Choosers of the Slain

Paladin of Shadows #3

by John Ringo

Sequel to Ghost and Kildar .
Former SEAL Michael Harmon (Ghost, Kildar) has a pretty good life. He's settled down in the country of Georgia and built a solid commando-quality militia out of his local retainers. The Keldara have an ancient history of being first-class mountain warriors and all they needed was a few million in modern weapons and training to bring them up to speed. Now, with the Keldara keeping the area safe from Chechen raiders, and the various other terrorists that want Ghost's head on their wall, he can settle back, relax in his harem and drink a few beers. However, a US senator has a problem. A "major financial contributor's" daughter has been kidnapped into the labyrinthian depths of the Balkans sex-slave trade. The US government has been unable to find her and the Senator is very interested in changing that condition. Five million dollars interested. As Ghost and his Keldara warriors blast a gaping hole through the middle of the trade, it quickly becomes apparent that there is more to the mission than a "poor missing waif." There's a rot underneath, and the stench is coming from the very floor of the Capitol. Being at war with Albanian gangs is one thing. Taking on Washington is a different ball game. But Ghost never believed in fighting fair.

Genres: Military Fiction, Science Fiction, Fiction, Thriller, Action, Military Science Fiction, Adventure

576 pages, Paperback

First published May 1, 2006

About the author

John Ringo is a prolific author who has written in a wide variety of genres. His early life included a great deal of travel. He visited 23 foreign countries, and attended fourteen different schools. After graduation Ringo enlisted in the US military for four years, after which he studied marine biology.

In 1999 he wrote and published his first novel "A Hymn Before Battle", which proved successful. Since 2000 Ringo has been a full time author.

He has written science fiction, military fiction, and fantasy.


Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name. See this thread for more information.

Reviews

[Kevin Beck · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mike and the Keldara are pulled into an operation to save the life of a girl who has been captured by slavers. The situation is soon determined to be false and Mike and the Keldara kick some serious terrorist butt.

[Mike · Rating 2 out of 5]

Finally one in the series that is marginally ok. 2 Stars and a little more.

[Dan · Rating 5 out of 5]

7/2/17 3rd reread.

[Roberta · Rating 4 out of 5]

More action, less sex. Better than its predecessors.

Definitely do not pick it up in the middle of the series though as you at least need to read Kildar before reading this one as it is a continuation.

In this book, Mike gets a simple mission to rescue the daughter of a Senator's major campaign contributor or so he thinks. He ends up taking his team the Mountain Tigers to try and find the girl and ends up uncovering a sex slave scam that implicates leaders of various governments world-wide.

Very graphic in the scenes regarding what happens to women in the sex-trade. It seems to me that Ringo wants something done about the sex trade and perhaps portraying it graphically is one of his ways of doing it. It does make you wonder just how extensive this trade is, and it makes me grateful that I am not a woman living in a third world country.

Despite his main character's flaws (evil thoughts about raping women and the like), he does his best to protect the girls they find along the way and offering them the chance to start over.

The harem idea is in my opinion more gratuitous than anything else and clearly written to cater to his mostly male readership. But beyond that, the story is interesting and fast pace, I read it in less than a day.

[Michael · Rating 2 out of 5]

These books... I don't know why I read them. It is like watching a trainwreck in slow motion.

It is just wonderful wish(?)fulfillment, and I can't do a better review then the person who originally started the "Oh John Ringo, no" meme. http://hradzka.livejournal.com/194753...

I started this book 6 or so months ago after I had finished the previous two. I really can't explain these books. You will either enjoy them, or hate them utterly. I don't really think there is an in-between, and I don't know if I want to ever meet somebody who actually loves these books.

[Brad · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was a let down after Kildar. As poor as Ghost was, I enjoyed it more. Choosers of the Slain has a weak plot with a premise that doesn't even make sense by the conclusion. Why would senator Traskel put Mike on the trail of the girl that can prove Traskel and associates were blackmailing a different senator? There is some kind of sexual reference on almost every page and lots of explicit sex, most of which is centered around abuse and often torture. It gets nauseating. In addition, the major combat sequence is poorly described and confusing.

