Past, Present, and Future Antagonists

The Spy Guys and Gals page for my books notes that series protagonist Avery is something of a cypher, but the bad guys are very good and given a lot of attention. This is deliberate on my part, and the reason why is perhaps the subject for a future blog post.

This trend is set to continue in the next two books. 

SCORPION: GRAY ZONE will heavily feature a real-life apocalyptic Russian neo-Nazi terrorist group called The Savior. More on that later.

First up, though, will be SCORPION: ROGUE STATE. 

Here, the primary antagonist is a former SEAL Team Six/CIA Ground Branch operator turned war criminal turned mercenary in the employ of the Saudis, after being blacklisted by Western government agencies and private military contractors. His work for the Saudis includes training terrorists to strike inside Iran, staging false flag attacks on Arab oil tankers, organizing an aborted coup in Qatar, running guns to al-Qaeda, and leading a mercenary army in Yemen. Psychotic, self-serving, and amoral, Rogue State will ultimately find Brett DeVane setting his sights on a Pakistani freighter delivering a covert shipment of nuclear warheads to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. 

Progress

Number Four is approximately halfway complete. Wrapping up the Yemen section of the story, and moving on to Part II (called "Empty Quiver"). Following a brief interlude in Pakistan, the remainder will take place in Sudan. Normally, I hate my own writing, but I'm actually kind of liking this so far, so I'm not sure if that's a good sign or not.

Book Review: EXILE by James Swallow

I've just read and reviewed James Swallow's EXILE, the sequel to NOMAD. There are currently four books in his Marc Dane available in the UK, but the first two have just recently been published in the US (with the third coming in February).

Both books are highly recommended, especially if you like international thrillers in the vein of Clancy, Ludlum, Forsyth, and Bond.

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While "Nomad" mostly followed conventional thriller territory, "Exile" goes in a more imaginative direction, despite the central premise of Soviet nukes, both real and fake, floating around the black market

"Exile" is also very current and modern. James Swallow depicts a world where the actions of disparate non-state actors, including corporations, mercenaries, terrorists, and warlords, determine the global balance of power while traditional governments are reactionary bystanders.

Instead of the standard CIA agents, navy SEALs, or SAS soldiers pursuing jihadists and Russian spies, James Swallow's lead protagonists Marc Dane, former MI6 technical specialist, and Lucy Keyes, former Delta sniper, work for the private security arm of Rubicon, an international corporation. In "Exile," the responsibility of recovering the aforementioned rogue nuke falls to Rubicon, because Western governments simply do not believe Soviet suitcase nukes even exists, and European and UN bureaucrats won't risk their careers by even entertaining such an outlandish premise. Also on a mission to recover the nuke is a team of mercenaries in the employ of the Combine, a shadowy international cabal that seeks to manipulate conflict and world events for their own financial profit.

The stand-out character, however, is Abur Ramaas, the Somali pirate warlord who harbors a bitter and legitimate grudge against the West. He is absolutely ruthless, cunning, and dangerous, but his worldview and motivations are surprisingly sympathetic. He is not the typical generic terrorist one often finds in these novels.

The first quarter might be somewhat slow, especially for readers who expect the action to kick in early, as the beginning of this portion of the story mostly sets up the characters and the scenario, but once the (real) nuke comes into play and Marc Dane is reunited with Rubicon, the pace picks up and doesn't stop. The action scenes are superb and very creative, with plenty of detail on weapons, ammo, vehicles, structures, and geography. The Mission Impossible-esque infiltration of a CIA black site to abduct a prisoner and the battle on Ramaas's pirate haven aboard an oil rig are especially highlights.

"Exile," as well its predecessor and subsequent installments constitute a superlative international thriller series that is ideal for fans of Clancy, Ludlum, Brad Thor, 007, Splinter Cell, and many others. James Swallow draws elements and themes from all of these, but also subverts genre tropes and adds his own unique flare. Highly recommended.