Maximum Damage

Grant Valor #1

by Jack Mars

In MAXIMUM DAMAGE (Book #1), former Army Ranger Grant Valor faces a deadly mission when he is recruited to stop a surgical strike on crucial waterways that can lead to global collapse. As Grant and the team track dangerous adversaries across continents, every move could trigger devastation or avert disaster.

Yet his team, composed of outcasts as willing to bend the rules as he is, is up for any challenge.

Genres: Thriller, Mystery, Fiction, Mystery Thriller, Action, Audiobook

164 pages, Kindle Edition

Published July 21, 2025

About the author

Jack Mars is author of the bestselling LUKE STONE thriller series, which include the suspense thrillers ANY MEANS NECESSARY (book #1), OATH OF OFFICE (book #2) and SITUATION ROOM (book #3).

Reviews

[Jennifer Meador · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not as enjoyable as other adventures by Jack Mars.

During all the action onboard the ships and in last chapter, was not believable. Fighting and shooting like that doesn't exist in the real world. Nor does motorcycle driving. Luke and Zero are admirable and interesting . I doubt that I shall read more of Grant Valor and shall not recommend to other readers I know . I shall complete reading the Zero series and remaining loyal to Jack Mars and Luke Stone , then back to Lee /Andrew Childs and Vince Flynn. I am glad to finish Maximum Damage.

[Kyle Belote · Rating 1 out of 5]

I got 23% in and couldn't stomach anymore. Prose are super weak, very bland and generic. I swear, in one chapter, he used the words "gave way/ give way" like 5 times in 1 1/2 paragraphs. Also, tell me you've never been in the military without telling me. Telling a Colonel at a court martial to go F-himself? Eye roll. His father held off 600+ Taliban members by himself while his squad escaped? Uh, skipping the regular combat load for a patrol unit—given that this is special forces, can't remember which one—it completely overlooks what sustained fire does to a weapon and its barrel, the fact that I seriously doubt they're just on flat terrain without anything to hide behind, not to mention flanking maneuvers or being overwhelmed with suppressing fire... The audiobook itself had some mistakes, where several sentences were doubled up right behind each other, as if multiple takes were taking, and they forgot to cut them out afterward.

[Jerry Jares · Rating 2 out of 5]

Chirp Audio Books offered this selection, and I decided to expand my horizons a bit. I didn't have enough testosterone to appreciate this story. This is definitely a guy-sort-of-a-book.

This includes five superhero types who must work together to face terrorists. The amazing thing is, they could recover from losing 90% of their blood and be back on the job in a few days. Sophie's recovery from an abdominal wound was ridiculous. I found the fight scenes to be laughable. If you can believe it, one of the characters was struck by lightning while parachuting down onto a ship, jumped up, and started to fight.

The reader of this book was a poor choice. He was not adept at doing different voices, and he seemed not to understand what he was saying.

I have no interest in this series. Overall score = 2 stars.

Grant Valor
**  1. Maximum Damage (2025)   
2. Maximum Force (2025)

[Peter Nader · Rating 1 out of 5]

It was HORRIBLE!!!
30 chapters and 25 had a knife fight.
Really???
The story - for want of a better description - was as basic as possible.
The good guys went to a location and were involved in a skirmish.
Excruciatingly described in a blow by blow account that went on f o r e v e r.
Rinse and repeat.
It's a shame there's no easy way to fast forward an epub.
Nevertheless, for all my previous blinders,mistakes and indiscretions karma has had its revenge.
I have rated this book a VERY generous 1.

[Mr N]

Over the Top

A covert organisation with its first recruits a bunch of professionals at the top of their game trying to take down a very nasty bad guy. The team needs to learn to trust each other and work as a cohesive unit. Hmm!

The Gung ho storyline, with our main protagonists seemingly indestructible, reduces the credibility of this book. Grant, at one point appears to have three hands. He has a rifle in one, a handgun in the second but somehow manages to grab and throw a knife at the same time!

Could have been better.

[Claudete Takahashi · Rating 3 out of 5]

An undercover special force put together with ex-soldiers, who were expunged from the military because they did not obey orders, to fight the worst in the world. They are like super heroes, they fight like all hell is breaking loose, they recover from deep wounds before anyone was supposed to, they defy each other and they do not respect each other, they are not a team, but they succeed. I listened to the story and I might´ve liked it better if I read the book, as some of the character's voices were really annoying.
I thank the author for the free copy of this audiobook.