[Howard2nd · Rating 5 out of 5]

Integrate warfare and Beer

Take clan motive and add modern training and equipment and get excitement. Have beauty and Beer and semi-feudal romance. Then remember that feudal relationships go both ways. Bonding and bondage tie really tight knots.

[Baron · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book started off a lot better than the previous two. It had an engaging mystery plot, with a US senator hiring Mike to find the supposed daughter of one of his big contributors. It has Mike and his Keldara traipsing around Eastern Europe, interrogating and killing sex traffickers, and adopting hookers like stray cats. Plus it's got lots of Katya. I even liked the 'gotta sell beer' Las Vegas subplot, which was delightfully absurd in the middle of planning a major military operation.

For a while, it was the story I wanted to read. Sure, it had Creepy Mike, but he was killing people far worse than him, so it wasn't too grating.

But then the little things began to nag on me. And I began to notice the plot holes, and as I pulled the threads the holes got bigger.

For starters, I spent a good chunk of the book wondering what the conspiracy was. While it was obvious Senator Traskel was up to no good, I was confused as to why he would hire Mike to snoop into this matter. At first I thought it was because (Major spoilers ahead)

he wanted Mike to find the snuff video framing Senator Grantham (which honestly would make no sense. Why not just leak it himself?), but that was wrong because he was already using the video to blackmail Grantham into voting for democrat stuff. Okay, so it was all about finding the girl (Natalya) who survived the snuff video and making sure she couldn't identify Traskel's aide, who was the guy impersonating Grantham. But this doesn't really make sense either, since:

1) The only other party who are even aware (possibly) of the video are the Albanians, who if anything will just use it to also blackmail Grantham. It's clear later on they don't at all know Natalya's significance.
2) While it's possible the authorities may eventually become involved, this will not be until later. "Later" can be years. In the meantime, Natalya is a random 14 year old whore in a random whorehouse mumbling about a 'bad man.' Assuming she's even still alive by the time an investigation happens (and she hasn't been killed by disease or violence), the trail will be long cold. Hell, the only reason Mike was able to find her was because Traskel gave him the lead!

Traskel's whole plan hinged on Mike somehow finding Natalya without doing any detective work (and thus learning Traskel's full of shit). Oh, and it also required Mike to not extract her himself. Given Mike's hyper-competent, loose cannon reputation, this is idiotic.

In short, hiring Mike is probably the dumbest thing Traskel could do. He could have gotten away with everything by just doing nothing.

There's another plot hole too. One that's perhaps not as obvious as the first, but once I saw it I couldn't unsee it.

It concerns Team Mike sending Katya to infiltrate the Lanari whorehouse.

For some reason, when they're planning the Lanari op, Team Mike acts as if the brothel (where Natalya and the the snuff DVDs are) is like the event horizon of a black hole. As if it's some impenetrable fortress of doom where once someone enters they're completely cut off from the outside world. It's what you'd expect from a secret military lab or a black ops base. This is stupid, and it's not even remotely true in the story.

The Lanari whorehouse is a whorehouse. A business. Open to the public. Clients can just walk in off the street. They can buy hookers. And the hookers walk out on the street every night. They get in clinets' cars. And are driven to hotels.

Yet for some reason Team Mike thinks the only way Katya can communicate intel is via an experimental surgery involving brain implants allowing them see and hear through her. This is doubly absurd since Sergeant Vanner's team (who's receiving her intel) is camped out in a hotel a couple blocks away. And, to make it triple absurd, Vanner's team also picks up whores to avoid suspicion. They drive around and pick up whores. Any whore they want. But never Katya.

Boris the pimp demands from his whores $600 a day. Since Team Mike apparently hates Katya, she has to go out and earn that $600 herself. Because I guess there's absolutely no way Vanner's team, who are a short drive away from the whorehouse (and are picking up whores), can possibly just give her that money themselves.

But wait, there's more! Wouldn't you know it, on her first night out Katya finds Tom, a gullible American sugar daddy willing to pay her hundreds of dollars every day. Of course, she has to fuck him, but it's better than having to turn who knows how tricks.

So, Katya quickly learns Natalya is not being held in a dungeon. She's just another streetwalker whore like the others. No one special. For some reason, Vanner's team (who, I remind you, are picking up whores on a daily basis) don't just immediately snatch Natalya up and whisk her to safety. Yes, the Albanians will notice she's gone, but clearly they don't know her significance. I'm sure whores disappear all the time. And after all, retrieving Natalya is one of the op's two objectives, right?

