Arctic Ambush is the second book in the Flint Stryker series about an underachieving college student with special abilities who is recruited to a secretive black ops agency. I do recommend reading the first one, Lessons Learned, before starting this, as while you do get a bit of recap, it will all make a lot more sense if you know the background to how he got to Linchpin.

Flint finds himself alone, injured and hallucinating in the freezing Arctic wilderness on his first training mission with Linchpin, reflecting back on his months of brutal education at their hidden compound to a talking moose head. Despite his slacker party-boy history, Flint’s newfound motivation and superior fighting skills mean he was ready to take the next step in becoming an agent. It’s supposed to be an exercise, but things have gone wrong and a hired killer is out there waiting to strike...

As with the first book, this is very short (224 pages) and the bulk of it is flashbacks to Flint’s recent experiences, and also his childhood - we learn why he got his ridiculous name, and how his parents shaped his unconventional personality. This means there is very little actual action. I enjoyed it regardless, but I hope the later books will spend more time on mission and that we see more plot development and a full-length adventure. The writing was good although I picked up a few mistakes that must’ve slipped past the editor.

I was pleased to see that a couple of tough new female characters have been introduced - at least Flint only sleeps with one of them! I liked him a lot more in this one as he’s shed his self-pity and is discovering his strengths, including a kind heart - although he keeps letting his big mouth get him into trouble - especially with his fearsome instructor Eccles. Overall this was a fun addition to a series which doesn’t take itself too seriously, and I look forward to the next one. 

I received a free copy through the Reedsy Discovery programme in order to provide a review.