First Strike

Brady Hawk is an ex SEAL, and is part of a black ops group set up by Senator Blunt. The legality of the group is somewhat questionable, as is the use of the word "group" because it appears that Hawk is the only agent in the field that is doing something vaguely useful. He also has a handler, Alex. Alex (female) is given a warning that Blunt's group is illegal and is going down. What follows is an action thriller about Hawk trying to stop a major terrorist group in Afghanistan.For me, the story had failings. The writing had some minor editorial issues regarding grammar and word usage, but it had major structural issues. To get tension, Hawk walks into a number of real problems that really should end the story. The way he gets really needs the author getting him out. In short it is lacking credibility. At one point, Hawk is shot, and then proceeds as if nothing had happened. The basic background and setting is top class; unfortunately, for me, too much simply had me shaking my head wondering why something else did not happen. As one last example, Alex has a lot of spare time and does some quite deep research on Hawk's parentage. Why not some effort at finding out what it was that led to the warning from the CIA? That just does not make sense to me. In short, an interesting story, lots of action, and probably quite enjoyable as long as you do not want it to make sense.

R. J. Patterson created a tough and interesting character (Brady Hawk) which I'm sure will get even better with time. Since this was the first R.J. Patterson novel I read, I look forward to reading more of his novels.

I was very disappointed in this book. I guess the first clue was that the author's bio blurb was badly in need of editing.I mean did someone not proof-read this, especially since it was on the back cover? The book itself was very slim. Its appearance kind of reminded me of a book from as series like "Sweet Valley High" only a lot more expensive! The plot was so unbelievable it is was...well...unbelievable. The main character, Hawk, would find himself in a dire, almost inescapable situation and then 3 (double spaced mind you) pages later he was totally free and all the terrorists were lying dead around him! This happened over and over again with only the scantiest of plot details. Ditto for the other 2 characters.I really hate to be negative but since we all depend on these reviews to guide us I felt obligated to tell the truth, as I see it.

Expedient delivery. Arrived just as stated

Great start to a new series. I enjoyed this book very much.