But no, Katya has to drag Natalya around, and they both have to fuck Tom (Natalya is 14, btw). But later, (and I have to admit, this surprised me) it turns out Tom was actually a guy named Calthrop, Charles Calthrop, of MI-6 British Intelligence! *cue Bond Theme*

It's ambiguous as to whether Mike knew about Calthrop, but either way it's both stupid and scummy. Why would Calthrop hide his identity from Katya? Okay, I can see why (in case she's compromised, for one). But why wouldn't Vanner's team fulfill the same 'role' (i.e. sugar daddy, presumably without the fucking)? I'm glad Katya left Calthrop to die. I think we're supposed to go, 'what a bitch!' and root for Calthrop during his last stand, but no, the guy was a scumbag.

Anyway, Katya's infiltration plot didn't make any sense. In fact, it was unnecessary. I'm pretty sure it was all just an excuse to humiliate and degrade her. She's gang-raped the minute she arrives; later she's forced to clean a dirty toilet with her tongue. I felt nauseous reading it. The fact that the comm members of Vanner's team (Sergeant Vanner and a few Keldara girls) are watching this through her eyes just adds that extra ick factor. And at least Vanner tells her he's sorry she has to go through this; the girls (who've lived sheltered lives) are weirdly unsympathetic and make snide comments. But then again, to them she's just the checkpoint cocksucker (more on that below).

Team Mike could have gathered a lot of the intel by, you know, walking into the brothel as patrons and looking around. They also could befriend some of the whores (money+promise of freedom is the key) and pump them for info. And this isn't something I made up; the story does this with Mikhail, who picks up the hooker Tanya. Later Vanner talks Tanya into planting IEDs around the brothel! Anyway, Tanya would of course know about Natalya, and Natalya is easy to retrieve. So why was Katya needed?

I suspect in the original draft Katya was going to infiltrate Rozeje, the brothel with the snuff-dungeon. That would make more sense since that building was closed to the public, with only wealthy VIPs as clients. But then when Ringo changed his mind, he neglected to adjust for the new circumstances. So we're stuck with this nonsense.

There is one last minor plot hole. When trying to talk Katya into getting the experimental surgery Mike promises that if it goes wrong (i.e. she goes blind or whatever), he'll set her up for life. Tropical paradise. Servants, etc. Katya is less than convinced, and demands the same set-for-life money either way (and the tropical island) and she'll then go her own way. Mike agrees.

Yet apparently Katya goes on another mission in the next book. It's not that I can't see her doing it (she gets to kill slavers), it's just that I can't see her doing it if she's sitting on top of a set-for-life-in-a-tropical-paradise nest-egg, which I'm assuming is at least a million. Risking her life and getting gang-raped for, say, fifty grand wouldn't be as tempting, I imagine.

And I can't see her doing it for the team or whatever. The book lays it out that's she's a horrible bitch, and she is. But she has no reason to be nice to anyone, least of all Mike. Despite proving herself in Kildar as a capable comms asset (she's the one who connected the dots and realized the Chechens were up to something), and despite Mike lamenting she's underutilized, he treats her like the teams Designated Whore, whose primary purpose through the first half of the book apparently is to suck off checkpoint guards when a bribe isn't enough. No one objects to how fucked up this is and horribly unfair (though Mike briefly feels uncomfortable about it...couldn't he have just slipped the guards an extra hundred?).

He knows she doesn't want to do this, but he makes her anyway. A book where Katya kills the slavers and fucks over Mike is one I'd like to read. It's a shame there's no Paladin of Shadows fanfics (except one). There's a lot of potential there.

Why the two stars and not one? Well, any book that made me write a review this long has to be doing something right. It did keep my interest, I'll give it that. I may or may not read the last three books, but not for a while. I need a break.

From what I understand, there's no real ending, and the last book (written in 2013) was ill-received, and was basically ghost written by a nobody. There's also "The Kildaran," which is an online non-canon novel/fanfic (though blessed by Ringo, from what I read).

Oh well, didn't intent for this review to get this long.

