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Hunter Stark #1
Without Mercy
The United States plunges into chaos when ISIS acquires nuclear weapons in this terrifying and topical thrillerThe unthinkable has happened: ISIS, covertly assisted by Pakistan’s intelligence services, has acquired nuclear weapons and the ability to deliver them anywhere in the world. They begin with an attack at Bagram Airfield, America’s largest military base in Afghanistan. A second weapon is detonated in Battery Park in New York City.
The blast levels a square mile of Manhattan, including the Financial District. Hundreds of thousands perish. The American economy is in chaos. Banks close their doors. The U.S. supply chain is disrupted. Riots and looting break out while enemies in the Middle East burn U.S. flags in celebration.
The stakes skyrocket when Islamabad CIA Station Chief Bill Gorman unearths evidence of a third bomb headed our way. Across two continents the chase is on to find the runaway terrorists led by the ruthless and capable Salma Bahmani, star agent of Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence, the dread ISI. She will stop at nothing to deliver what could be the final nail in America’s coffin.
480 pages, Hardcover
First published March 7, 2017
35 people are currently reading
89 people want to read
About the author
David Hunt
6 books15 followersColonel David Hunt has over 29 years of military experience, including extensive operational experience in Special Operations, Counter Terrorism and Intelligence Operations. Most recently, Colonel Hunt served as Tactical Advisor in Bosnia where he facilitated all national intelligence matters for the Commander in Chief, as well as coordinating a $350,000,000 national security program for the National Security Agency and the Central Intelligence Agency in 1997.
Prior to this, he served as counter terrorism coordinator to the Summer Olympic Games in Seoul, Korea. In this capacity, David Hunt planned, choreographed and implemented the first United States national response for an Olympic event in Korea in conjunction with Korean National Intelligence and the Korean Crisis Response Agency as the counter-terrorist coordinator.
His role as a leader began with a Special Forces Operational Detachment of 12 soldiers, expanding to command a brigade of over 1,000 personnel. He received his Master's degree in English from Norwich University in 1981, and later graduated from the John F. Kennedy School of Government in Harvard University in 1991.
David Hunt has lectured for the Federal Bureau of Investigation Academy, the Central Intelligence Agency, the National Security Agency, and several other high profile agencies, as well as state and local police officials.
Recently, he has shared his expertise in over 200 televised interviews on Operation Iraqi Freedom. Bill O'Reilly of the "O'Reilly Factor" called David Hunt the "Best Military Analyst in the Business" and Fox's "Go to Guy on the War."
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Displaying 1 - 25 of 25 reviews
August 11, 2017
An amazingly bad work of fiction. I want my money back. So many errors I started to LOL. Fly fishing for brown trout on the Rio Grande at Eagle Pass, Texas? Nope! Avoid this poorly done wanna be Clancy tripe
April 23, 2017
An outstanding techno-thriller!
May 30, 2020
This was a great story line marred with mostly minor writing issues.
One big continuity error, several smaller ones.
A major fault was starting chapters off with a pronoun leaving the reader confused about who was being referenced. Most chapters had a clue in the title as to who might be in it but that was insufficient in many cases to clarify things until finally a name was given.
There were duplicate (or too close for ease of knowing who it was) names as well as too many hard to recall foreign names many of which were also similar.
Some names were unidentified. Were we supposed to know them from a previous novel?
The characters were over the top and not believeable with how they got shot and came back the same day to fight again. Some spanish accents were missing.
The story will make the PC loonies go nutzoid by telling the truth about terrorists and how things really work. What the USA did to pakistan after NYC got nuked was very restrained and realistic. What happened to the saudis was also believeable.
A couple of typos. Nobody is perfect at catching every tiny mistake after typesetting.
On some different level this book could be a warning to terrorists supporters about what will happen to them if the USA is attacked again. The response will not be the wimpy irrelevant stuff that baby bush did.
Axelrod showed that Tat for Tit was the optimum strategy. Maybe not Christian, but most effective in this evil world with real people being led by satan to cause problems.
Parts of the book were over the top extreme more fitting for an action movie than a novel depicting reality. Some parts were extreme but appropriate but believeable.
Some events were side trips down a rabbit hole and had nothing to do with the main story. Some were just not believable, usually those with gratuitous sex scenes.
