Trojan Horse

Kolya Petrov #1

by S. Lee Manning

Mihail Cuza, a descendant of Vlad the Impaler, has rigged nuclear power plants in fifteen cities around the globe to melt down simultaneously.

Cuza drives a stake through a young intelligence agent who uncovers his plan and leaves her to die in agony.

Kolya Petrov and a team of covert American operatives find her body and race to uncover the plot.

Unknown to Kolya or his team, his agency designs a Trojan horse to stop Cuza. Also unknown to Kolya, his own agency has set him up to be kidnapped and tortured - and plans to use his love for his fiancee against him.

Genres: Fiction, Mystery Thriller

279 pages, Kindle Edition

First published October 16, 2020

About the author

S. Lee Manning spent two years as managing editor of Law Enforcement Communications before realizing that lawyers make a lot more money. A subsequent career as an attorney spanned from a first tier New York law firm, to working for the State of New Jersey, to solo practice. In 2001, Manning agreed to chair New Jerseyans for Alternatives to the Death Penalty (NJADP), writing articles on the risk of wrongful execution and arguing against the death penalty on radio and television in the years leading up to its abolition. She also published literary short stories, winning the Cincinnati Mercantile Library short story contest. Currently, she is the award winning author of Trojan Horse, Nerve Attack, and - coming soon - Bloody Soil.

Reviews

[Julisa Basak · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's been awhile since I read a spy/espionage thriller, more-so one that kept me on my toes from start to finish. Manning presents a fascinating concept that stands out from other spy novels, that is, an agency's extend to deceive one of its own agents to achieve an end. I love that it presented this concept of grey morality in-between the actual conflict of good vs evil. We are not only introduced to the protagonist, Kolya Petrov, the targeted agent who is captured by the enemy in question, but also his background, his friendships, and interests that all tie together to make his experiences (and negotiations) very human. I enjoyed the other characters too, not just the ones running the strings of power, but the ones' whose loyalty and love would ultimately deem survival and a rescue operation successful or bust.
The interplay between characters, both good and bad, were fantastic. Petrov's imprisonment kept me on the edge, especially towards the very end. The partner-work and moments of camaraderie got me some laughs. I was even intrigued that it brought up the topic of anti-Semitism. The last few chapters had me hooked, all the way to the final shit-show. This was a great novel that sucked me in from the get-go and I highly recommend it. I look forward to more of Manning's work with Petrov. I hope to see more of some of the other agents again soon!

[Kevin Jarre · Rating 5 out of 5]

Growing up, I read every Tom Clancy novel I could get my hands on. I then served for 6 years in the intelligence field, and then afterwards worked as a corporate IT consultant for Fortune 500 clients around the world. I've seen enough to know that there is some real brilliance in Manning's Trojan Horse. Brace yourself for some rugged stuff, and for your blood-pressure to be abnormally high from the tension Manning creates, but also be prepared to really connect with these characters in a way I have rarely seen. Often in these types of novels, the lead is like a robot we drive from one scene to another...not so here. Very sympathetic. Well-developed 3D characters, terrific plotting and pacing, and you'll be hooked from the start.

[Mariah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Kolya Petrov is a spy for the Executive Covert Agency (ECA) and he is good at what he does. But when Romanian terrorist Mihai Cuza keeps catching and brutally murdering any ECA agents who attempt to uncover Cuza's plans, Petrov and his team begin to suspect there's a mole in their midst.

The ECA head of tech has developed an idea which can both infiltrate Cuza's most dangerous plans and expose the mole, but it comes at the expense of giving up an unsuspecting Petrov like a lamb to the slaughter. With international security and millions of lives at stake, "by any means necessary" is the name of the game. Petrov is about to undergo the deadliest mission of his life. No one is safe, and no one can be trusted.

I have a tendency to be leery of espionage novels simply because I'm never sure how much time is going to be invested in throwing around numerous, complicated acronyms, or how convoluted the plot is going to become between the politics and layers and layers of subterfuge. In Trojan Horse, Manning masterfully allays all of those reservations without sacrificing the sophistication of the plot. Instead of being dry and boring, the complexity of the story drives the excitement and keeps the suspense at a maximum. The many characters at play within Trojan Horse are easily kept straight because Manning creates more than just secret agents, she creates flesh and blood human beings with personal lives and their own interests.

There are a few instances that draw some skepticism from me regarding the plausibility of certain events (that some things can be overlooked among people who are specially trained to be secretive and deceptive as well as to identify deception seems questionable), but the story as a whole does not suffer because of this.

Trojan Horse is an exhilarating read - it's hard-hitting without being melodramatic or cliché, it challenges the reader to think, and it never lets up. I would recommend this book to those who enjoy a thriller that is both intelligent and adrenaline-pumping.

Thank you to Reedsy Discovery and S. Lee Manning for this ARC: https://reedsy.com/discovery/book/tro...

