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Dreamland #13
Raven Strike
New York Times bestselling author Dale Brown (“The best military adventure writer in the country” —Clive Cussler) joins forces once again with Jim DeFelice for another electrifying Dreamland novel, Raven Strike. In this breathtaking international thriller, Dreamland’s elite Whiplash unit is called to action when an illegal CIA black ops mission goes frighteningly wrong in Africa and a powerful weapon of mass destruction falls into terrorist hands. Raven Strike is explosive, page-turning thriller fiction with political savvy and a razor-sharp military edge, ideal for fans of Vince Flynn, Clive Cussler, Brad Thor, James Rollins, and for the army of loyal readers already firmly in the Dale Brown camp.
489 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published November 29, 2011
239 people are currently reading
700 people want to read
About the author
Dale Brown
154 books1,136 followersFormer U.S. Air Force captain Dale Brown is the superstar author of 25 consecutive New York Times best-selling military-action-aviation adventure novels: FLIGHT OF THE OLD DOG (1987), SILVER TOWER (1988), DAY OF THE CHEETAH (1989), HAMMERHEADS (1990), SKY MASTERS (1991), NIGHT OF THE HAWK (1992), CHAINS OF COMMAND (1993), STORMING HEAVEN (1994), SHADOWS OF STEEL (1996) and FATAL TERRAIN (1997), THE TIN MAN (1998), BATTLE BORN (1999), and WARRIOR CLASS (2001). His Fourteenth Novel AIRBATTLE FORCE will be published in late Spring 2003... Dale's novels are published in 11 languages and distributed to over 70 countries. Worldwide sales of his novels, audiobooks and computer games exceed 10 million copies.
Dale was born in Buffalo, New York on November 2, 1956. He graduated from Penn State University with a degree in Western European History and received an Air Force commission in 1978. He was a navigator-bombardier in the B-52G Stratofortress heavy bomber and the FB-111A supersonic medium bomber, and is the recipient of several military decorations and awards including the Air Force Commendation Medal with oak leaf cluster, the Combat Crew Award, and the Marksmanship ribbon.
Dale was also one of the nation's first Air Force ROTC cadets to qualify for and complete the grueling three-week U.S. Army Airborne Infantry paratrooper training course.
Dale is a director and volunteer pilot for AirLifeLine, a non-profit national charitable medical transportation organization who fly needy persons free of charge to receive treatment. He also supports a number of organizations to support and promote law enforcement and reading.
Dale Brown is a member of The Writers Guild and a Life Member of the Air Force Association and U.S. Naval Institute. He is a multi-engine and instrument-rated private pilot and can often be found in the skies all across the United States, piloting his own plane. On the ground, Dale enjoys tennis, skiing, scuba diving, and hockey. Dale, his wife Diane, and son Hunter live near the shores of Lake Tahoe, Nevada.
Dale was born in Buffalo, New York on November 2, 1956. He graduated from Penn State University with a degree in Western European History and received an Air Force commission in 1978. He was a navigator-bombardier in the B-52G Stratofortress heavy bomber and the FB-111A supersonic medium bomber, and is the recipient of several military decorations and awards including the Air Force Commendation Medal with oak leaf cluster, the Combat Crew Award, and the Marksmanship ribbon.
Dale was also one of the nation's first Air Force ROTC cadets to qualify for and complete the grueling three-week U.S. Army Airborne Infantry paratrooper training course.
Dale is a director and volunteer pilot for AirLifeLine, a non-profit national charitable medical transportation organization who fly needy persons free of charge to receive treatment. He also supports a number of organizations to support and promote law enforcement and reading.
Dale Brown is a member of The Writers Guild and a Life Member of the Air Force Association and U.S. Naval Institute. He is a multi-engine and instrument-rated private pilot and can often be found in the skies all across the United States, piloting his own plane. On the ground, Dale enjoys tennis, skiing, scuba diving, and hockey. Dale, his wife Diane, and son Hunter live near the shores of Lake Tahoe, Nevada.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 54 reviews
January 22, 2025
Did not finish. A complicated and dull start of the story forced me to set this one aside. Off it goes to the thrift store (where it came from) as a donation!
January 31, 2026
Have been enjoying the Dreamland series of books…but found this one wasn’t quite as good as previous books.
While I am perfectly fine with the fact the Dreamland facility is a bit of a grey ops development site and the team operates a bit outside the norms for a pseudo-gov’t operation, introducing a rouge CIA project that secretly makes use of Dreamland technology seemed to be an unnecessary wrinkle to add to the series. Although it was inevitable to happen I presume in the “do anything to get ahead” mentality of American society, logic would dictate that it wasn’t going to end well in the big scheme of things.
