It was great to see Michael get his own woman. He almost messed it up, but he pulled his head out of his rear in enough time to fix things. I enjoy this series. Lots of special ops actions and good romance. I also like the SOAR camaraderie.
Reviewed for Bitten by Books. http://bittenbybooks.com
In writing The Nightlife San Antonio, I was inspired by events in my life from 2005 through 2010, when I lived in Sonora Mexico, on the border of Arizona. At this time the border situation was red hot. By 2007, every week brought a new headline of the escalating drug war in the border towns that often spilled over onto U.S. soil. Though our small town of Agua Prieta, Sonora didn’t see any major conflict, I noticed the camouflage-painted tanks cruising through the scrub brush in the countryside, patrolling the line. Yes, tanks, and camouflaged military soldiers with assault rifles. I had never seen this kind of thing in the U.S., actual military occupation. This was interesting, but the incident that really brought the border conflicts to my attention was the assassination of the Commandante of Agua Prieta, known as “Tacho.”
The Commandante, the chief of police, is like the sheriff of the municipality. I saw the Commandante’s Jeep after the shooting. The windows of Tacho’s vehicle had been reinforced with inch-thick bulletproof glass, and would have saved his life, if he could have closed the door. The bullet holes I saw were in the interior of the door. He’d been standing in the open door of the Jeep when they attacked with automatic assault rifles. Tacho was killed in the parking lot of the police station, in broad daylight. Rumor was he’d been taking cartel payoffs for years, but, his cooperation wasn’t satisfactory anymore. The cartels had made a bold statement, an example, one of many cartel assassinations in those years.
Don’t fuck with the Mexican cartels, not if you value your life, or the lives of your family.
About a third of the Agua Prieta police force quit their jobs. New officers were brought in from all over Sonora. Most of the locals were too afraid to take the job. Police in border towns everywhere experienced tremendous pressure and constant threats.
The manhunt for Tacho’s killers went on for months, but the cartel assassins escaped and were never caught. This kind of violence against police and authorities hit both sides of the border, yet it was far worse in Texas and California. Arizona experienced only a fraction of the drug wars that Tijuana/San Diego and Ciudad Juarez/El Paso suffered.
The catalyst of this war was the new President of Mexico, Felipe Calderon, who had made the cartels his number one target. Across Mexico and the U.S., joint task forces of DEA and Mexican federal military worked in concert to hunt down these powerful cartels. Their efforts may have slowed the flow of drugs, but certainly didn’t stop it. They created a vicious, bloody war that lead to hundreds of prosecutions and incarcerations. The U.S. federal prisons are now filled with Mexican cartel members. These men are trapped for 10-20 years or more, but they’re still deeply entrenched in cartel connections, with powerful family ties in Mexico.
Now comes the Mexican Mafia, a gang born on American soil, recruited from the convicts inside the prisons. Cartel members doing a life sentence are out of action, but the other inmates with 1-2-3 years before release are ripe for training. These parolees hit the ground running, drugs, cash and guns handed to them as soon as they set foot on the streets. The cartels found new life and distribution channels through the prison-based Mexican Mafia gang.
In 2010, La Eme – “M” – short for Mexican Mafia, battled with other gangs over control of the streets of San Antonio. Law enforcement joined the battle and took out huge chunks of gang membership with massive conspiracy indictments and arrests. Still, La Eme thrives. As many people as are thrown in prison for gang-drug activity, there’s always a new crop being released, newly trained and ready to go into business.
U.S. prisons are the breeding ground for La Eme gang membership. Members wear distinctive tattoos of a black handprint with the letters E M E, or, something derivative of the Mexican flag, the Eagle and the Snake.
It was years later, 2012, when I moved to San Antonio. I had missed most of the excitement. But, my years spent in living in Mexico stayed with me to this day, vivid memories of things I may never comfortably admit to. As you read my macabre, perverse tales of mafia, corruption, cartel, and vampires, it’s obvious I have some intimate knowledge of these things. Did I learn from jovial conversations with men whose tongues were loosened by tequila and lime, or do I have a story of my own to tell?
I’m not quite prepared to answer that question today. Maybe someday when I’m old and grey, and it just doesn’t matter anymore. For now, enjoy my tales of chaos, mayhem and debauchery, and take it on faith that I know what I’m talking about.
J
The Nightlife San Antonio ebook is now available FREE at all retailers!
Amazon: http://amzn.to/1P70UjW
Mike's off fighting the Taliban. And I'm having his baby.
Katie
When I had that fling with Mike, a bad boy Delta Force dog handler, I thought I was just blowing off steam. I've seen so many soldiers come in to my hospital, half dead - I just couldn't take it any more. I needed an escape. But Mike was different. When he got sent back into the field, I couldn't get him off my mind. And then I found out I was pregnant with his baby.
