David Bruns

Command and Control (Command and Control, #1), my third read from author David Bruns. Outstanding, a great page-turning thriller. Well-written with well-developed, memorable characters. Reminiscent of the writing of Tom Clancy & tof the best work of Andrew Watts. An exciting, enjoyable read. I received a free Kindle copy of this book and am voluntarily leaving a review." I can’t wait to read the next book. The gifting of this book did not affect my opinion of it. (RIP Marley January 20, 2014 - July 24, 2018).… (más)

Review of Advance Reader eBook

Manson Skelly, head of Sentinel Holdings, is a private military contractor hoping to close a deal with a Saudi general.

Diego Montalban stops at a small bar in Santa Lucía, interrupting his travel for a meal and a beer, finds himself pulled into a brawl as he comes to the defense of a woman being dragged toward the door.

Rachel Jaeger, an instructor at Scorpions Ascent,

In Virginia, Don Riley, head of the Emerging Threats Group, studies a photograph, trying to determine the identity of the man.

In China, Senior Colonel Yichen Gao meets with the Minister of State Security, Yan Tao. He, too, has a photograph.

Soon these people will be involved in a manhunt, all seeking the capture of an international terrorist. But some have hidden agendas that may wreak havoc and threaten them all.

=========

The story, told from several points of view, pulls readers into the hunt for the Naval War College bomber that everyone believed was dead. With the involvement of the President of the United States, the CIA, Mossad, China, and Sentinel, a private military contractor, politics plays a pivotal role in an intricate cat-and-mouse game.

Well-defined, believable characters and a strong sense of place define the telling of this suspenseful tale; readers will find that there is sufficient backstory for the book work as a standalone if they have not read the previous stories in the series. [But it truly is best if read in order, so do read the earlier books in the series.]

The fast pace of this action-packed military thriller keeps readers on the edge of their seats; mounting tensions and suspense build as each group puts its own plan into action, vying for control of the escalating situation. The unfolding story, focused mainly on the global manhunt, is both, complex and intriguing.

Readers are sure to find themselves turning pages as fast as possible; unexpected plot twists lead to a surprising denouement. Add this book to your must-read list.

Highly recommended.

I received a free Advance Review Copy of this book from the authors and Severn River Publishing and am voluntarily leaving an honest review.… (más)

David Bruns and J. R. Olson are a couple of Navy vets who have read a lot of Tom Clancy novels and said to themselves, “We can do that.” So, have they written the next Hunt for Red October? No. But they can compete credibly with Steve Perry and his “Tom Clancy’s NET Force” series. Here is the Buns and Olson premise: a terrorist working out of North Korea hacks into the Chinese military command and control system and sends the Red Navy out to start a war. Cute. Lots of characters and plot complications. Lots of action. The book offers some soap opera drama but not as much as one might expect. 3 stars for the general reader, 4 perhaps for rabid fans of the genre.… (más)

The blurb for Valhalla Station calls it, “The Expanse meets The Godfather.” It is like The Expanse in that the action shifts between several locations all around the solar system, and it is like The Godfather in that the baddies who run SynCorp are central-casting gangsters. Sentence by sentence and scene by scene, Valhalla Station tells a gripping story, but the large cast of characters and frequent shifts of scene killed the narrative flow for me. The best character was Stacks Fischer, the corporate fixer. I enjoyed his slangy noir voice and was sorry whenever the plot moved away from him. 3.5 stars.… (más)