About 3 years ago – A platoon is overrun in Afghanistan. Heavy
losses, but. Lt Col Dan Connolly’s charges are bailed out by a Warthog. He is realizing
that being on patrol is a young man’s game.
About 3 years ago – The Russians are on the verge of taking control
of a rare earth metals mine in Kenya. At the last minute, Moscow says withdraw.
The commander, Colonel Yuri Borbikov, doesn’t agree, but complies. He perceives
this as more of a personal failure and less a political decision. For the next
three years, he devises a plan to retake what he feels rightfully belongs to
Russia. He just needs the right circumstances.
Current day. The China-Taiwan thing continues to rankle Beijing.
Elections are coming up in Taiwan and a hard-line candidate who is pro reconciliation
is assassinated by Chinese commandoes in a raid set up to look like opposition
extremists within Taiwan pulled the trigger. They want war so they can take the island by force. The Western Pacific goes on alert
and the President sends an enormous naval presence to the area in an attempt to
deter China who has said that an invasion is imminent depending on the outcome
of the upcoming elections.
This may be just what Borbikov needs. Distraction. He has managed to get
the ear of a couple higher ups who in turn sell the plan to the Russian
President. The plan calls for a rapid strike on two fronts while the US is
distracted in the Pacific. One strike is directed at NATO, specifically its
AFRICOM headquarters in Stuttgart while the other is a Russian force headed for
the Mrima Hill mine in Kenya. If the Russians can take out AFRICOM and focus the
remaining US forces on Europe, the Kenyan strike should be met with minimal
resistance.
What follows is a HUGE story beginning with Russia’s plans,
miscalculations by NATO and the Pentagon, and the integration of multiple
information sources by two Pentagon analysts. The battles that are largely mechanized
armor battles (tanks and other such vehicless) and mostly told from the
viewpoints of Lt Col Connolly (who, normally at his cushy Pentagon job, gets pulled
out and plopped in Africa to help oversee that front. Cuz he put it all together), a US commander of a tank
company in Europe, an A-10 Warthog pilot, a Polish partisan in the regional civilian guard (whose main
goal was to become the manager of the coffee shop she works at), the two
Russian generals in charge of each front (the experienced Boris Lazar in Africa and the
arrogant Eduard Sabaneyev in Europe), Colonel Castor, the Marine commander in
Africa (charged with getting to the mine first and holding the ground until a
re-tasked carrier group can arrive with help), and one bad-ass driver of a Virginia
class sub off the eastern coast of Africa. Europe explodes on Christmas morning
and this whole mess moves along at light speed for the next week.
Greaney is an established political/spy thriller writer who
has joined up with Rawlings, a retired Marine Colonel. I’ve read my share of combat-based
novels and the only ones that really ring true have been written by those who’ve
been there. It’s obvious that Rawlings is that man. The battle plans. The execution.
The counters. The hardware. The casualties and destruction. Other books without
the intimate knowledge that goes far beyond literary research just don’t match up.
The book is filled with that alphabet soup of acronyms and initialism of
weaponry and combat. Greaney did some work with Clancy and it shows as this is
on a par with other really big stories by Clancy. Did you like Red Storm
Rising? You’ll like this (>600 page) beast.
Together they have put together what could potentially be
WWIII. And over what? A strip mine. Make that the world’s largest mine of rare elements that just happen to
be critical for hi-tech development. Whoever controls the mine will control
that most important sector of the world’s economy as well as future military R&D.
Whoever controls that hole in the ground will dictate the future.
Expected publication date is July 16, 2019. Place your
orders. This one could be big.
ECD
Herbert Gomez September 21, 2019 10:16 pm Wow! What a great read,I could not put this down. I don't much about Mr.Greaney work,but he has my attention.
ReplyDeleteECD, it is a shame this book did not grab attention ore than it did at the time, and one would assume with unrest and war in eastern europe it would have picked up on sales more.
ReplyDeleteFind a better representation of warfare on the front line with marines as they defend the hill, or a more likeable hero than the 2 pilots, the XBOX Helo Girl, or the A-10 Tank killer, and we don't even get into the young polish blond haired barista. What Mark and Rip did on this book showing and building characters was suburb, this sir, is what make's reading worthwhile, fun, and enjoyable.