In typical American “we are a superpower, so we can do what we want in any country we want” methodology…secretly modifying cutting edge technology and then “live-testing” it in a foreign country is apparently a “normal” thing to do…right? I mean, who’s going to care, and who is going to find out after all. Of course things don’t go according to “plan”, and people do find out about this secret project (both within the American hierarchy, and foreign agencies)…and then all efforts must be taken to cover-up the issue before it becomes a huge scandal.
While the basic storyline was slightly predictable, it was more how the story dragged in some respects as people put their own egos and insecurities ahead of working together towards a common goal. The fact that a highly dangerous piece of technology would be so recklessly used/tested with little to no safeguards seemed a bit illogical as well. A few too many unanswered questions and unresolved storylines at the novels end seemed to make it feel like it was rushed to the printers to meet a deadline.
Regardless, I am sure I will grab another book in the series, just to see how they try to clean-up (or cover-up) the mess that has been created.
While I am perfectly fine with the fact the Dreamland facility is a bit of a grey ops development site and the team operates a bit outside the norms for a pseudo-gov’t operation, introducing a rouge CIA project that secretly makes use of Dreamland technology seemed to be an unnecessary wrinkle to add to the series. Although it was inevitable to happen I presume in the “do anything to get ahead” mentality of American society, logic would dictate that it wasn’t going to end well in the big scheme of things.
In typical American “we are a superpower, so we can do what we want in any country we want” methodology…secretly modifying cutting edge technology and then “live-testing” it in a foreign country is apparently a “normal” thing to do…right? I mean, who’s going to care, and who is going to find out after all. Of course things don’t go according to “plan”, and people do find out about this secret project (both within the American hierarchy, and foreign agencies)…and then all efforts must be taken to cover-up the issue before it becomes a huge scandal.
While the basic storyline was slightly predictable, it was more how the story dragged in some respects as people put their own egos and insecurities ahead of working together towards a common goal. The fact that a highly dangerous piece of technology would be so recklessly used/tested with little to no safeguards seemed a bit illogical as well. A few too many unanswered questions and unresolved storylines at the novels end seemed to make it feel like it was rushed to the printers to meet a deadline.
Regardless, I am sure I will grab another book in the series, just to see how they try to clean-up (or cover-up) the mess that has been created.
September 3, 2012
Not being a fan of techno-thrillers, I haven’t read a lot of Larry Bond, Dale Brown, Tom Clancy, or Stephen Coonts. I’ve read some and I’m occasionally in the mood, but I hate the ones that seem more like catalogs of high-tech government weapons and platforms than they seem like interesting stories. I particularly stay away from those which are allegedly written by the big four listed above with someone else. So, it’s strange that I picked up Raven Strike (Apparently, #13 in the "Dreamland" series.). It was purely an impulse selection.
But I’m glad I did. The technology is fascinating and, presumably, plausible. Yet, when you combine that with rogue intelligence agents (on more than one side), impulsive terrorist cells (more than a couple), Murphy’s Law with regard to technology, territorial disputes (among politicians and bureaucrats, as well as operatives and factions), and what is obviously an ongoing cast of characters (though, about four chapters and one key supporting character are obviously tied to something that has gone on before and seems something like watching a late episode in a daytime drama or episodic television series), one gets a heady mixture. Raven Strike starts with action and offers far more action scenes than the average techno-thriller. It offers enough political intrigue and human conflict to bring even the less frenetic scenes to a boil.
The weapon platform is a UAV (Unnamed Aerial Vehicle) and the mission is an assassination. Yet, the mission is compromised by another platform that was originally placed in theater as a redundancy.
The very unit designed to ensure success now threatened success. As a result of this original mission, the action intensifies with multiple players seeking the same objective and plenty of misdirection. What I particularly enjoyed about the story was the number of times that the United States operatives thought that their technology had things under control and how many times something slipped through their awareness because of misinterpreting the data provided. The story doesn’t really hinge upon GIGO (Garbage In/Garbage Out) but more upon the interpretation of data with imprecise parameters.
As far as the overarching plot, how the techno-“mcguffin” would be used if it reached the “wrong hands” and how (similar to discussions held within the Manhattan Project) any sufficiently powerful weapon will be used, it is predictable in one sense and has an ironic conclusion in another. I liked the way it was resolved and wish that such a breach of security would always be resolved in a similar misinterpretation of events. One could see the climax coming a mile away, but the journey was well worth it.
