Michael Valentine, veteran and former member of an elite private military company, has been recruited by the government to conduct a secret counter-terror operation in the Persian Gulf nation of Zubara. The unit is called Dead Six. Their mission is to take the fight to the enemy and not get caught.
Lorenzo, assassin and thief extraordinaire, is being blackmailed by the world's most vicious crime lord. His team has to infiltrate the Zubaran terrorist network and pull off an impossible heist or his family will die. When Dead Six compromises his objective, Lorenzo has a new job: Find and kill Valentine.
As allegiances are betrayed and the nation descends into a bloody civil war, Lorenzo and Valentine must face off. Two men. Two missions. Only one will win.
-
Product ReviewPretty much agree with the earlier ratings, a good book but not a great one. As one commenter said, the two 'voices' of the main characters were too similar. I had trouble following who was speaking without checking the chapter title. Still, a fun read, if not sff.
Posted on
-
Product Review
Posted on
-
Product ReviewI had style issues with this book. The two first person narratives were not different enough to distinguish the narrators. They actually needed the headings, other character mentions and context to tell them apart. Mentions of Carl or Reaper indicated Lorenzo while obsessions about Tailor and Sarah, Valentine. But as "head voices" go they could have been the same person talking. To take this story from OK to Great, I needed to be reading two different "voices". This wouldn't have been an issue if the book was written in third person because the reader is not supposed to be in the character's head. First person, to me, needs to be emotional, visceral, connected to the character's heart. The first person writing style led me to expect more than I got and hence the dissapointment when I didn't get it.
Aside from that, it was rollicking fun, had lots of bullets flying and was interesting enough to keep me reading. I only bought it because I got the sequel as part of a monthly bundle and I couldn't get myself to read book 2 without reading book 1 first. BUT I enjoyed myself and don't regret the purchase.Posted on
-
Product Review
Posted on
-
Product Review
Posted on
-
Product Review
Posted on
-
Product ReviewThis dual narrative book is well written, the characters are decently developed, the action is good and the details (especially on firearms) are believable, so why only 3 stars. Because I often found myself reading this book with a sense of deja-vu. This is not a bad story and I enjoyed it over the course of several days, but I was never really surprised by the plot(s) or the players and the story unfold pretty much exactly like I expected. That is not a 'bad' thing, but after reading Larry C's MHI and Grimnoir books, I expected something more unique for his debut in this genre.
Posted on
-
Product ReviewThe story probably deserves a 3*,
but it is not science fiction (nor fantasy). I don't know why is is being sold as part of webscriptions.
Admittedly after the first several chapters I Skimmed the rest and read the ending, so maybe I missed some sciency fictiony part somewhere. But other than this possibility I think this was an inappropriate story to include in SF webscriptions.
Posted on
-
Product Review
Posted on
-
Product ReviewThis is a good read. I contemplated giving it 5 stars, but in the end decided it was a 4.
Lots of good stuff. Guns, action, naked women, conspiracy, etc. No aliens, but there is a mysterious artifact.
I have said before that there are two kinds of authors I like - one that is good enough that he convinces you to suspend disbelief, and those who write stuff that is eminently believable. The absolute best authors (like Clancy) can do both.
This is a suspend belief type of book. Most of the book consists of action sequences of stuff that just ain't gonna happen, but is told well enough that it is fun to read. Think of it as a gun oriented fairy tale.
It is a fairly long book, so you get your money's worth. And really, there are only a few places that made me scratch my head.
To me the ending was not all that well done. After hundreds of pages of two protagonists who operate well outside the law, kind of on opposite sides, to come together with a strait laced federal agent is a little tough to take. If you are going to have evil cabals and conspiracys, dealing with them in a few pages is just not satisfying, at least not to me.
But that is more of a quibble than a complaint. A few pages out of hundreds is not something to whine about.
Read the sample chapters and if you like them, you will like the rest of it. It is pretty much non-stop action, even if logically some of the things just are way out there. Turn off your thinking cap for a while and just enjoy. It is well worth the $6 the ebook costs.
This story was originally published on a gun forum (thehighroad) where I read it a few years back. The editing on this version is a lot better, but it is mostly the same story.Posted on