The ending was weak. The epilogue weaker. Not satisfying at all.
Characters were adequate. And appropriate to their role in the plot.
Setting was overdone at times and others not done as much.
Timeframe was current and after 911.
Plot has pakistan planning to put nukes in USA cities and detonate simultaneously after having nuked a USAF base at Bagram.
They only got one exploded. The MCs got the last one at the end and the others had been recalled for future use.
A couple of acronyms were not explained although other things were spelled out in excruciating detail.
Spag was very good. Higher levels of edits were very good. Some minor issues at the middle levels as were noted earlier.
One big continuity error, several smaller ones.
A major fault was starting chapters off with a pronoun leaving the reader confused about who was being referenced. Most chapters had a clue in the title as to who might be in it but that was insufficient in many cases to clarify things until finally a name was given.
There were duplicate (or too close for ease of knowing who it was) names as well as too many hard to recall foreign names many of which were also similar.
Some names were unidentified. Were we supposed to know them from a previous novel?
The characters were over the top and not believeable with how they got shot and came back the same day to fight again. Some spanish accents were missing.
The story will make the PC loonies go nutzoid by telling the truth about terrorists and how things really work. What the USA did to pakistan after NYC got nuked was very restrained and realistic. What happened to the saudis was also believeable.
A couple of typos. Nobody is perfect at catching every tiny mistake after typesetting.
On some different level this book could be a warning to terrorists supporters about what will happen to them if the USA is attacked again. The response will not be the wimpy irrelevant stuff that baby bush did.
Axelrod showed that Tat for Tit was the optimum strategy. Maybe not Christian, but most effective in this evil world with real people being led by satan to cause problems.
Parts of the book were over the top extreme more fitting for an action movie than a novel depicting reality. Some parts were extreme but appropriate but believeable.
Some events were side trips down a rabbit hole and had nothing to do with the main story. Some were just not believable, usually those with gratuitous sex scenes.
The ending was weak. The epilogue weaker. Not satisfying at all.
Characters were adequate. And appropriate to their role in the plot.
Setting was overdone at times and others not done as much.
Timeframe was current and after 911.
Plot has pakistan planning to put nukes in USA cities and detonate simultaneously after having nuked a USAF base at Bagram.
They only got one exploded. The MCs got the last one at the end and the others had been recalled for future use.
A couple of acronyms were not explained although other things were spelled out in excruciating detail.
Spag was very good. Higher levels of edits were very good. Some minor issues at the middle levels as were noted earlier.
March 23, 2017
Reading Without Mercy by Colonel David Hunt and R. J. Pineiro was like a long-awaited visit to the house that Clancy built. From start to finish, the writing duo maintains heart-pounding pacing and tension. In an all too plausible scenario, radical Islamic terrorists target New York City once more, this time with a nuclear device. The remainder of the book has multiple covert and military assets, several federal agencies, and a new President of the United States working around the clock to prevent the rest of the planned attacks.
Hunt and Pineiro have a tendency to over season their writing with the precise make and model numbers of ships, weapons, and guns; presumably to lend an air of authenticity to the narrative, but the mixture could have done with a little less salt. As always, it’s fun to see stories where the best of American talent is unleashed against impossible odds and its many enemies. It was refreshing to see a movement away from male dominated thrillers by following four very strong female characters throughout the novel, though they couldn’t resist having two of them dealing with romantic issues. But then again, strong human/romantic relationships are often forged against a backdrop of death and destruction and are a great source of tension.
Hunt and Pineiro made sure to illustrate the mindset of the terrorists and elucidate their motivations. The reader would be hard-pressed to resist the sense of empathy that comes with seeing what drove them to their hatred of the west. They’re also not shy about pointing out the posturing among politicians and government agencies and how dangerous it can be when faced with time bomb.
Without Mercy delivers a story that reminds the reader just how unstable and unsafe our world is and begs the question of how effective our leadership would be if the circumstances in the novel played out in real life. Given the current political climate, the contemplation of that is almost more frightening than the book.