[Polly · Rating 5 out of 5]

A Wild, Exciting Ride

S. Lee Manning’s debut novel is a wild ride of a thriller, with all the essential elements to keep the reader turning the pages. The hero, Kolya Petrov is a Russian-born Jewish-American spy. He’s loyal to his job, his friends, and his lover. He’s also deadly when the situation arises, and as a spy for the secret CIA-like agency, the ECA, he gets to use his talent frequently. Like all good thrillers, Trojan Horse has a villain worth fearing. Romanian Mihai Cuza is sadistic and evil, a descendant of Vlad the Impaler, who uses the same technique as his ancestor to eliminate his enemies. Once the ECA gets wind of Cuza’s plan to destroy a number of nuclear power plants, the director tasks Kolya to upload a new program into the ECA’s computer system. The only problem is Kolya doesn’t know the program is a Trojan horse, meant to allow entry into Cuza’s computer system.

Sometimes it’s hard to tell the good guys from the bad, the traitors from the patriots. Kolya is the latter, and he resists letting Cuza into the ECA’s computer network to expose information he believes crucial to US security when that’s exactly what his boss wants him to do. Cuza will use any means possible to get Kolya to betray his government, including methods of torture that will make the reader hurt, but there’s only one thing that will make Kolya break. Read the book to find out what.

Trojan horse has a double meaning: the corrupt computer program and the unwitting spy sent to bear a gift to the enemy. The conclusion is tense and exciting and kept me up long into the night.

[Leslie Wheeler · Rating 5 out of 5]

What do you do when you think a bad actor might be targeting your nuclear power plants? You access his computer and infect it with a virus, but how will you gain that access? You trick him with a Trojan Horse delivered by an unsuspecting agent. This is the premise of S. Lee Manning’s debut thriller. I don’t usually read spy novels, but Trojan Horse hooked me from the very first page. In it, Manning spins a fast-paced tale that takes its Russian-born and naturalized-American hero Kolya Petrov, an agent of a largely unknown security agency, from the halls of power in Washington, D.C. to the mean streets of New York City, and finally to a mansion in the Carpathian Mountains of Romania, a country I’ve actually visited. The mansion is home to Mihai Cuza, a villain who positively oozes evil, and who follows the example of his ancestor, Vlad the Impaler, by impaling his enemies. The supporting cast includes bad guys on both sides of the globe, some of whom are Cuza’s henchmen, while others work for the U.S. government. The latter are willing to sacrifice the life of agent Kolya to achieve their goals. At its heart, the novel is the story of a horrible betrayal that strains the bonds of love, friendship, and loyalty almost to the breaking point.

[Catherine · Rating 5 out of 5]

Trojan Horse is a page-turner. The story involves international intrigue with global consequences, of course. Will the bad guy with a penchant for impaling enemies succeed in melting down nuclear power plants? What sets it apart is the location of Romania, and an American spy of Russian-Jewish heritage. The story comes to a definite conclusion, but leaves enough questions that I'll be reading book two in the series.

[Matthew Cost · Rating 5 out of 5]

“Trojan Horse by S. Lee Manning is a twisting, thrilling ride filled with double-crossing deceit that makes the reader question what is right and what is wrong. Manning proves to be very knowledgeable of U.S. intelligence agencies and the intricacies involved with their jobs on the front line of protecting American lives every day. Kolya Petrov is a grumpy, Russian Jew, who grows on the reader page by page, as does his fiancé, Alex, while one is left guessing who else might be worthy of cheering for. A fantastic debut by an up and coming star.

[M · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was not really in a genre I would probably have picked up.. it is a thriller with some descriptions of torture..and maybe I am a bit squeamish... but after reading it I will definitely recommend it as a great entertaining read. Dealing with espionage and political spying, it makes you think about keeping secrets, loyalty, and risk. It also looks at the idea of submitting someone off to a dangerous experience and if you don't watch , does that absolve you of guilt.

Entertaining but also can be a deeper read..

[BJ Magnani · Rating 5 out of 5]

Dark Thriller

If you like your spy novels with torture, this one is for you. Fast-paced, realistic dialogue, and compelling characters. Kolya Petrov, a spy with hutzpah, is put in harm's way to help capture a terrorist with an eye on nuclear power plants. His life is made more complicated with a girlfriend, and a mole who is one step ahead of the action. Make sure you are never in Rumania if Mihai Cuza is still there or you may run the risk of being impaled!

[Avram · Rating 5 out of 5]

You know you are into a great thriller when even the quiet scenes grip you. No one's loyalty is certain when Russian-born American spy Kolya Petrov matches wits with a descendant of Vlad the Impaler who terminates his enemies in the same manner as his bloodthirsty ancestor. Kolya and the woman he loves soon become targets, but the geop0litical stakes are much higher.

[Ellen H · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5. Better than I thought it would be. The dialogue in particular was not bad, and it's not easy to write dialogue. I read it because it was written by a friend of a friend, and the friend begged 3 of us to read it and then join her in a one-time book club with the author tomorrow night. I'm glad that I'll have some positive things to say. Spy thrillers with explicit descriptions of torture are not my thing, but I was also expecting it to be badly and amateurly written, and... it wasn't bad.

