Task Force Blue

March 4, 1996
Literature imitates steak tartare in these latest adventures (after Rogue Warrior: Green Team) of ex-Navy SEAL Dick Marcinko and his handpicked band of operatives. Here, the author has his fictional alter-ego and his underlings combat domestic terrorism--on an airline and at an oil rig, among other colorful locations. Marcinko the character also has a half-million-dollar bounty put on his head by an evil billionaire. Although the first-person narrative bristles with seemingly authentic military detail, readers are assured that "operational details have been altered so as not to betray current SpecWar techniques." Marcinko is less demure about his politics, taking to task politicians, the international arms trade and sloppy security precautions as he pumps for a highly trained and patriotic standing military. The author is running into some problems keeping the series fresh. The thin plot isn't sufficiently obscured by spilled blood and hand-to-hand fighting tips, and Marcinko's insider's voice, while still cocky, is beginning to explain details covered in earlier volumes. But those who enjoy tough tales about men whose purpose is "to annihilate, destroy, obliterate, kill, maim and terminate" will enjoy chewing on this.

November 1, 1995
Marcinko adds more color to the best-selling success of Rogue Warrior: Green Team (Pocket Bks., 1995) and Rogue Warrior: Red Cell (Pocket Bks., 1994) in this novel about terrorists and the men who kill them.

February 1, 1996
Once more, "Rogue Warrior" Marcinko and Weisman parlay the former's experiences into a technothriller starring the former special operations soldier himself. This time, Marcinko's target is a billionaire with presidential ambitions who is planning a wave of terrorism to create demand for a dictator. Sent to investigate, Marcinko soon is on the run from both the billionaire and constituted authority and has to call on his old SEALs buddies to bring the enemy to ground. As usual for a Rogue Warrior yarn, this one is a gripping hard-boiled thriller bulked up with information on weapons, hardware, and the psychology of the warrior, all of which takes on the authority conferred by Marcinko's personal experience. "Task Force Blue" may not win any new fans for the salty tongued Marcinko, but it will please the dickens out of all the current ones. ((Reviewed Feb. 1, 1996))(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 1996, American Library Association.)