The Barrabas Raid

Soldiers of Barrabas #25

by Jack Hild

The Soviets have skirted international law to get their hands on Panther, a highly secret computerized attack system in the United States. A violent reaction sets in on Capitol Hill when the snatch comes to light, but by then the American innovation is secure in the heart of Russia. Nile Barrabas and his team of crack commandos are charged with a deadly mission - penetrate the USSR and steal the system. Failing that, destroy it!

230 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1988

About the author

"Jack Hild" is a pseudonym shared by multiple authors ghostwriting the Soldiers of Barrabas (SOBs) series of action-adventure novels. The most prolific of these authors were Robin Hardy and Alan Philipson.

Despite Hild's output being the work of several authors, the novelist Warren Murphy provided a cover endorsement saying "Jack Hild is simply the best and gutsiest action writer around today."

In backmatter to some of the SOBs books, the publishers Gold Eagle jokingly stated Hild's "whereabouts are unknown. No one associated with Gold Eagle Books has ever seen Jack, in person or in a photograph... If you should ever meet Jack Hild... let us know."

Reviews

[Josh Hitch]

The third and last of the ones written by John Preston, and three was enough. I do believe Preston was a good writer, this book for instance is well written with a solid tale, but its lacking action. It has a ton of setup and the big conclusion was a few pages that seemed like it was kindergarten stuff. Mens adventure, which the SOBs series definitely falls under, is suppose to have action to carry the plot, not an action scene or two. This time the team heads to Latvia where the Russians are hidden out with a complicated piece of American tech they were able to sneak out of America. Of course the team is tasked to get the tech back or to blow it up if that isn't possible.

Can't really recommend, I do feel its an ok book but really the three by Preston are all sort of off as far as the series to this point is concerned.

[Wayne]

Hate to say it, but this series has imploded on itself. There was a change of authors in the early part of the #20's books. This was a horrid change. The action was nixed in favor of more character development. We already developed these people. Why try to reinvent them?

The plot is put in the background to concentrate on a Latvian musicians trials and tribulations in his homeland. The S.O.B.s have more feelings for their time away from the battlefield, that this turns into a lame mess. The action is kept very brief and at two of the last three chapters. Let's hope this series picks up in future books.

[Drew]

Pretty cool plot. It could have used more action. A bit dated, but I enjoyed it.

[Michael David]

I was hoping that there was a confrontation between Sophia and Nile, but there wasn't. I guess there were simply too many time-shifts in the book that made for disjointed writing.