Hunt and Pineiro have a tendency to over season their writing with the precise make and model numbers of ships, weapons, and guns; presumably to lend an air of authenticity to the narrative, but the mixture could have done with a little less salt. As always, it’s fun to see stories where the best of American talent is unleashed against impossible odds and its many enemies. It was refreshing to see a movement away from male dominated thrillers by following four very strong female characters throughout the novel, though they couldn’t resist having two of them dealing with romantic issues. But then again, strong human/romantic relationships are often forged against a backdrop of death and destruction and are a great source of tension.
Hunt and Pineiro made sure to illustrate the mindset of the terrorists and elucidate their motivations. The reader would be hard-pressed to resist the sense of empathy that comes with seeing what drove them to their hatred of the west. They’re also not shy about pointing out the posturing among politicians and government agencies and how dangerous it can be when faced with time bomb.
Without Mercy delivers a story that reminds the reader just how unstable and unsafe our world is and begs the question of how effective our leadership would be if the circumstances in the novel played out in real life. Given the current political climate, the contemplation of that is almost more frightening than the book.
September 19, 2018
Without Mercy: A Hunter Stark Novel is an incredible first novel by Colonel Hunt. The book moves very, very fast and is difficult to put down. I read it in two days. This is definitely a page-turning, tracking the race to run down a terrorist planning to blow up Washington, DC with a nuclear weapon. This novel seems like it could be easily tomorrow’s newspaper headlines. The action seems so very real, because I think Colonel Hunt knows what the actual terrorist threats are, and how to investigate them, and track them down, and eliminate them. His military career experience has resulted in incredibly accurate military tactics. And he also introduces some incredible women who are as effective as operators as any man. And as an active duty and National Guard veteran , I truly appreciate Colonel Hunt’s description of the National Guard responding to these terrorist threats on American soil. Most readers would not necessarily know that the National Guard in every state, and territory, and the District of Columbia are assigned the mission of response to such domestic threats. Hunt is as good as Tom Clancy, Lee Childs, Brad Thor, Tim Tigner, or Jason Kasper. Strong work, Colonel. I look forward to the sequel.
April 1, 2018
The unthinkable has happened. ISIS has acquired nuclear weapons and the ability
to deliver them anywhere in the world. They begin by attacking Bagram Airfield
America's largest military base in Afghanistan. A second one is detonated in Battery
Park in New York City. The blast levels a square mile of Manhattan including The
Financial District. Hundreds of thousands perish. The economy is in chaos, the banks
close their doors. The U.S. supply chain is disrupted and riots along with looting is
breaking out. Islamabad's CIA chief Bill Gorman unearths news that a third bomb is
heading for the U.S. The chase is on to find the terrorists led by the ruthless and capable
Salma Bahmani star agent of Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence the dreaded ISI.
She will stop at nothing to deliver the final nail in Americas coffin. I enjoyed this novel
written by a man who certainly has the experience for this type of novel. It's action
packed from front to back and I gave it a 5.
to deliver them anywhere in the world. They begin by attacking Bagram Airfield
America's largest military base in Afghanistan. A second one is detonated in Battery
Park in New York City. The blast levels a square mile of Manhattan including The
Financial District. Hundreds of thousands perish. The economy is in chaos, the banks
close their doors. The U.S. supply chain is disrupted and riots along with looting is
breaking out. Islamabad's CIA chief Bill Gorman unearths news that a third bomb is
heading for the U.S. The chase is on to find the terrorists led by the ruthless and capable
Salma Bahmani star agent of Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence the dreaded ISI.
She will stop at nothing to deliver the final nail in Americas coffin. I enjoyed this novel
written by a man who certainly has the experience for this type of novel. It's action
packed from front to back and I gave it a 5.
October 10, 2018
Isis has nuclear weapons and plans on using them to bring the United States to its knees. The first bomb is used at Bagram military base in Afghanistan. The next bomb devastates a good part of New York City killing 200,000 people and destroying the financial center. Washington, DC is next. The race is on to track the other bombs and the terrorist planning on using them. Some interesting characters and the action will keep you reading long into the night.
April 20, 2017
One hell of a great read.
Good luck putting this one down. Well thought and laid out it grabs you three pages in. And then you're off and running on another great Col. Hunt adventure. A terrifying yet satisfying book. Do yourself a favor and read it.
Good luck putting this one down. Well thought and laid out it grabs you three pages in. And then you're off and running on another great Col. Hunt adventure. A terrifying yet satisfying book. Do yourself a favor and read it.
