Review: Recall Zero

Recall Zero by Jack Mars
My rating: 4 of 5 stars



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Review: Sons of Valor

Sons of Valor by Brian Andrews
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

An absolute perfect spin-off!

I'm a huge fan of the Dempsey/Tier One series by Andrews & Wilson. Often citing them Best in Class to a stacked division with guys like Rapp, Logan and Harvath. Tier One novels always feel so authentic, skirting the lines between Spy and Door Kicker via a converted Tier One operator. Often times worlds converge as "Spy" John Dempsey teams up with a tobacco chewing Texan Bad-Ass Navy SEAL, Keith "Chunk" Redman. I was ecstatic to hear Chunk was getting his own series and the Andrews/Wilson duo hit a total grand slam!

A catastrophic event had previously wiped out the Tier One aka DEVGRU/team 6 operation. Sons of Valor is about it's rebirth, "Chunk" is tapped to both join and lead the new operation and with a few familiar faces. I was smiling ear-to-ear just a few pages in, authenticity felt spot-on and the characters instantly felt familiar. Told in 3 parts, 1 being selection/assessment and training, 2 and 3 getting down range and instantly into the suck! No need for a lengthy review, the plot is fantastic, action unparalleled and although I'm no Frogman it just feels real. Intriguing sub-plots like the recruiting and training of support staff, who also land in the suck, just make it a total package. I'm thankful to Blackstone Publishing for the ARC but absolutely HATE how long I'll be waiting for #2.

A must read for any fans of special operations fiction and non fiction stories.

And an OMG call out sick from work to read this for fans of Andrews/Wilson Tier One!

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Review: American Traitor

American Traitor by Brad Taylor
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Pike #15, I always miss this crew between novels.

I think it's only fair I preface this review by admitting my normal read through time/process was wildly interrupted for American Traitor. Thanks to the crew at Harper Collins I received an advanced copy for review. However, I do most of my reading at work during downtime. My work, adult mechanical ventilation and ECMO in what is now an overflowing Covid-19 ICU. My apologies to Harper Collins and Brad Taylor for the delay, but as you might expect, down time is close to non-existent.

For the first time in a Pike novel I had trouble following the plot. More so, who each character was, what side they were on and their specific roll. I'm sure some of this was related to my gaps in read time, but not all of it. Quite a few code names, double agents and false flag operations. At times I'd just give in and accept "I don't know if he's good or bad." Even being confused at the main story progression, I still enjoyed every page. A bit disappointed we didn't see Aaron and Shoshana, those two really grew on me, must be in quarantine.

Pike and Jennifer are headed to Australia, leaving Amena behind to start her new live-in style school. The resulting coincidental turn of events, wrong place wrong time, wrong person, wrong job. I'll admit, how Pike and the taskforce get intertwined with this worldwide disaster, was a bit of stretch. But not impossible and certainly not enough to hinder reader immersion. Long standing tension between China and Taiwan sprinkled with organized crime, tech genius's and wargaming form the basis to our story. Uncle Sam is torn between protecting Taiwan and avoiding war with China, so the Taskforce is asked to expand their charter. Of course any Alpha authority given to Pike will ultimately turn violent, and American Traitor is no disappointment there! Plenty of shots fired, fists thrown, cars flipped and a few interesting hangnails...

I hope by the time #16 comes out my reading situation will have improved. Both for my benefit and yours as well. The Pike Logan series has become one of my favorites. I'm grateful to have had American Traitor in my hands these last couple months. The mental escape it gave me was sorely needed. Even in small doses, the familiarity of these characters and the distraction of a good shootout has helped me more than many will ever know. Cheers!

Be safe, mask up, isolate and vaccinate.
I quite literally was reading this during both my first and second vaccine dose... :)

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Review: The Final Hour

The Final Hour by Tom Wood
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Loved it, not surprisingly. My only gripe is that the Victor series doesn't come out fast enough!!!

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Review: Consent to Kill

Consent to Kill by Vince Flynn
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Emotional addition to the Rapp series. Some good twists on the political front that I did not see coming but enjoyed. I can only imagine a very enraged Mitch Rapp is coming in the next addition.

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Review: The Heist

The Heist by Janet Evanovich
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Great story and loved all the characters. This was my first experience with Evanovich and prompted me to read through the whole Fox and O'hare series back to back over the last couple months. Fast and enjoyable read.

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Review: Memorial Day

Memorial Day by Vince Flynn
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Great as always. I think one of my favorite parts of any Mitch Rapp book is when he really lays into some DC politician who thinks they're untouchable and "tries" to come at Mitch. This particular story has a GREAT one!

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