Vengeance

May 9, 2005
As usual, Marcinko's indestructible hero of his Rogue Warrior series is... himself. This time around (his 11th), Marcinko and his ex-military Rogue Warriors, operating as a private security company, are pulling off very successful attack exercises on transportation and energy targets in the U.S. While Marcinko and his pals are embarrassing the Department of Homeland Security (and offering hilariously deadpan, expletive-filled assessments of the government's performance), someone is sending Marcinko deadly messages, with more in mind than a public relations kerfuffle. As Marcinko investigates the puzzling clues, a cloudy picture emerges of Bosnian Muslim terrorists, smuggling, a missing French intelligence agent, strange connections to the Vietnam War and a very real threat of another major terrorist attack on U.S. soil. The story rushes from one pile of dead bodies to the next and ends with an exciting showdown at the Las Vegas Sands. While the action is tight (and spiked with cool super-spook technology), the villains' motives and malice are weak and unconvincing. Marcinko's highly profane first person remains as funny and charming as ever, though, and fans won't be disappointed. Agent, Kim Witherspoon.

May 15, 2005
The Rogue Warrior and new collaborator DeFelice continue with another hard-boiled thriller starring Marcinko himself, with a high body count, lots of hot tubs containing interesting women, breakneck pacing, and positive loathing for chair-warming bureaucrats masquerading as warriors. The plot evolves from Marcinko's return to his old specialty--testing security arrangements--this time for Homeland Security, which has him breaching truck depots, nuclear power plants, and railroad bridges. The ease with which he penetrates them is rather alarming and may offer lay reader and security professional alike some useful clues. Marcinko the yarnspinner offers growing tension as it becomes obvious that somebody's out to get Marcinko the Rogue Warrior. Who and why are revealed in the context of a knock-down-drag-out against terrorists with a grudge. Although it is beset with the strengths and weaknesses of Marcinko's previous Rogue Warrior fancies, supply it to the series' established audience.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2005, American Library Association.)