For me, the weakest aspect of the novel had to do with the events in Washington, D.C. It wasn’t that these events didn’t have verisimilitude; it was rather that I wanted to read more of the Senate committee hearing and the “pickle factory” briefings. Of course, that’s a matter of personal taste. I have liked political thrillers since the days of The Ugly American, Seven Days in May, Fail-Safe, Vanished, Night of Camp David, Advise & Consent, and Convention (while the latter two are not exactly thrillers, they are definitely suspenseful political novels). Ironically, though several of those books listed have been made into films, I’ve never watched any of them. The novels were satisfying enough. So, the desire for more scenes of political machinations may strictly be personal preference.
The bottom line is that I may have prematurely judged these techno-thrillers where Dale Brown collaborates with other authors. I’m going to check out another before I make my final judgment. Meanwhile, this one was fun and worth the effort.
But I’m glad I did. The technology is fascinating and, presumably, plausible. Yet, when you combine that with rogue intelligence agents (on more than one side), impulsive terrorist cells (more than a couple), Murphy’s Law with regard to technology, territorial disputes (among politicians and bureaucrats, as well as operatives and factions), and what is obviously an ongoing cast of characters (though, about four chapters and one key supporting character are obviously tied to something that has gone on before and seems something like watching a late episode in a daytime drama or episodic television series), one gets a heady mixture. Raven Strike starts with action and offers far more action scenes than the average techno-thriller. It offers enough political intrigue and human conflict to bring even the less frenetic scenes to a boil.
The weapon platform is a UAV (Unnamed Aerial Vehicle) and the mission is an assassination. Yet, the mission is compromised by another platform that was originally placed in theater as a redundancy.
The very unit designed to ensure success now threatened success. As a result of this original mission, the action intensifies with multiple players seeking the same objective and plenty of misdirection. What I particularly enjoyed about the story was the number of times that the United States operatives thought that their technology had things under control and how many times something slipped through their awareness because of misinterpreting the data provided. The story doesn’t really hinge upon GIGO (Garbage In/Garbage Out) but more upon the interpretation of data with imprecise parameters.
As far as the overarching plot, how the techno-“mcguffin” would be used if it reached the “wrong hands” and how (similar to discussions held within the Manhattan Project) any sufficiently powerful weapon will be used, it is predictable in one sense and has an ironic conclusion in another. I liked the way it was resolved and wish that such a breach of security would always be resolved in a similar misinterpretation of events. One could see the climax coming a mile away, but the journey was well worth it.
For me, the weakest aspect of the novel had to do with the events in Washington, D.C. It wasn’t that these events didn’t have verisimilitude; it was rather that I wanted to read more of the Senate committee hearing and the “pickle factory” briefings. Of course, that’s a matter of personal taste. I have liked political thrillers since the days of The Ugly American, Seven Days in May, Fail-Safe, Vanished, Night of Camp David, Advise & Consent, and Convention (while the latter two are not exactly thrillers, they are definitely suspenseful political novels). Ironically, though several of those books listed have been made into films, I’ve never watched any of them. The novels were satisfying enough. So, the desire for more scenes of political machinations may strictly be personal preference.
The bottom line is that I may have prematurely judged these techno-thrillers where Dale Brown collaborates with other authors. I’m going to check out another before I make my final judgment. Meanwhile, this one was fun and worth the effort.
July 24, 2012
A fun read, well told. Pop corn for the brain.
Aggravated by the way these cheap e-books don't play well on e-readers. Had to resort to manual page turning many times in this book.
Aggravated by the way these cheap e-books don't play well on e-readers. Had to resort to manual page turning many times in this book.
December 8, 2012
I learned about drone warfare.
December 7, 2017
Whiplash Strikes Again
Another Dale Brown novel with all of the political intrigue and in-the-filed action that a reader comes to expect from Dale Brown. The end came up a little too quickly and I would have enjoyed a little more a the story focused on Ken at the end. Now waiting for the next book in the series.
Another Dale Brown novel with all of the political intrigue and in-the-filed action that a reader comes to expect from Dale Brown. The end came up a little too quickly and I would have enjoyed a little more a the story focused on Ken at the end. Now waiting for the next book in the series.
December 26, 2017
A good Dreamland book but not as intriguing as some of his other books.
This book takes a long time to build the plot,otherwise it would be called an exciting and well put together story. The high tech gadgets that the Whiplash team uses keeps your interest as usual. I recommend reading the entire series.