[Lawson Pride · Rating 4 out of 5]

Badasses to the Rescue

A bunch of highly skilled misfits, each with colorful back stories, thown together to work CIA black ops mission. This mission: saving the world from potential catastrophic nuclear mayhem. Action, intrigue, and a few twists or two. The killing of "bad guys" is non-stop. It's the reason I gave the story 4 stars. The author's nonchalance descriptors of the killings coupled with actual high body count numbers was desensitizing. Beyond that, it was a colorful, bare knuckles, action thriller story that kept me engaged and entertained.

[Richard · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book has Action on top of Action piled so High it’s Wobbles.

There is a lot of action to keep the story going, some of it is on the make believe side because honestly I don’t think it could be done. The characters are good. This is what keeps the story going. There is a chemistry between the characters that takes hold early in the story. The book is very much a work in progress that will probably change over each book. Read and enjoy.

[Suki Rickey · Rating 3 out of 5]

Book 1

Book 1 had a few errors throughout and the plot and characters are developed well enough. Some of the banter/fighting is annoying, but clears up mostly towards the end. It is an odd mix of characters, with their own strengths and struggles, with the information being out there and explained.

[Lewis D. · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a huge disappointment coming from an author that I have read many books along different series.
Character development was there but the encounters(which were many) came one after another and ended quickly.
I doubt I will continue with this series due to the fact that this author is better than this.

[David Webster · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great Characters and Great Action

My attention was glued to this book from start to finish. Superb characters and plot. Whenever we need these kind of people in the real world, I'm glad we have them.

[Henry D · Rating 3 out of 5]

Decent short read

Good action. Not too over the top. One or two plot inconsistencies and a few typos, but nothing too distracting. Could use a little polish, but not a bad start for the series.

[Doris Stillings · Rating 5 out of 5]

Dirty Bombs

I really enjoyed this book. There was violence, a dirty bomb, a mad man, humor, and a lot of action. The book used characters from a number of countries to work together to stop the mad msn

[AJ Bruce · Rating 5 out of 5]

And... Action!

Thought provoking, high stakes, high tension thriller. The team have to succeed, the potential of failure is not an option, no matter how deadly the consequences. Edge of the seat at times.
Recommended for fans of special forces genre.

[Susan · Rating 5 out of 5]

That was an outstanding and thrilling ride!
Great plot and the pace of the novel was excellent, really enjoy this author's writing. Definitely recommend reading the thrilling adventures from Jack Mars.

[Cynthia E Provencher · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mind Blowing!

An unbelievable edge of your seat nail bitting thriller! This grabs you immediately & doesn't let go. So much action & suspense.. I couldn't put it down. Loved all the believable characters. Awesome read. Thanks Mr. Mars. U have a winner here!

[Stephan Huston · Rating 1 out of 5]

This is a stupid book. It reads like a comic book, maybe Spiderman and Superman. There is very little character development, just a lot of totally unbelievable stunts by Grant and Sophie and their cohorts. I got about half way before I said enough.

[Mark Wells · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great read

Compelling and adventurous. Highly recommended for anyone who is looking for excitement and suspense. Looking forward to more books like this.

[jim craig · Rating 5 out of 5]

Action

There’s more action than most thrillers. Good characters that fill their roles. Mars a potential series to match his first one.

[John · Rating 1 out of 5]

Terrible.

[Gerard Dekeizer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good read

A very exciting read , with lots of turns and twists in the plot . Looking forward to
a good series .

[Kim A. Mann · Rating 5 out of 5]

good book

Lots of action and intrigue. And bloodshed. A nitty gritty thriller and the good guys come out on top this tkne

[patricia sendelbach · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm a fan of Jack Mars. We all need a super hero.

[Ben Hirsh · Rating 2 out of 5]

Two stars is a gift. So I changed it. This team? Is comprised of special forces personnel that were kicked out due to insubordination (or failing to obey an order) now most of the time they disobeyed orders to save lives. Now they are thrown together and twenty pages after meeting each other ( no intensive training not any significant team building) they are the ones sent to get victor who is detonating dirty bombs etc. not seals not other special forces these guys. One or more loses 90% of their blood yet is ready for more in a week. This was horrible don’t read any more of these

this guy writes the Troy Stark books, which are very good. interesting

[John Roach, · Rating 5 out of 5]

very readable action novel

[Benny Mullinax · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent new series with great characters and plots and plenty of action.

[Greg D · Rating 1 out of 5]

So over the top it was comical.

[Daniel · Rating 2 out of 5]

Ridiculous, over the top, predictable and somehow boring. Thankfully it was short.

[Gerry O'Brien · Rating 3 out of 5]

Incredulous

This is an interesting enough premise with an array of protagonists, but the events and the characters' accomplishments are so implausible, they are incredulous.

[Bette · Rating 3 out of 5]

Overly action packed story. Too many confusing and unbelievable fight scenes that seemed repetitious. Lacked comradery and humor between team members.