[Doug Levandowski · Rating 5 out of 5]

Can't say much without spoiling anything, but I thoroughly enjoyed this! Spy thrillers are way outside of my wheelhouse, but I've already picked up the next book in the series!

[Heidi Slowinski · Rating 5 out of 5]

Operative Koyla Petrov is tracking Mihai Cuza, a decedent of Vlad the Impaler. Cuza is suspected of plotting meltdowns at nuclear power plants around the world. But whenever Petrov closes in on his target, he loses a member of his team. Petrov’s agency decides to deploy a ‘trojan horse’, or a computer virus, to help with their mission to stop Cuza. But the plot puts Petrov in a dangerous situation where he must decide between his own life and putting a stop to Cuza.

Manning does an outstanding job of grabbing the reader in the first five pages and keeping them guessing until the very end. The book is fast-paced and action packed. The characters are well-developed and easy to empathize with. Manning keeps the tension high throughout the story.

I enjoyed the double meaning in the title. First, the trojan horse refers to a common form of a computer virus, introduced into a system through the download of a seemingly friendly file. Second is an allusion to the planting of a spy in the enemy camp.

This is one that is hard to put down.

[David Gardner · Rating 5 out of 5]

When a thriller’s antagonist is a direct descendant of Vlad the Impaler, you know you’re in for a ride.

The much-battered protagonist, Kolya Petrov, works for a mysterious U.S. governmental agency known as ECA. He and his fellow agents are in a life-and-death struggle to stop the sadistic Cuza from planting a computer virus (a Trojan horse) that will destroy targeted nuclear power plants.

‘Trojan Horse’ gives us intrigue, betrayal, international espionage, moments of gritty murder, a gun battle on the streets of Manhattan, and much more. The novel ends with an explosive and bloody clash, as all good espionage stories should.

The prose is clean, and the plot clear and well organized.

And best of all, a sequel is in the works.

[Sharon Dean · Rating 5 out of 5]

S. Lee Manning knows how to write a thriller. The characters in Trojan Horse are numerous and they come in and out of the novel in ways that keep the reader wondering. Kolya Petrov, an agent in a secretive government organization, is more than a tool for the plot. He’s a man with a moral conscience, a tender side, and a deep connection to music. Manning’s idea for torture is worthy of Stieg Larsson and the confrontation at the end is worthy of a Hollywood movie. It helps that Manning writes well. A great start to a series featuring Petrov.

[Lisa · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the first book in the series. The main character, Kolya Petrov, works for the ECA, Executive Covert Agency, a very select US spy agency. His boss sets him up to be kidnapped by a Romanian who is working on a large-scale terrorist project to send many nuclear plants into system failure. When the Romanian doesn't break Kolya, the Romanians kidnap his girlfriend, Alexa. This sets Kolya onto a plan to save both of them. Very good, thrilling, page-turning spy thriller.

[Sue · Rating 4 out of 5]

"A cut above" among spy-type thrillers, in terms of good writing & and an absorbing plot. But not for the squeamish.

December 2024: Re-read

October 2025: Re-read.

[Texas · Rating 4 out of 5]

TROJAN HORSE, #1 - An interesting introduction and intriguing story. Some may not like Vlad, gruesome but not graphic, but he's an interesting part of this story, which is partly set in Romania. Good characters and interesting story lines along with what will be done in the name of love. Source: BookFunnel. 4*

NERVE ATTACK, #2 - Interesting but so wordy in places I was bored. I also had enough about the negative Russian and Jew references being the cause of several actions. I get the prejudice,
especially the Russian in this genre, but the continuous repetition in both books got on my nerves. Story picks up eight months after TH ends. Source: BookSirens. 3*

BLOODY SOIL, #3 - My favorite of the three books in this series. Deadly Choice is my favorite; both favorites due to the better writing style and my favorite character Lizette. Read all four in order but especially BB then DC. Story oucks up where NA ends. Source: BookSirens. 5*

DEADLY CHOICE - What an awesome book! I've never heard of this author and decided to gamble on four of her ARCs. Something told me I would not regret it. Seldom do I get breathless or excited throughout a story but DC is full of intrigue, excitement, twists and interesting, immersing story lines. The characters are pretty much perfect in their roles. Lizette and Patricia are over the top with their thoughts and actions. I cannot wait to read the other three books; so far, this author is a keeper. Source: BookSirens. 5*

[Catharine Staley · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is not my normal genre at all and I loved it. Manning pulled me into the story and I couldn’t get far away from it until it was resolved! Be warned that some scenes are very “rugged,” as another reviewer noted. I like the way that the author intertwined several characters/perspectives (which gave me a break from violence that could have been overwhelming to me.) I will now look for the next Kolya Petrov thriller!

[Jane Firebaugh · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the best thrillers I've ever read!

Trojan Horse is a nail-biting thriller that grabs you by the throat and doesn't let go until the end.

The main characters are very lovable and the bad guys are super evil. I enjoyed this book so much that I stayed up way too late twice in a row to finish it.

I highly recommend this book to anyone who enjoys a really well written spy thriller.