Without Fear

Hunter Stark #2

by David Hunt, R.J. Piñeiro

Col. David Hunt and R. J. Pineiro have teamed up for another action-packed thriller steeped in authenticity: Without Fear.

Southern Afghanistan, 2005. NATO forces are battling the Taliban across Kandahar Province. In a terrifying twist, the rebels unearth a tactical nuclear bomb lost in the final days of the Soviet occupation. The years buried in the sand have damaged it, so the Taliban seeks the help of al Qaeda to secure replacement parts through its contacts in Saudi Arabia, the Opium Cartel, and the Russian Mafia. Doing so, however, inadvertently alerts the Americans, the Russians, and the Israelis.

Hunter Stark and his team of CIA contractors are on the chase, dispensing explosive waves of violence to track where the Taliban is hiding the weapon. But Russian Spetsnaz and Israeli Mossad operatives are also in the region following their own agendas—as is NATO—triggering chaos and confusion.

The stakes skyrocket when a courier delivers the components and the weapon becomes functional, forcing Stark to drive full throttle, without fear, into a world of terror, going beyond duty and honor to prevent the unthinkable.

Genres: Thriller

527 pages, Hardcover

First published August 7, 2018

About the author

Colonel 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."

Reviews

[Twobchelm · Rating 4 out of 5]

Gives you an inside perspective of the war in Afghanistan .
Lots of action.

[Tom Burkholder · Rating 3 out of 5]

In the book Without Fear, authors Col. David Hunt and R. J. Pineiro take us on a journey to stop the Taliban and al Qaeda from using an old soviet nuke from a plane that was shot down years before. CIA and Mossad operatives are racing to stop the terrorist from using the nuke.
This was a great story line. But it is a very long book and so much detail. There were a lot of main characters and the authors had to give pages of background on each character. I would cautiously recommend this book. I received a copy of this e-book from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

[John Purvis · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Without Fear" eBook was published in 2018 and was written by Colonel David Hunt and R. J. Pineiro (http://www.rjpineiro.com). Mr. Hunt has published five books and Mr. Pineiro nearly 20 novels. This is the second of their joint "Hunter Stark" series. 

I received an ARC of this novel through https://www.netgalley.com in return for a fair and honest review. I categorize this novel as ‘R’ because it contains scenes of Violence and Mature Langauge. The story is set in the Middle East of 2005. As the Russians were pulling out of Afganistan, a fighter transporting a nuclear weapon is shot down and the bomb lost. 

Decades later in 2005, the bomb is rediscovered by the Taliban. Wanting the bomb activated to use against the west, they reach out to al Qaeda for help. The US, Israeli, Russian and Pakistani intelligence agencies all pick up on the discovery. All of the nations send in operatives to find the bomb. 

For the US, the tip of the spear in the bomb chase is Hunter Stark and his team of CIA contractors. They run into one dangerous encounter after another as they close in on the bomb. Compounding their difficulties is the NATO command structure that often causes confusion.

There are also five significant women characters in the novel.  US Air Force Captain Laura Vaccaro, an A-10 pilot, plays an important role in providing critical air support. Senior GRU officer Kira Tupolev leads the Russian Spetsnaz team pursuing the bomb. She is driven not only by the desire to reclaim what is Russia's but also by the fact that her father was the pilot of the ill-fated fighter that was shot down while carrying the bomb in the first place.

Then there is FBI agent Monica Cruz who is filling in with the CIA as a field officer. She finds herself drawn into the pursuit of the bomb and into action with the Taliban. Pakistani ISI officer Maryam Gadai is also in pursuit of the bomb. Lastly, there is Zahra Hassani, the personal aid and assassin for Saudi Prince Mani al Saud. The Prince is being well paid to help the Taliban get the bomb working. Hassani will do anything to please the Prince. 

Stark and his team must overcome one life-threatening situation after another. They have offers of assistance from many quarters, but can these allies be trusted? Will they be able to work with the NATO command team? 

I thoroughly enjoyed the 13 hours I spent reading this 528-page thriller. I enjoyed the plot and the characters developed for the story. I liked that the story did not just focus on Stark and his team, but brought in many other characters. I think that the cover art is well chosen. I give this novel a 4.4 (rounded down to a 4) out of 5.

Further book reviews I have written can be accessed at https://johnpurvis.wordpress.com/blog/. 

[Craig Pearson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thank you to Netgalley for the opportunity to read and review this book. This is a very readable and exciting military adventure. Terrorists have a chance at obtaining a nuclear weapon and groups in power have to determine how to react to this unprecedented threat. Who will succeed first.? There are a few major problems with the military writing that the authors and editors should have known better to include. The major military force used in this story are the Marines. All writers should be aware that Marines are never referred to as soldiers, they are Marines, first, last and always. Also, the A-10 Warthog is a wonderful ground attack aircraft, but it flies low and slow. It does not have an after-burner. These two issues can grate on the sensibilities of any reader who knows better. I wonder what other mistakes are made by the writers?

[Joseph Carrabis · Rating 1 out of 5]

Without Fear is the first "action" or "military" genre book I've read (that I'm aware of). I picked it up because people tell me my The Augmented Man is "military", "action," and "thriller."
Without Fear is definitely military. I have a different definition of action. I found myself skimming, looking for interesting things to happen. I've already forgotten most of the story. Basically it bored me. Perhaps a good read for true military action aficionados. Probably only for military action aficionados.
So it goes.

[Kevin · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book started off a little slow... or perhaps I was just preoccupied with life. After the first 80 pages or so the action picked up and the book was hard to put down. I look forward to the next in the series by two interesting writers.

[Wilma · Rating 3 out of 5]

I thought the book was good with a lot of action. I liked the fact they had some strong women characters. My only problem was too much detail on weapons, etc. At times it felt like I was reading a catalog from WeaponsRUs.

[Ryan Hillis · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great thriller about Afghanistan. Hunter Stark saves the day.

[John Nicol · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read this book first as it is set before without mercy. Looking forward to another exciting read as I start that one. Fully recommend this series

[Ed · Rating 4 out of 5]

Col Stark wins the day!

[James Ballard · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great read, has some technical issues.

[Bob Stenberg · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great story but a little technical in spots.

[Alan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Really struggled reading this book russia and usa go after a nuke lost by russia and they both go about trying to find it

[Bobbie · Rating 2 out of 5]

Very boring. Too many actors, too many events, too many errors. I strongly believe that Hunt lent his name to this book without having a lot of input. The book references American supply of weapons to the mujahideen during the Afghan/Russian war. That is a popular myth but untrue. Hunt of all people should know better. That war included the Afghan fighters and the foreign fighters, the mujahideen. The US supplied weapons to the Afghan fighters. Also, at least three times the book mentions the pilot of the A-10 Warthog putting the airplane into afterburners. Being a subsonic plane, the A-10 does not have afterburners.

[Brian Miller · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book quite a bit. A wide ranging plot involving the Taliban recovering a nuclear bomb lost during their war with Russia, are intent to bring the bomb back to life to strike the West. I highly recommend this book as it has all the trademarks of a Clancy novel with the large amount of characters and multiple story lines that all connect at the end. A long read but worth the effort.
Thank you Macmillan Tor Forge and Netgalley for the ARC for my honest review.