacularly, all because he spared the life of a Lebanese fighter. Unable to contend with the guilt, John has since chosen to bury himself in a bottle.
Colonel Peregrine Collinson was not only involved in John Porter’s raid but it was his fault the mission went so horribly wrong. Of course, no one knows this except for Peregrine, and he was more than happy to receive the Military Cross awarded him.
Twenty years later, the two enemies, a war hero and a failure, are reunited when a hostage situation in the Middle East brings them to the battlefront.
This is a very action-heavy Chris Ryan novel. There isn’t nearly as much plotting and exploration of military minutiae as one might expect from a Chris Ryan novel. Instead, the author quickly throws readers into the thick of things as John Porter struggles to find the hero in him that he thought died twenty years ago.
Deathlist: John Porter and John Bald are the only survivors of an attack that saw dozens of soldiers undergoing training for the SAS selection beneath John Porter’s supervising eye gunned down.
Now, as the government scrambles for answers, John Bald and John Porter set out on a mission to hunt down the killers responsible for the massacre.
This book is far more complicated than its predecessor as it puts John Porter on the trail of a group of killers with mysterious intentions. The book has a lot of sex and coarse language.
Other Book Series You May Like
The “Pike Logan” Series by Brad Taylor. Pike Logan is a founding member of an elite Task Force that carries out high risk missions. The Task Force isn’t restricted by the law of the United States and it operates without the knowledge of its citizens. Pike Logan finds fulfillment in taking on impossible missions and pulling them off.
Fans also enjoy the “John Puller” series by David Baldacci. John Puller is an indomitable man that has used his experience as a combat veteran to become the best military investigator in the United States Army’s Criminal Investigation Division.
What Is The Next Book in The Strike Back Series?
There doesn't seem to be an upcoming book in The Strike Back Series. The newest book is Circle of Death and was released on February, 20th 2020.