So when Mike was airlifted to the hospital, I didn't care that he was a hero who'd just saved a dozen soldier's lives - I just knew I needed to save him.
Mike
The moment I saw Katie, I knew I had to have her - she was the bravest, strongest, sexiest woman I'd ever seen. When I got deployed, I thought about her every day. My platoon were sick of me talking about her, but I couldn't help it...
When I found out she was carrying my child, I knew I had to protect her, whatever the cost. And then the Taliban took her.
I'm going to save her, and my kid. And if anyone gets in my way, they're going to regret it.
My Review:
I think it was more my feeling of being burnt out on military romances that caused me to rate this book three stars than the actual book. Missing in Action is well written and has a good amount of suspense and romance, but I didn't care for the fact that as a military romance that Katie didn't care for what Mike did despite knowing what he did. It seemed a little redundant but the baby thing was quite believable considering those that know military relationships. The whole your cold is everyones cold saying is true but not really the case in this book despite the baby issue.
I did like Mike as a person, I like him as a man, and as a soldier. I also liked that he took responsibility and accountability. A rare thing indeed. Missing in Action was a good read.
My Rating:
Reviewed By:
Note: I received a digital copy in exchange for an honest review from The Author
This is the second book I've read by Robinson, and I can say I like his style. In Secondworld, he had neo-Nazis who have a sinister plan to destroy the world except for 'their kind'. In Pulse, he deals with an amoral billionaire whose plan is to live forever, and make money on the medical technology by selling it to the highest bidder. Throw in some Greek mythology and it's golden. Pulse is a good combination of high octane action and monster thriller.
I had no idea what to expect, and I honestly liked the tension as the story unfolded. It was a pleasant surprise at how things culminate, although this book has a seriously high body count and plenty of violent deaths.
I rooted for liked the Chess team, including its leader, 'King', Jack Sigler. Each member has something different to add to the team. I did wish there was more character development, but with the rapid pace of this novel, that would be pretty challenging. What I did get of the characters I did like. I especially liked Bishop, a team member with a tragic past and a serious anger problem, but deep at the heart, a true hero.
The villains were a bit underdeveloped for my tastes. I would have liked more viewpoint of Ridley and Reinhart. Ridley just came off as a very evil, self-absorbed guy with too much money. I think it would have been nice to see a flashback that revealed why he was so afraid of dying and was going to such extremes not to die. Reinhart just seemed like the bully type who started off abusing nerds on the playgrounds and who graduates to more heinous acts of bullying and villany. It would be interesting to see a flashback of the event that got him booted from the SEALs as well.
Overall, this was very good. The greek mythology foundation was fun and I loved where the author took it (minus the gory descriptions of the creatures rampages--could have done without that). I couldn't give it more than four stars just because I wish the author gave me more depth in the characters. But I tell you, this was a book that I didn't want to put down. It took me a while to read it because I'm really busy this month, not because of boredom. I'm looking forward to getting the Chess Team member ebook novellas and the other full length books in this series.
I'd recommend this book to fans of Matthew Reilly and James Rollins books.
When long-time author friend Victoria Dougherty offered review copies of her debut novel The Bone Church, a historical WWII thriller, I said, "Over here please!"
Vic and I have chatted of many things, and found common ground in our love of Allen Furst, whose novel Red Gold was one of my research sources for my own writings on WWII Paris. If you've seen Victoria's phenomenal blog COLD, you'd know right away, this is an author well worth your time when she finally released her first book (and hopefully soon a second).
A sophisticated thriller, The Bone Church, did not disappoint.
Fans of Allen Furst, gather round, here's the new girl on the block - and she can write. Victoria Dougherty weaves a complex tale of one of the darkest periods of European history, birthed from the unsung stories of wartime Prague and post-war Prague. The author's Czech heritage shines brilliantly in this powerful story of the underground rebellion, of men and women struggling to survive and shove a wrench in Hitler's plans, any way possible.
Jumping through time from the height of the German occupation of Prague to the great communist decline post-war, The Bone Church brings us a perilous account of pure duplicity. Treacherous secrecy, double deals, double agents, Nazi sympathizers, Catholic revolutionaries, thieves, gypsies, and survival by subterfuge. No one is what they seem, and their alliances are as double-edged as the knives they stab in everyone's backs.
Yet, within this dark, twisted novel is another story of forbidden love with a Jewish woman marked for death. Postwar communist Prague brings no respite for our Jewish heroine.
Identities and residences are changed more often than clothing.
The intricate weave of events and time slipping back and forth carries the reader through to the promise of hope, and the sublime synchronicity of the secrets resting beneath the consecrated bones of The Bone Church.
A solid five star read. ★★★★★
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