[Jon]

Possibly the best part of this book comes from the forward, "Any attempt to learn anything from these books is disrecommended by the author, the publisher and the author's mother who wishes to state that he was a very nice boy and she doesn't know what went wrong." Ringo cracks me up sometimes.

In the third book in the Paladin of Shadows series, Mike is pretty well settled in as the ruler, or Kildar, of his own private Idaho in Georgia (the country not the state). The training of his mountain militia is going well, and the training of his harem even better. The crops are coming in and the new brewery is almost built. What more can a man ask for?

Well, a normal man might not ask for anything much, but a senator sure will, and when Mike is called to Washington to meet with a powerful member of the President's opposition, he's not especially happy about it. It seems that one of the congressman's friends has lost his daughter in Eastern Europe somewhere, presumably kidnapped and sold into white slavery. Senator Traskel makes an offer the Kildar can't quite refuse, both because of the five million dollar reward and his nagging sense that something just doesn't smell quite right here.

So Mike takes some of his fighters and intel folks off into the hinterlands - actually, they start in the hinterlands and head to the big cities - to see what they can dig up. The problem of sexual slavery is huge in the ruins of ancient Samarkand, and Mike smells a great big rat living in the moral sewers.

Just another rapid-fire adventure, complete with the usual sex and blood and rock and roll. There is one amusing side plot going on, with the Keldaran lad Mike has designated to get the marketing started for Mountain Tiger beer booking a convention booth in Sin City. Mike and his troupe of lovelies and heavies take a break from the combat action to fly into town, wow the sales reps, and disrupt the smooth operations of a couple of governments, while they're at it.

[David Beck · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mike and the Keldara are back in action trying to save a Senator's daughter who has been kidnapped. Of course that ends up being a ruse and the real motivation is to protect a bunch of scum-bag politicians. Mike and his gang blow a big hole in the eastern European human trafficking and sex business by killing almost everyone involved in the trade. A really dark description of some really bad places in the world.

[Swarleey Aka Swarlz Barkley · Rating 5 out of 5]

The contrast between his own inner demons, and his wanting to be a good man is ever present in Ringos next addition. His fight with himself is almost as big as his fight against the others. He desires to do what he is killing others for doing. Nature, nurture? Good, evil? Right, wrong? Fascinating twist on it.

[David · Rating 1 out of 5]

Characters are shallow. This appears to be more about the author's personal iteration of sexual fantasy. Although these fantasies are loosely wrapped in an account of the slave trade and the exploration of women as sub-human objects of base desire. Adult material.

[Henry Cosgrove · Rating 5 out of 5]

A story to remember

John Ringo has an excellent series here. I’ve read them all several times over the years. I highly recommend each and every book in this series.

[Robert Godwin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fun read

Doesn't pay to be a bad guy in Kildar's way. Lots and lots of vi!!ains get instant justice. Pace really doesn't slow down from start to finish.

[Jared Miller · Rating 4 out of 5]

i am really liking this set of books. this one was very good. i love the growth of the characters.

[Ike · Rating 3 out of 5]

One word = graphic

[Donald Franck · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow, what a ride!

John Rings is one of the best action writers on the planet! This series seems to prove that. Bar none!

[Mark Ely · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wish it were true

So much corruption and perversion exists because we like easy sex and quick highs. Would be nice if a high level of the snake was cut off.

[William Bentrim · Rating 5 out of 5]

Choosers of the Slain by John Ringo

Politics and black mail fuel the action in this Ringo follow up to the Kildar. Mike is at it again, facing daunting odds with ambivalence in his heart but courage and fire in his action. Hookers are being snuffed and it is impacting his people and the politics of his world.

Ringo dives in were fools fear to tread. He attacks the structure of Albanian prostitution but in essence he attacks the forcible implementation of the entire industry. According to Wikipedia Albania is known for being a major player in human trafficking. Mike Harmon and his Mountain Tigers expose a sordid business and out guns, out fights and just is more ruthless than the bad guys. He takes them on in a no holds barred manner.

Meantime back in Georgia (not the USA Georgia), Mike is developing brewing to improve the living conditions of his Keldara. In some ways you have to wonder if John Ringo’s tactics in nation building (microcosm) and terrorist eradication aren’t far superior to what is actually occurring.

