This ain't Hell, but you can see it from here

Category: Book Review

  • All Necessary Force; a book review

    I like this guy, Brad Taylor, who has written two books now in his series of “Pike Logan” books. The first one I reviewed last April, so when I saw on Amazon that his new one was coming out ealy this year, I pre-ordered it. On the day it became available, though, the publisher asked me if I wanted a free copy, so I could have waited and gotten a free one.

    According to his bio, Mr Taylor spent 21 years in the Army and in Special Forces, so he brings a measure of experience to the novels. This one, All Necessary Force, chases a terrorist plot from the jungles of Vietnam through a recovering Egypt and, of course, Europe. The terrorists are jihadists trying to take down our power grid with the help of a corrupt congressman.

    Brad Taylor writes at least as well as Brad Thor or Tom Clancy and his stories are enthralling and intense. You should buy this book.

  • Glock: The Rise of America’s Gun; a book review

    I’ve owned guns since my father bought me a 20 gauge shotgun for my 14th birthday. I still have that old single shot Ithaca. But the first time I fired a handgun wasn’t until I was in the Army, and of course, that handgun was a 1911, so it was pretty much all I knew. I’ve owned two Combat Commanders and spent some time on the XVIIIth Airborne Corps Pistol team. So when I moved to West Virginia a couple of years ago, and I could own a handgun again, I went down to the local gun store and picked up another 1911 so I could shoot at the range with my new friend, a DoP guard at one of the federal prisons in the area.

    He had a Glock 36, a compact 5+1 .45 caliber. It was the weapon that he carried on duty and off-duty for personal protection. The first time we went to the range, he let me fire it, and it was a sweet gun. It was light and it seemed to go straight to the target every time I pointed it in that direction. Recoil was a little more than the 1911, but it returned to the target quickly and I was impressed with it. So I went out and got the Glock 30, a 10+1 .45 with a barrel under 4″ so I could carry it concealed, not like the bulky 1911. It quickly became my favorite of the two guns, because of it’s design, ease of shooting, and it’s magazine capacity.

    A few days ago, the Crown Publishing Company emailed that they wanted me to review their new book, “Glock: The Rise of America’s Gun“, written by Paul Barret, so I jumped at the opportunity. Big mistake. I got the 300 page book last night and I couldn’t put it down and I read the whole thing in one sitting.
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  • Expendable Assets; a book review

    You may have noticed the ad in the sidebar for the book “Expendable Assets” by Drew Howell. You also know that I try out everything that gets advertised on TAH, so I read the book last time the ad was here – and I think you’ll like it. Not only is it a good fictional story about terrorist-thwarting activities, it’s also a story about competing political philosophies. A couple of times, the characters get into some political discussions that you will enjoy.

    And best of all, the liberals get their comeuppance in the end when their reach exceeds their grasp and they try to use dead US troops to climb the political ladder.

    It seems that Mr. Howell has some experience in the intelligence community as a naval officer, so he knows what he’s writing about, but the politics of the novel were a pleasant surprise. I really think you’ll like the book, so click on the link to your right and take a look at it.

  • Catherine Herridge: The Next Wave; a book review

    I’m sure you all know who Catherine Herridge is if you’ve watched Fox News even once. She’s their Homeland Security reporter in DC, and a real cutie to boot. I remember that her reportage is some of the best on cable TV news. Every time she’s on, I have to stop what I’m doing and pay attention.

    Well, she’s written a book entitled “The Next Wave: On the Hunt for Al Qaeda’s American Recruits” which is due out next week. I was lucky enough to be offered an advance copy last week and I just finished it after a two-day marathon of reading – it was that good, I couldn’t stop reading it.

    Although most of the book is based on what she has reported over the last ten years, Catherine manages to pull all of that reportage together and makes it a ripping good tale. The reader sits in with her during interviews with US government officials, government agents and al Qaeda operatives while she paints a picture for the reader of the new domestic “lone wolf” terrorists and their al Qaeda master, Anwar al-Awlaki, the American-born radical cleric and the vast network of connections to al-Awlaki from the US.

