July 31, 2023
Former Green Beret Kasper’s uneven sixth military thriller featuring CIA operative David Rivers (after 2023’s Beast Team Six) is a paint-by-numbers affair elevated slightly by its action sequences. Rivers and his squad are hunting Kremlin-backed arms dealer Yuri Sidorov in the hopes that he will lead them to the head of an international terrorist syndicate. Sidorov is careful about traveling outside of Russia, however, so opportunities to grab him are limited. Rivers plans an intricate operation to do so in Belgrade, and hopefully thwart a weapons deal involving enriched uranium in the process. His efforts are complicated when an assassin takes out one of his key superiors in a murder disguised as a burglary gone wrong. As Rivers and company dig into that killing, they stumble on a conspiracy more dangerous than they expected. Few spy thriller clichés go unused, including the description of a female operative as not “just beautiful, but drop-dead gorgeous.” Sometimes-risible prose and thin characterizations don’t help, but Kasper’s military experience lends heft to the exciting fight scenes. Still, this is strictly middle of the road.