Hostile Intent

A Matt Drake Thriller, Book 3

By: Don Bentley

Narrated by: Scott Brick

In the espionage community, Vienna is known as the City of Spies, and Matt Drake is about to learn why in the latest electrifying thriller from the New York Times best-selling author of Tom Clancy Target Acquired and The Outside Man.

When a mysterious walk-in to the US embassy in Vienna claims to have critical information about a Russian intelligence operation, he raises eyebrows. But when he asks for Matt Drake by name and calls himself the Irishman, he gets the DIA’s premier case officer on a one-way flight.

Matt arrives to find Austria’s charming capital lousy with intelligence officers, all swirling around Nolan Burke—a onetime member of the real IRA. But before Matt can debrief Nolan, the Irishman is kidnapped by a Russian direct action team. Now, Matt must find a way to repay the debt of honor he owes Nolan while stopping World War III in the process.

©2022 Don Bentley (P)2022 Penguin Audio

Critic reviews

"In Bentley’s third terrific Matt Drake adventure...The intricate level of who’s-doing-what-to-whom adds twists. Readers who enjoy the world of special ops should add Bentley to their reading pile."
—Library Journal

"Don Bentley’s latest high-octane page-turner to feature Matt Drake, Hostile Intent, is easily the best and most ambitious in the series yet."
—BookTrib

Best Matt Drake book yet.

Great book I loved the sarcastic smartass matt Drake in this one, good pace of the story and lots of believable action.

Finally a book Scott Brick did well too, most of his are just way over emphasized at the wrong places or everywhere, but this fit his style well and he did a much better job on it.

Matt Drake is amazing!!!

Don Bentley has done it again!!! This book is a roller coaster ride that keeps you awake til you finish!! Simply amazing!!

Bentley is knocking it out of the park w this series!

Audiobook Review – With the current world situation taking place between Russia and Ukraine, one would think that author Don Bentley’s new book, “Hostile Intent,” might seem to have some foretelling world affairs ‘powers’ – well, not really. The Russia/Ukraine storyline in this fictional spy espionage thriller is in name only and is unrelatable to the current conflict in Ukraine. However, Don Bentley continues to elevate his ‘storytelling game’ with each new release and his third installment of his Matt Drake series is no different. Hostile Intent joins its two other predecessors – “Without Sanction” and “The Outside Man” at the ‘BIG Boyz’ thriller table of action/spy thrillers. Each book has had unmatchable authenticity thanks to Bentley’s excellent research and former military and government agent experience. And with its almost ripped-from-the-headlines feel of current tensions between Russia and Ukraine, Hostile Intent takes the listener on an unprecedented audiobook escapade that most thriller enthusiast – such as myself - enjoys experiencing. This narrative by Scott Brick takes main character Matt Drake to Vienna, Austria (Spy Capital of the World), to determine why a former IRA militant, asked for him by name at the U.S. Embassy. Russian operatives later get involved in the storyline and an unnamed Russian intelligence agent, soon after tells Drake about a wayward tactical nuclear device being offered for sale by a Ukrainian arms dealer. Anytime the Russians are involved, there are ‘complicated complexities’ that must be addressed. In steps protagonist Matt Drake and his team, including some battle-hardened Navy SEALs, to prevent the Russians from igniting WWIII with the wayward nuke. Tight writing, fast-paced scenes, and exhilarating action sequences, this spy espionage thriller rivals all the other big-name thrillers in the genre. It even has some unique suspense to add to the ample action sequences. The technical details are all appropriate without becoming uninteresting, and the subplots eventually connect with the overall storyline. All the usual characters are back and strongly developed, and I can’t help but to love the humorous exchanges between Drake and Frodo (Drake’s DIA agent partner). Their friendship/partnership is one of my favorite things about this series. Hostile Intent is a very nice addition to the Matt Drake series, and I highly recommend listening to it. Don Bentley’s star continues to shine, and he has quickly become one of my favorite authors!

Great story

I really enjoyed this series. Cant wait to get the next book. I highly recommend.

Just another genius book

It is just an impressive book as always, especially coming from Dan Bentley. He always knows how to make Scott Harvath shine. I’m already on the next book.

Best so far!

Far and away, leaps and bounds better than the first two attempts. Great story, Brick is a great narrator, and just overall excellent.

Present day realism

Lots of action with insight into the decision processes of the heroes.
Scott Brick is my favorite performer.

Interesting

I love the stories surrounding that Matt Drake, and think his character is one of the best. All of the novels that I have listened to up to this point I have enjoyed as well. The one thing that I didn’t enjoy so much about this novel is that it presented an Propagandist, mainstream news (ABC, CBS, NBC, CNN, Fox News), view of the conflict between Russia and Ukraine. I cut the author some slack though because this is fiction after all. This novel doesn’t claim to be authentic historical fiction. It’s just the times in which we live in 2023. Other than that, as usual, it was great.

Authentic story telling

Really enjoyed t story. I like the balance of detail and how quickly the story moves.

Another great book by Bentley!

I’ve enjoyed all of Don’s books so far. Love the Matt Drake series. The experiences are real and I really love Don’s sense of humor during the telling of the story. With such an intense background, it’s perfect to have the sarcastic sense of humor. I listen to these in my car while driving from city to city and laugh out loud at the sarcasm. When I started listening to these books, if was out of curiosity because I worked with Don’s dad for many years and considered him a friend. I was so pleased that I was immediately sucked into the story and couldn’t get enough - so much so that I’ve been sitting in my car in my driveway just to keep hearing more of what was happening.

I saw a lot of criticism of the narrator of the first two books. I had no problem with him. However, when the new narrator started the third book, I had trouble adapting to his interpretation of the different characters’ voices. I’m working past it, but the fact that they each call Matt Drake’s wife by completely different names drives me insane! Lyla or Layla! Argh!! Every single time the new narrator says her name, I have to think about who he’s referring to and then get angry! It’s silly little things that get to me. The story, the humor, the huge vocabulary of the writer, the different experiences and everything else is amazing!

I’m glad I started reading Don’s books and will continue to do so! I’m so happy to have found a new author! These definitely make my drives more exciting. I can’t wait to read the next Matt Drake book and the rest of Don’s books.