One Rough Man

Pike Logan was the most successful operator on the Taskforce, his instincts and talents unrivaled-until personal tragedy permanently altered his outlook on the world. Pike knows what the rest of the country might not want to admit: The real threat isn't from any nation, any government, any terrorist group. The real threat is one or two men, controlled by ideology, operating independently, in possession of a powerful weapon.

Buried in a stack of intercepted chatter is evidence of two such men. The transcripts are scheduled for analysis in three months. The attack is mere days away. It is their bad luck that they're about to cross paths with Pike Logan. And Pike Logan has nothing left to lose.

A former black ops commando working for a secret taskforce struggling through a personal tragedy stumbles upon a major attack just days away from happening.  This is the first book in the Pike Logan series following a group known as the Taskforce as they try and stop terrorist attacks from before they happen.

I am a fan of the military thriller genre, especially one that focuses on tactical fights and the “man on the ground”, so this book really worked for me.  To be clear this will never win any awards for being high art but it does succeed at being fun and captivating.

The main character is fairly run of the mill for this type of book.  On the edge, a little bit angry, bucking the system and highly capable, pretty much what you always get in a military thriller.  The addition of Jennifer however manages to push On Rough Man a little out of the thriller mold, since she isn’t the typical uber-competent commando you normally get.   The other thing that worked was the bad guy, or at least the main bad guy who is behind everything since there are several baddies introduced throughout the book, really worked.  These books are usually anti-terrorist focused so having at least one bad guy who didn’t fit that mold was a nice turn.  Everyone else you see is pretty cookie cutter but done competently enough.

As with the characters the plot is fairly run of the mill and stays true to the style but is competently executed.  You can pretty much see every turn coming way before it happens but it doesn’t really detract from the book and nothing stands out as being overly ridiculous.

To be clear this book isn’t going to take you in any new directions.  It does one thing and it does it well.  If you are looking for a fast paced military thriller then this book will hit the spot, otherwise maybe pass on by.

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