Iron Wolf

Starred review from August 1, 2015

Russia has sent troops into Ukraine and Moldova, ostensibly to protect Russian citizens. NATO and newly elected U.S. President Stacy Barbeau are incensed but too timid to react with more than a warning. Scion, a clandestine company led by a former American president, offers its services to Ukraine, recommending a counterattack on Russia using a new weapon called a cybernetic infantry device (CID). Tension is high while Brad McLanahan, son of series hero Patrick McLanahan (A Time for Patriots) endeavors to train the troops in time for the counteroffensive before the Russians find their location. VERDICT Brown, one of the leading authors in military thrillers, stays true to form in his newest work. Weaponry remains the star. Highly recommended. [See Prepub Alert, 11/24/14.]

Copyright 2015 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

December 1, 2014

It's 2017, Stacy Anne Barbeau is president, and Russia has sent Special Troops into Ukraine and Moldova disguised as pro-Russian activists (sound familiar?). Surprised at NATO's cautious response, former U.S. President Kevin Martindale works out a secret deal with Poland's president to respond with a force of Cybernetic Infantry Devices, that is, manned robots. And the metal flies.

Copyright 2014 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

June 15, 2015
As a diabolical false-flag scheme fractures the uneasy Ukrainian peace, Brown (Starfire, 2014, etc.) out-Clancys Tom in his latest action thriller. In the near future, new U.S. President Stacy Anne Barbeau plays softball when 'roid-raging Russian President Gennadiy Gryzlov goes super-Putin. Former Russian leader Igor Truznyev secretly directs partisan attacks in occupied Ukraine and points to the Poles as culprits. Barbeau prefers politics to statesmanship-"Have your people focus-grouped it?"-and she leaves Polish President Piotr Wilk at Russia's mercy. Into the breach steps one-time U.S. President Kevin Martindale and his private military contracting company, Scion, providing "special infantry with remarkably powerful weapons and a mix of advanced unmanned aircraft." Thereafter explodes a firestorm of acronym-powered actions-JASSMs, MALDs, AGM-154A, AIM-120C-all as "a means to offset Russia's superior numbers and more advanced weapons." Brown's love for obsolete aircraft asserts itself as F-111 fighter-bombers are reconfigured as drones. The big dogs in the fight are Cybernetic Infantry Devices-Iron Wolves-12-foot-tall "remarkable force multiplier[s]," two of which alone wipe out a Russian air base. The plot's plausible, but there's irony to be found in the paragraphs about the perils of mercenary forces that are followed by praise for troops who are essentially mercenaries, "these brave American allies." The action's relentless, but characters, neither complex nor deep, are role-players excepting someone new, a cyborg: Patrick McLanahan, a rebellious U.S. general thought to have been killed but now doomed to live within a CID set to monitor "his brain and body and [supply] the oxygen, water, and nutrients needed to sustain his life." While linked to Brown's previous novel, this fast-paced read has enough explanation to allay confusion as high-tension, all-out action-adventure flames across Eastern Europe.

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August 1, 2015
Brown's latest has that eerie ripped-from-tomorrow's-headlines feel. The Russian president destroys a small town in Poland that he believes is harboring terrorists, and the first female president of the U.S. demands answers. Negotiations seem to be nothing more than a stall tactic, prompting a former U.S. president to conspire with the Polish president to launch an attack against the Russians using armed robots. The ending is a bit abrupt, but it ignites reader interest in the rest of the story, to come soon. The action, the technology, the politics, and even the personal stories make this tale one of Brown's best in some time.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2015, American Library Association.)