July 23, 2017
I enjoyed Col Hunt's first book, Terror Red, so I gave this one a try. So glad I did. It had nonstop action, a realistic (and terrifying) plot, and best of all - bad ass female characters. I highly recommend it.
August 14, 2017
I heard about this book on Fox and friends OMG
Considering where we find ourselves today with the mad midget and the threat of nuclear attack on our own soil this book brings it home I cannot praise it highly enough if you find this book by it it is worth the money!
Considering where we find ourselves today with the mad midget and the threat of nuclear attack on our own soil this book brings it home I cannot praise it highly enough if you find this book by it it is worth the money!
March 6, 2017
A great thriller!! Finished this book In one sitting.
March 20, 2017
Excellent story telling, very much immersed in the War against Terror going on today. Enjoyed it very much.
April 2, 2017
Really good book. A lot of action from everywhere. Hope David Hunt will write more book like this one.
April 17, 2017
Scary in its truthfulness
Great job. Didn't want it to end. Very very impressed and I can't wait for the next one.
Hope there is a follow-up in the works.
Great job. Didn't want it to end. Very very impressed and I can't wait for the next one.
Hope there is a follow-up in the works.
April 13, 2017
Great, but so scary because it seemed like it could happen! Very exciting, great action, strong female characters!
February 27, 2018
great read!!!!
July 2, 2018
Will keep you at the edge of your seat. And will take you on an emotional rollercoaster through loss, ass-kicking and recovery
January 29, 2019
Action packed. A fun read.
February 4, 2018
Although the plot may appear simplistic, this is a very enjoyable book. The author did a fantastic job of unraveling the plot in a way that kept me engaged throughout the entire story.
So why did I give a 4 out of 5 rating if the book is so good? I won't reveal any spoilers, but I will say that there was one huge problem at the end of the story. The author did such a good job of creating a believable plot until this one issue at the end that seemed highly inconsistent.
In spite of the misstep at the end, this is still a great book which I highly recommend.
So why did I give a 4 out of 5 rating if the book is so good? I won't reveal any spoilers, but I will say that there was one huge problem at the end of the story. The author did such a good job of creating a believable plot until this one issue at the end that seemed highly inconsistent.
In spite of the misstep at the end, this is still a great book which I highly recommend.
March 2, 2019
I really enjoyed Mr. Hunts other fiction book. I was excited to get this to read. Sadly I just could not get past all of the technical details. The story got lost among it all. I gave up!!
December 8, 2020
Without mercy what a great read you j7st cannot put this book down great characters and a very interesting plot look forward to reading the next installment
April 7, 2017
This novel concerns terrorists who attempt to detonate a second nuclear bomb on US soil after their first bomb in Manhattan kills more than 200,000 people. An unusual team assembled by the US president works to prevent the planned second attack. The book has quite a few flaws. For one, protagonists who seem at times to be invincible (for instance, one of them is so badly injured that he is unconscious for hours, but he almost immediately jumps back into the fight after he wakes up). For another, important story lines mentioned at the beginning of the novel then dropped for hundreds of pages or never really picked up again. I could go on.
Were it not for these faults I would have given this book five stars because it is basically an engrossing story that is hard to put down. The motives of the terrorists are humanly understandable. Their devious schemes are believable. The fight to stop them gives the reader a thrilling ride. Also, and this may not appeal to everyone, the narrative was enhanced by the authors' relish in having the United States and its heroes get revenge and in the book's total lack of political correctness.
Were it not for these faults I would have given this book five stars because it is basically an engrossing story that is hard to put down. The motives of the terrorists are humanly understandable. Their devious schemes are believable. The fight to stop them gives the reader a thrilling ride. Also, and this may not appeal to everyone, the narrative was enhanced by the authors' relish in having the United States and its heroes get revenge and in the book's total lack of political correctness.
April 20, 2017
This was packed with action but probably not near the magnitude if you were actually in the fight. It gives you different views from each opposing force, the threat is all to real and hard for many to even imagine. I hope our world finds a solution we can all exist with... not just in the movies anymore!
April 26, 2017
Ok, but not one of my favorite books. Some parts were exciting while others failed to hold my attention
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July 28, 2017PW
Displaying 1 - 25 of 25 reviews