This book takes a long time to build the plot,otherwise it would be called an exciting and well put together story. The high tech gadgets that the Whiplash team uses keeps your interest as usual. I recommend reading the entire series.
December 18, 2017
Good Story,difficult to put down
Fast moving story of trending war with utilization of current military assets. Uav's are the weapon of choice with enhanced computer software control
Fast moving story of trending war with utilization of current military assets. Uav's are the weapon of choice with enhanced computer software control
December 11, 2017
Excellent Ride, Brown did it again
Hard to put down, action from the beginning all the way to the last page. His use of weapons is awesome, and the characters and places are right on. Another great reading adventure as only Dale Brown can do.
Hard to put down, action from the beginning all the way to the last page. His use of weapons is awesome, and the characters and places are right on. Another great reading adventure as only Dale Brown can do.
January 1, 2025
I’ve been a fan for Many years.. Brown is magical
Keeping the Whiplash crew together after all these years if remarkable. He keeps pace with the technology and his books are almost prophecy of the future.. I’m sure our enemies are reading these same books.
Kudo’s
Keeping the Whiplash crew together after all these years if remarkable. He keeps pace with the technology and his books are almost prophecy of the future.. I’m sure our enemies are reading these same books.
Kudo’s
September 9, 2017
Highly recommended
As usual with his books great reading. Keeps you glued to the book suspenseful and and action packed. Highly recommend
As usual with his books great reading. Keeps you glued to the book suspenseful and and action packed. Highly recommend
December 25, 2017
Once again Brown and DeFelice combine for a fun to read thriller. A new super drone gets loose from its rogue government keepers. Well done interesting thriller
January 8, 2018
Great Story
This is a complex story with many twists and multiple segments. It is somewhat futuristic which is what you would expect from Dale Brown.
This is a complex story with many twists and multiple segments. It is somewhat futuristic which is what you would expect from Dale Brown.
February 3, 2018
Great
I love anything he writes. I didn't like the way it ended. Left you to much in the air. Great
I love anything he writes. I didn't like the way it ended. Left you to much in the air. Great
October 2, 2018
Boring
Boring, boring, boring, boring, boring, boring, boring, boring, boring, boring, boring, boring, boring, boring, boring, boring, did I say boring! Zzzz
Boring, boring, boring, boring, boring, boring, boring, boring, boring, boring, boring, boring, boring, boring, boring, boring, did I say boring! Zzzz
January 4, 2019
The Whiplast team has to find a drome that has gone down in Africa in the middle of two parties in a town killing each other and anyone in there was off
March 7, 2019
Entertaining, fast paced book. At places it was a little too fast. Overall easy reading
April 7, 2019
Not my style but wasn’t bad.
May 11, 2022
A lot of technical stuff but I enjoyed the plot. It was a good book
October 20, 2023
Incomplete
Good storyline but slow moving and the end was premature. Have to read the next entry to get a real conclusion.
Good storyline but slow moving and the end was premature. Have to read the next entry to get a real conclusion.
March 13, 2012
In the throes of a covert operation in Africa the unthinkable happens, a top-secret aircraft the CIA is testing has crashed and must be recovered before it falls into enemy hands.
Colonel Danny Freah is head of the special ops team tasked with the recovery of Raven the UAV that was downed. Freah and Nuri Lupo a top CIA operative are the first to arrive in Africa to meet with Melissa Ilse who was in charge of the testing. With a nagging feeling that he isn’t being told the whole story about the Raven, Freah heads to the crash site in search of debris, most specifically the computer that was the brains of the Raven.
As the operation goes on, Freah becomes aware that the test flight was actually an illegal mission to assassinate Li Han, technical expert and weapons dealer working with a group of guerillas called the Brotherhood and rumored to have ties to Al Quaida. Li Han gets to the crash site before the special ops team and upon seeing the plane realizes he can sell the technology to the highest bidder, thus begins the race through war torn Africa to find the Raven and thwart Li Han’s efforts.
With the eleventh book in the Dreamland series, Brown and DeFelice continue to wow fans with a thriller full of action. With detailed descriptions of existing and new weaponry, any lover of war and American espionage thrillers will thoroughly enjoy this page-turner.
Reviewed by Jodi Ann Hanson for Suspense Magazine
Colonel Danny Freah is head of the special ops team tasked with the recovery of Raven the UAV that was downed. Freah and Nuri Lupo a top CIA operative are the first to arrive in Africa to meet with Melissa Ilse who was in charge of the testing. With a nagging feeling that he isn’t being told the whole story about the Raven, Freah heads to the crash site in search of debris, most specifically the computer that was the brains of the Raven.