    The press release for the book reads;

    THE NEXT WAVE reveals the shocking story of how that blood-crazed American, Anwar al-Awlaki—now hiding in Yemen—was treated to Pentagon pomp as a “moderate Muslim,” and how our Justice Department hid his movements from the 9/11 Commission . . . even though al-Awlaki aided the 9/11 hijackers. It delves into how the terrorists next door turn our tech against us, exploiting Facebook, Skype, and our outdated laws. Online terror recruiters are one of the Web’s greatest success stories—yet our government refuses to stop them.

    Through expert research, THE NEXT WAVE investigates the frightening question: Who are the recruits for the next wave? They live next door.

    What the press release doesn’t say is that the book is really well-written and well-researched. Herridge pulls all of her reportage into a fascinating yarn. You absolutely MUST buy this book when it comes out if you’re at all curious about the subject of national security and lone wolf terrorists right here at home.

    I must admit that there was one part of Catherine’s book that disappointed me…she’s married…to an Air Force pilot. So, I guess my own marriage will remain intact a while longer.

  • Hen House by Mary Lowry

    Yesterday, I got an email from author Mary Pauline Lowry. No, I’d never heard of her either until her email. But she was hawking a short story she’d written by the title of “Hen House“. She told me that she’s an aspiring writer and she’s trying to attract an audience. Would I please read her short fictional story and honestly evaluate it and tell you folks about it. So, I agreed to read it. She sent me a copy of it, but, I can only read my Kindle anymore, and yesterday was pay day so I coughed up the $.99 for the Kindle version on Amazon.

    I’ll tell ya, I was blown away by the story. It was about two male soldiers in Iraq and their relationship and how the war affected them, physically and mentally. Mary tells me that she was a forest firefighter, but it’s hard to believe she was not a soldier. She captured the essence of how soldiers relate to each other. Those of you who’ve been to war will recognize the disconnect between troops on the ground and their superiors and how the guidance that gets passed down to the ranks isn’t always the best idea and how it affects the actual mission and sometimes interferes with the Big Picture.

    But, if you’ve got some time to fill this weekend, and you’ve got a Kindle, you might want to fork over the $.99 and read this great story. You won’t be sorry. Here’s the link again.

  • Book Review: One Rough Man by Brad Taylor

    One of the perks of this blogging thing is I get to read books free. For some reason, people place more value on my opinion than I do. But a few weeks back, the publicist for Brad Taylor sent me a copy of his book One Rough Man and it was a surprisingly good story.

    According to his bio, Mr. Taylor is a retired Special Forces officer, and, of course, I verified that there is a LTC Bradly S. Taylor whose specialty is SF in Army Knowledge Online, so that’s one point in his favor with this blog.

    The story goes that Pike Logan, the main character loses his wife and daughter who are beaten to death while he’s on a mission so he turns into a drunk (I wish I could tell you how many times this happens to SF members).

    Meanwhile, down in Guatemala, an archeologist discovers a chemical compound in a Mayan temple which wiped out the Mayans a millennium ago. Anyway, through a complex series of events Logan runs into the archeologist’s niece and ends up trying to stop Arab terrorists (yes, he dares to use Arab terrorists and Mexican smugglers as criminals) from using the newly discovered compound as a WMD against American targets.

    It’s as well written as any of the Brad Thor novels, but with a lot less of the smoochy-face, loverboy crap that Thor has been adding lately. That makes Taylor’s novel a more likely purchase next time for this reader. I like my action novels to have action not love-crippled louts who try to neck with a hot chick half their age while saving the world. Novelists, make a choice – romance or action.

    If you have several nights ahead with nothing to read, you won’t be sorry that you read this book. I thoroughly enjoyed myself. If it was a dog, you wouldn’t be reading this review right now.