The Extractor – Mission: Arctic by J. T. Brannan

John Lee is the Extractor, an ex-US Air Force Pararescueman trained to retrieve personnel from behind enemy lines, in the most inhospitable environments on earth. Now running his own “extraction” business, his team is hired by the Russian government to locate Yuri Yushenkov, one of the country’s top nuclear scientists, who is believed to have been kidnapped by the Russian Mafia.

It is believed that the scientist is being held in a secret camp somewhere in northern Siberia, in the death zone within the Arctic Circle—and John therefore sets off into the icy wastes, supported by his loyal team. He must fight against temperatures that drop to -50F, calving ice glaciers, blinding blizzards, and avalanches, as well as ferocious polar bears.

And as he faces the appalling conditions, John knows that even if he does manage to locate and rescue Yushenkov, he will have to escape back across the dangers of the Arctic once more—this time with an untrained civilian to look after, as the Russian Mafia pursue them all the way back to Moscow in order to exact their savage revenge.

Bestselling author J. T. Brannan discussed the third installment of his John Lee series, THE EXTRACTOR – MISSION: ARCTIC, with The Big Thrill:

Which took shape first: plot, character, or setting?

This is the third novel in the series, so I already had the character in place— John Lee, an ex-USAF pararescue operative who “extracts” people from dangerous situations. I had recently watched a documentary on the Arctic’s “death zone,” and thought that this would be a great setting for the novel—and the plot followed from there.

What attracts you to this book’s genre?

I write the sort of books that I would like to read—action-packed and exciting. For me, reading is to be enjoyed, and I love the action-adventure genre because it has no pretensions, it’s just there to be appreciated for what it is.

Was there anything new you discovered, or that surprised you, as you wrote this book?

With this series, I research the environment that the hero will be operating in and it is always extremely interesting. The first book was set in the Amazon, the second in the Australian Outback, and this one is in the Siberian Arctic. It was amazing to learn about that area, and just how inhospitable to life it is. John Lee has his work cut out for him in this adventure.

*****

J. T. Brannan is the author of the Amazon bestselling political thriller series featuring Mark Cole, the all-action Colt Ryder series, and the brand new John Lee series, as well as the high-concept thrillers Origin (translated into eight languages in over 30 territories) and Extinction (his latest all-action novel from Headline Publishing).

Currently serving in the British Army Reserves, he is a former national karate champion and bouncer.

He now writes full-time, and teaches martial arts in Harrogate, in the North of England, where he lives with his two young children.

To learn more about J. T. Brannan, please visit his website.