The Portfolio
Book 1 of the Kara Chorna Series
The intel was a hook. The meeting was a setup. And the target was always her.
Ukrainian-born CIA operative Kara Chorna is one of the best in the field — precise, fluent in deception, and carrying wounds she refuses to show. When she's sent to Caracas on what looks like a clean mission, she has no reason to doubt the briefing.
She should have.
Kara is taken before the operation even begins. And waiting for her is a former Russian GRU officer who knows her by name — not as an agent, but as something far more personal.
He isn't after CIA intelligence.
He's after her.
Back at the Agency, the official word is that Kara is dead. Case closed. But her field partner Jason Waycross doesn't believe it — and he knows her well enough to know she wouldn't go down that easily. When the Agency shuts him out, he makes a choice that will cost him everything: he goes rogue, pulling together an off-the-books team to find her before she disappears forever.
Because in this game, some assets aren't lost by accident.
OUT OF BOUNDS: CONVERGENCE is a high-stakes espionage thriller built on CIA trade craft, international intrigue, and a conspiracy that reaches back decades — to a Ukrainian family that fled Crimea, and the secrets they carried out with them.
No gadgets. No easy escapes. Just the kind of spy fiction where trust is the most dangerous weapon of all.
Perfect for fans of Daniel Silva, Vince Flynn, and Alias.
Out of Bounds 2
Uncovering secrets that have been buried in Crimea for for 16 years. Arriving in November 2026
Out of Bounds 3
How does it end?
Espionage, High-Stakes Decisions, and the Cost of Being Wrong
R. J. Ryans writes contemporary espionage and cyber thrillers grounded in real operational constraints—time, uncertainty, competing incentives, and the high cost of being wrong. His work blends classic tradecraft with modern threat realities: influence operations, organized cybercrime, and state-backed intrusion. From high-risk operations training to intelligence assessment, his experiences taught him how decisions are made under pressure—and what happens when they’re made too late.
Following years with the U.S. Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS) and two decades in senior cybersecurity leadership across Asia-Pacific, he now channels that background into authentic, page-turning fiction.
In his debut Out of Bounds series, he delivers believable adversaries and protagonists who solve problems the hard way—through preparation, tradeoffs, and consequences.
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