On Scope

March 10, 2014
In Coughlin and Davis’s entertaining if predictable seventh Sniper novel (after 2013’s Time to Kill), Marine Gunnery Sgt. Kyle Swanson and his Task Force Trident partner, the beautiful Beth “Coastie” Ledford, go after the terrorists who attacked the American consulate in Barcelona, as part of a plot by the Group of Six—international financiers who are trying to bring Spain under Muslim control by giving the Spanish government bailout money. Meanwhile, terrorist mastermind Yanis Rebiane and his ruthless hit-man son, Djahid, are out to kill Swanson and Ledford. Though the American team encounters setbacks along the way, Coastie’s psychological problems and Swanson’s romantic difficulties only occasionally slow the action. Few twists or surprises ruffle the feathers of either Gunny Swanson or the reader. Plan the mission, execute the mission, prepare for the next mission: end of story. Agent: Jim Hornfischer, Hornfischer Literary Management.

May 1, 2014
The latest in the Sniper series continues to provide great action and to feature an engaging protagonist in sniper Kyle Swanson. The intensity is established immediately with an attack on the American consulate in Barcelona. A good friend of Swanson's worked there and died in the crossfire, giving Swanson a personal interest in retaliation. He learns that the incident was instigated by the Group of Six, radical Islamic bankers interested in stealing a chunk of the European money market. Swanson and his team begin to hunt down the group, but they are unaware that a killer unlike anyone they have ever faced is on their trail at the same time. On Scope delivers the goods for fans of high-action military fiction, and they will be pleased to discover that this series is losing none of its energy, even as it ages. Knowledge of the previous installments is not required to enjoy this one.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2014, American Library Association.)