As the operation goes on, Freah becomes aware that the test flight was actually an illegal mission to assassinate Li Han, technical expert and weapons dealer working with a group of guerillas called the Brotherhood and rumored to have ties to Al Quaida. Li Han gets to the crash site before the special ops team and upon seeing the plane realizes he can sell the technology to the highest bidder, thus begins the race through war torn Africa to find the Raven and thwart Li Han’s efforts.
With the eleventh book in the Dreamland series, Brown and DeFelice continue to wow fans with a thriller full of action. With detailed descriptions of existing and new weaponry, any lover of war and American espionage thrillers will thoroughly enjoy this page-turner.
Reviewed by Jodi Ann Hanson for Suspense Magazine
December 17, 2011
A typical Dale Brown military/techno thriller with a experimental unmanned aircraft crashing in the Sudan.. The aircraft is nearly autonomous in operation and programmed to find, track and terminate an individual. A secret force is sent in to recover the aircraft but they have to deal with to opposed rebel groups, a Chinese arms dealer and a Russian spy who are all looking to get and use or sell the aircraft or at least the computer that controls it. Mean while back at home the CIA,, the President and congressional committees are squabbling over the project that is a CIA black ops, off the books and the computer in wrong hands will be devastating. Plenty of action keeps you reading this one.
August 21, 2012
This is #13 in the Dreamland Series. Since I have never read any of the previous novels in this series I was not familiar with the theme. If you like C.I.A. thrillers, this may be just the book for you.
I got this book as a free NOOK Book so I decided to give it a try. Within the first five chapters the location changed as many times and I gave up. I'm sure this is probably a great book for those who can track a lot of back and forth locations and characters but I'm not one of those people. What I DID read was well written and I would love to see it in a movie format where it would be easier for me to follow.
(Note: If you have a brain injury and have difficulty tracking several locations and characters I would not recommend this book.)
I got this book as a free NOOK Book so I decided to give it a try. Within the first five chapters the location changed as many times and I gave up. I'm sure this is probably a great book for those who can track a lot of back and forth locations and characters but I'm not one of those people. What I DID read was well written and I would love to see it in a movie format where it would be easier for me to follow.
(Note: If you have a brain injury and have difficulty tracking several locations and characters I would not recommend this book.)
March 16, 2012
Dale Brown, even with all his techno-speak and acronyms, is a master at blending war, personalities and politics in his action thrillers. 'Raven Strike' is no exception. While I don't know how much of it is compiled by Jim DeFelice, his co-author, together they've crafted yet another stellar 'Dreamland' adventure that sweeps you through war-ravaged Africa while playing out a government/CIA melodrama back home. You rarely know what's going to happen next and the finishes are always, figuratively and literally, explosive. Good show, Dale.
March 9, 2014
Considering I jumped into the middle of a series, I was able to follow along very nicely. Some of the characters seem too closely connected, but it was not a major distraction. The action was good, maybe a little over the top, but in a six million dollar man kind of way. End was a cliff hanger. Ok for a tv show but a little too much for a book. Now I have to decide if I want to invest more in the series or not. I just may. I did really like the writing style, managed to move from location to location without it being a distraction.
December 23, 2013
I usually really like Dale Brown's books, but this one was too confusing...I felt like I had been dropped in the middle of a story - then the next page another story - turn the page and another one...there were too many things going on that didn't fit together and there was no real conclusion. The characters were very flat; I didn't like anyone in the story. Not at all typical of Brown's writing!
February 6, 2012
You have read this story before, probably several times. There are the evil terrorists set up against our heroic and highly classified but illegal black ops spies and soldiers and marines and the first female US President kept in the dark much too long. Fortunately, the crew of Whiplash save the day.
July 17, 2012
A CIA Black Ops mission in the Sudan, involving a UAV with a "special" program, goes bad. The plane crashes and Whiplash is sent in to recover the aircraft and the control box. Except, when they arrive, both are no where to be found.
Not as good as the original Dreamland books when Col Dog Bastain ran Dreamland, but a few of the characters and still around and Dreamland fans will enjoy it.
Not as good as the original Dreamland books when Col Dog Bastain ran Dreamland, but a few of the characters and still around and Dreamland fans will enjoy it.
July 29, 2012
Plenty of action in this shoot em' up military thriller but that's about all it has going for it. A simple, straight down the path, fast paced adventure. The characters were stereotypical and rather dull. The dialogue didn't offer too much more and seemed thrown in just to fill space. The ending was predictable. No twists. No intrigue. Average story at best.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 54 reviews