Clear by Fire

June 29, 2015
The frequent references to the past make 82nd Airborne veteran Hood’s overly complex debut, an exciting military thriller, read as if it were the second book in the series. Under the guidance of Gen. Winfield “Duke” Cage in his new role as a cabinet secretary, the Department of Defense sets up a secret unit commanded by Colonel Barnes that combines elite fighters from every branch of the American armed services to take on any group that’s deemed a danger to U.S. interests. Meanwhile, Mason Kane, a ruthless Special Forces operator on the run in the Middle East, has to figure out why everyone is trying to kill him, unravel a conspiracy at the highest level, and track down Barnes once the colonel goes off the reservation and launches his own private war. Despite the murky, overstuffed narrative, it’s impossible to take your eyes off Mason, who knows no bounds as he goes about achieving his mission. Fans of this popular subgenre will definitely look forward to Mason’s return. Agent: Bob Diforio, D4EO Literary Agency.

August 1, 2015

In what is the start of a promising new series, Mason Kane is a member of a clandestine military squad called the Anvil Program, "a group of black ops soldiers who wage war from the shadows." Ordered to kill an innocent Afghan family by his leader Captain Barnes, Kane refuses and ends up on the run. While Kane is evading his former unit, Barnes has become more erratic and dangerous. Renee Hart, a special ops agent, is assigned to find Barnes and eliminate him. She enlists the aid of Kane to achieve this mission. VERDICT Debut author Hood, a decorated veteran of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, includes the necessary elements for a good military thriller--lots of weapons, a strong hero (and heroine), and villains galore. One distinctive facet of the series is that it has an African American man as the protagonist. Genre lovers will enjoy discovering a talented new author.

Copyright 2015 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

June 15, 2015
In Hood's debut action adventure, it's tough to cheer for a hard-case hero who tortures with gasoline and a Zippo, but then special-ops warrior Mason Kane had good reason. Before he flicked the lighter, Kane knew Decklin wanted him dead. Both were members of the off-the-books Anvil Program, doing dirty jobs in Afghanistan, Iraq, and other Middle East hot spots. Then Anvil's leader, Col. Barnes, wiped out an innocent Afghan family that refused to give him information about a Taliban network. Kane didn't participate; Barnes despised his disloyalty. Later, during a Libyan Anvil mission, Barnes ordered Decklin to kill Kane. Kane escaped, allowing Barnes to blame the newly discovered Afghan massacre on him, turning Kane into a shoot-on-sight fugitive. Kane's going rogue also meant distraction from another plan by Barnes' boss, the president's national security adviser, Cage. That's Operation Lion, a nerve gas attack in Damascus to inflame tensions and draw America into an all-out war. The book's all action and ambush, with Kane fighting in streets, casbahs, and secret unidentified CIA bases from North Africa to Afghanistan. Character development is the first casualty. Kane's a can't-be-killed soldier equipped with the standard ex-wife who couldn't stand the strain. His closest friend is Zeus, a Libyan operative, but any cinematic-style buddy-buddy banter falls flat. Then there's the meet-not-so-cute between Renee and Kane. Renee's a pretty (and deadly) woman-turned-special-operator leader of Task Force 111, "the tip of the spear when it came to tracking high-value targets." Renee has Kane speculating maybe "both had found something in each other they had been missing." Hood has the foundation for an action-adventure series, with a shoot-first hero in the style of Child's Jack Reacher, Hunter's Bob Lee Swagger, or DeMille's John Corey.

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