The Ryzhkov Vendetta
Can Ericksen and his former operatives avoid the assassins’ poisoning efforts and turn around the deadly game of hunter and prey?
Book Description:
Alexander Leonidovich Ryzhkov, a Russian oligarch and former general in the Russian Military Intelligence Directorate (GRU), runs a covert operation in the Middle East, supplying a Saudi terrorist leader with four Russian nuclear suitcase bombs and a list of two US cities to target. A CIA operation thwarts the planned attack and kills many Russian agents, including his brother Sergei Ryzhkov. The oligarch is out for revenge. Ryzhkov approaches a former CIA station chief and offers him money in exchange for the CIA operatives’ names. Armed with this intelligence, he launched his vendetta, targeting the former CIA operatives Mark Ericksen, now CEO of EyeD4 Systems, his fiancé Kate McDonald, a banking consultant, and Lars Wahlberg, COO of EyeD4 Systems. Ryzhkov’s asset also revealed Ericksen, a former Navy SEAL Team-Six officer killed several Russian agents while rescuing McDonald during the CIA operation. Can Ericksen and his former operatives avoid the assassins’ poisoning efforts and turn around the deadly game of hunter and prey?
Reviews for the Book
Action-packed is an understatement: The Ryzhkov Vendetta moves around the world in staccato bursts, taking us into the seats of power in Washington and Russia in a deadly game of secret operations and assassins in which no mercy is ever shown. Becker's sturdy hero, Mark Ericksen, is targeted by a Russian oligarch in a revenge mission, and the tension mounts as sleeper agents and foreign terrorists have him in their sights. Becker loads the book with terrific details, everything from wine vintages and hotels to specific addresses and technologies; he has certainly done his homework. Sentences and chapters are short, ramping up the pace as the deadly games and their players move around in Europe, the Middle East and the U.S. over several years. Becker also trades heavily on American politics and a Russian president modeled squarely on Vladimir Putin and his obsession with undermining the West. The Ryzhkov Vendetta moves like a bullet train; climb aboard and hang on. - Marshwj
About the Author: Barry L. Becker
Barry L. Becker retired in 2013, after spending twenty years as a sole proprietor for his independent manufacturers’ representative company. Also, he provided marketing consulting services to the Biometrics Technology industry. He served as the vice president of international sales & marketing from 1984-1991 for Eyedentify. The Beaverton, Oregon-based company specialized in eye retinal technology for positive identification within sensitive and classified facilities. Their major customers were intelligence agencies, ministries of defense and interior, defense contractors, nuclear power plants, banks, and financial institutions. He traveled over 500,000 miles during the period from 1985-1990.
One of his most memorable times was meeting the actor Sean Connery at the Hotel de Paris in Monte Carlo in 1987 and discussing the movie “Never Say Never Again,” where the villain, a senior-level CIA executive, allegedly duplicated the American President’s eye-retina ID template to neutralize cruise missiles around the world for the bad guy. I told him the screenwriter had it wrong. He said “really!” And he asked, “Do you have information on the technology?” I replied, “Of course, I’m in sales.” He asked me if I could give the information to the concierge and have them send it to him. I shook his hand and told him I would gladly do it. I found Mr. Connery to be a gentleman.
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