Synopses & Reviews
In the War on Terror, it is often difficult to tell who the enemy is. Sometimes your fiercest opponent isnt an insurgent or a fanatic bent on making a statement in blood, but a chain of command that is pursuing goals and objectives that have nothing to do with your units stated mission. Nathan Dixon finds out just how true this is when a new battalion commander, Lieutenant Colonel Robert Delmont, convinces his superiors that he has an all but foolproof plan for defeating Islamic terrorists in the Philippines—a plan that will ensure Delmonts promotion to full colonel and beyond. But the 3rd Regiment of the 75th Ranger battalion is pitted against no fool. Determined to create a fundamental Islamic state in Southeast Asia, a charismatic terrorist by the name of Hamdani Summirat unites the various Islamic factions into a confederation. Their aim is to drag the United States into a protracted war of attrition that the Americans cannot win. Summirats factions play out a deadly game of cat and mouse, drawing the American forces into ambushes and small, bloody encounters with a small but highly trained core of Islamic fighters. Lieutenant General Scott Dixon, Deputy Chief of Staff for Operations with the US Army--and Nathan's father—soon finds that these enemies are practically impossible to hunt down. They are killing American troops almost at will. He realizes quickly that if the mission continues, many more Americans will be wounded or killed-- perhaps even his own son. But his pleas to his Commander-in-Chief are practically ignored. This dual game of cat and mouse is played out both in the jungles of Mindanae and in the forward operations base. Nathan Dixon must deal with a battalion commander who is determined to see his plan through, regardless of the price Nathan and his company must pay, while Scott Dixon must deal with a chain of command that refuses to alter a plan of attack in the face of a losing effort.
Review
"Harold Coyle is the best natural storyteller I know."--Tom Clancy
"Coyle is best when he's depicting soldiers facing death . . . He knows soldiers and and he understands the brotherhood of arms mystique and transcends national boundaries."--The New York Times
"A superbly talented storyteller . . . the Tom Clancy of ground warfare."--W.E.B. Griffin
Review
"Coyle is a master at high-tech suspense."--Clive Cussler
“Pulse-pounding . . . Coyles masterfully labyrinthine plot lines, pedal-to-the-medal pacing, and brutally realistic portrayal of army life make this another winner.”--Publishers Weekly
“Harold Coyle is the best natural storyteller I know.”—Tom Clancy
“Harold Coyle is a superbly talented storyteller . . . the Tom Clancy of ground warfare.”--W.E.B. Griffin
"Coyle is best when he's depicting soldiers facing death . . . He knows soldiers and he understands the brotherhood of arms mystique and transcends national boundaries."--The New York Times
“Nobody knows war like Harold Coyle, and nobody writes it better.”--Stephen Coonts
“Harold Coyle has been dubbed the Tom Clancy of ground warfare and its easy to see why. He focuses on the grunts because no matter how fancy the weapons are, eventually the military has to send in men to take and hold new territory.”--The New York Post
Synopsis
Captain Nathan Dixon, US Army Rangers, having successfully completed a dangerous, vital combat mission with the Virginia National Guard, has been specially chosen to command Company A, in the elite 3rd Battalion, Rangers. These men have been hand-picked to be part of the new Joint Task Force Sierra. This special task force has been swiftly formed to conduct special anti-terrorist operations in the Philippines and Indonesia, in response to a major terrorist threat. Unable to match the American command in mobility or firepower, a charismatic terrorist leader has united the various Islamic terrorist factions into a confederation. Their ultimate aim is to drag the United States into a protracted war of attrition in hopes of breaking the US's will to continue with their efforts. But in order to carry out their plans, the terrorists must play a deadly game of cat and mouse as they attempt to draw the American forces into ambushes and small, bloody encounters.
Lieutenant General Scott Dixon, Deputy Chief of Staff for Operation with the U.S. Army, and Nathan's father, is deeply involved in the task force's operation. It is his duty to put his own son in harm's way. But they both soon realize that these enemies are so elusive that they're practically impossible to hunt down. And, to make matters worse, they are killing American troops almost at will. The more the task force progresses, the higher their body counts; their efforts are beginning to seem futile. Meanwhile political, military, and bureaucratic struggles are ensuing as to this mission's future, and the situation on the ground is worsening. Captain Dixon and his troops know that even though they continue to fight, their mission's fate has yet to be determined and their struggle to survive is getting greater than ever.
Synopsis
Deep in the sweltering jungles of the Philipines, Nathan Dixon and the Third Regiment of the Seventy-Fifth Ranger Battalion are fighting an elusive and deadly force. Nathan and his unit face one bloody encounter after another with a small but highly trained corps of Islamic terrorists. And though the death toll keeps rising, the Rangers battalion commander has convinced most of his superiors that he has an all but foolproof plan for defeating the enemy. But back in Washington, Nathans father, Lieutenant General Scott Dixon, the deputy chief of staff for operations with the U.S. Army, realizes that if the mission continues, many more Americans will be wounded or killed—perhaps even his own son. A dual game of cat and mouse is played out both in the jungles of Mindanao and in the halls of Washington, D.C. Nathan Dixon must deal with a battalion commander whose willing to set aside his battalions safety for personal gain. Scott Dixon must go head-to-head with a stubborn chain of command that refuses to alter a plan of attack, even in the face of a losing effort. And all the while, a new terrorist is rising to power in Southeast Asia, Hamdani Summirat, radical Islams most charismatic and strategic leader yet. And everything is falling perfectly into his master plan.
About the Author
HAROLD COYLE graduated from the Virginia Military Institute and spent fourteen years on active duty with the U.S. Army. He is the New York Times bestselling author of nine novels, including The Ten Thousand, They Are Soldiers, God's Children, and More than Courage. He lives in Fairfax, VA.