This is not a book for kids, the sex is rough and often explicit but it fits with the plot of the book.

I recommend this book.

[Justin · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the third book in the series. I think I read books 1-5 in order. As Ringo said in a blog somewhere, he wrote these five in one sitting and thus there is a strong continuity. However, I spotted one small, almost trivial mistake. Katrina, the girl whom he saved in the previous book (Kildar), was of the Devlich Family but in this book, in one scene, her last name was Makanee.
I can chalk that up to Ringo forgetting.
Or, the in-universe explanation is that Mike is jet lagged after leaving Albania and showing up in Vegas, having not slept for hours. Shrug?

The opening scenes in this book are directly after the climatic of Kildar - within 48 hours. I am guessing Ringo broke up for length and structure. Thus, you can read book 1 Ghost as a standalone, then books 2-3 as another unit, and then 4-5 as the last unit. There is a book 6, but i read it and it wasn't as good.

[Steven Sheeley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mike is back with more action and less sex. As good as the previous books if not better.

I highly suggest that you do not start in the middle of the series and that you read, at least, Kildar before reading this one.

What starts as a simple mission to rescue a Senator's daughter uncovers the reality of the sex-slave trade in Eastern Europe, implicating leaders of governments world-wide.

This book is very graphic regarding what happens to women in the sex-trade. It does make you wonder just how extensive this trade is, and it makes me grateful that I am not a woman living in a third world country.

Once again we are shown that mike Harmon is a good man doing bad things.

[Andreas · Rating 3 out of 5]

In the third book of the series, things really start to heat up. Ringo takes us on a scenic tour of the white slavery movement in Eastern Europe as a senator “hires” Mike and his Mountain Tigers retainers to find a girl caught up in prostitution and slavery. The subject matter is quite awful but such is reality.

Ringo is really hitting his stride here with great action scenes and development of the characters. This book also inserts some interesting interactions with senior officials of various states. As with the earlier books, I couldn’t put it down.

http://www.books.rosboch.net/?p=1176

[Randy P · Rating 3 out of 5]

I guess you could describe Chooser of the Slain as a military action thriller with some shock value and comedy thrown in. The central character, Mike, is a leader of a group of militia. He is hired by an anonymous US senator to rescue his daughter. Of course the job unravels more than expected. Mike is an unlikable, despicable, and disgusting human being. But this is also what makes him an interesting character. I did enjoy this, but I did wish there was more action and less shock value.

[Lee · Rating 4 out of 5]

Former SEAL Michael Harmon, a.k.a. Ghost and Mike Jenkins returns as the Kildar in the Keldara area of Georgia. The Keldara warriors that he has trained have been keeping the area safe from Chechen raiders but now a well-know Senator has a problem and needs the Kildar's help. His daughter has been kidnapped by the Albanian mafia where she has been sold into the sex trade and the Senator wants Mike Jenkins to rescue her.

[Isaac · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was supposed to be the top of the plot arc, but I just didn't love it. It's huge messy, and split all over.

Ringo has a tendency to sometimes be bogged down in details over the view of the the characters, and this starts to come out here with the splits in perspective.

Still I'd recommend it to anyone who like the others, because it sets up the next book.

[Art · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ringo does a good job of writing a hard-hitting story, with an eye to keen action. He approaches the whole idea of forced prostitution and kidnap/slavery with a critical eye. I enjoyed this one, especially since he's added even more sensory description, and made it more interesting with a deeper plot and interwoven ideas. I hope he'll do even more in the next one.

[RJ · Rating 4 out of 5]

More training, enlistments, and missions of Mike Harmon the Kildar's, elite retainers, now know as the Mountain Tigers. Less BDS&M in this book. Mike is actually taking it easy and respecting the Kildara women. The missions are mainly against the Chechens and Albanian gangs; putting a major dent in their drug and slave trades. Great writing, good stories.

[William Babichuk · Rating 4 out of 5]

The usual engaging mix of escapism from Dingo - sex, blood and violence. So much fun!

Ringo at his best - lots of military action, enough sado-machismo to satisfy even the most extreme. You really need to read the first 2 installments to get the whole flavour, though.

[Dan Braun]

Typical action packed Ringo book.

[Brett]

Science Fiction