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Soldiers of Barrabas #11
Agile Retrieval
Nile Barrabas and his SOBs are hired by the CIA to track down an American agent working in Europe whose cover has been blown, and the disenchanted spy, instead of returning home, persuades Barrabas to join in a hunt for a hidden cache of Nazi gold
221 pages, Paperback
First published February 1, 1986
16 people want to read
About the author
Jack Hild
63 books2 followers"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."
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."
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
January 21, 2018
For me, this series just gets better with each book. I didn't give these books a second look years ago because of the silly name and even sillier covers. The old adage "never judge a book by it's cover" was never more true. Robin Hardy is book eleven's "Jack Hild". I have to say that he's my favorite writer of the series so far. Never let me down yet.
This time out the SOB's are having some personal issues. The leader, Nile Barrabas is left by his long time girl friend. Distraught, he tries to flood Amsterdam. On a happier note, his second in command, Liam O'Toole is getting married and wants out of his mercenary work with the SOB's. Meanwhile a CIA man in East Berlin has his cover blown and is being recalled. He discovers a cache of Nazi gold left over from WWII and want's to cash in before he's removed. The SOB's are sent in to get him out or eliminate if he's turned. Also on the hunt for gold is a neo-nazi soccer star with a few of his team mates. A East German Stapo agent, nicknamed Ilsa with razor blade finger nails who want's to kill everyone she sees.
This book uses action in all the right places. It works up to it rather than throw it in as filler. The plot comes first. And it's very fascinating. Lot's of twists and turns. Also most of these books take place in a jungle setting a good deal of the time. This is a nice change of pace with an urban environment, which made things all the more interesting. Very highly recommended.
This time out the SOB's are having some personal issues. The leader, Nile Barrabas is left by his long time girl friend. Distraught, he tries to flood Amsterdam. On a happier note, his second in command, Liam O'Toole is getting married and wants out of his mercenary work with the SOB's. Meanwhile a CIA man in East Berlin has his cover blown and is being recalled. He discovers a cache of Nazi gold left over from WWII and want's to cash in before he's removed. The SOB's are sent in to get him out or eliminate if he's turned. Also on the hunt for gold is a neo-nazi soccer star with a few of his team mates. A East German Stapo agent, nicknamed Ilsa with razor blade finger nails who want's to kill everyone she sees.
This book uses action in all the right places. It works up to it rather than throw it in as filler. The plot comes first. And it's very fascinating. Lot's of twists and turns. Also most of these books take place in a jungle setting a good deal of the time. This is a nice change of pace with an urban environment, which made things all the more interesting. Very highly recommended.
January 19, 2022
Well done chapter in the series, though it is slightly different with a more thriller feel. This time Barrabas is tasked to find his former aquantaince from Vietnam days and to bring him to the CIA. This target was an agent and has been called in since his cover was blown but refuses to do so. O'Toole goes with Barrabas to East Berlin to see what is going on. When they find this man, Brown, they figure out that he wasnt a turncoat but was after millions in lost Nazi gold and was on the cusp of finding the location. Of course the veteran mercs decide to go along with him. However there are other groups after the gold and after Brown.
Highly recommended, though i think this series works best when read in order. Each mission is self contained but there are some story lines and references that help with getting to know the SOBs, that may be lost if not read in order.
Highly recommended, though i think this series works best when read in order. Each mission is self contained but there are some story lines and references that help with getting to know the SOBs, that may be lost if not read in order.
September 21, 2020
The books takes part of the team to Berlin during the 80s and takes place on both sides of the wall. There's much more cloak and dagger stuff involved this time and it slows the pace and action of the book (and series) down. There are still some good moments and some clever uses of Berlin. The villains are nothing unique, 80s cartoonish 007 knockoffs without any real motivation. However it's a decent entry in the series and far better than the first 2 books. Also the Uzi is not used in the book, the team uses the Jati 9mm (famous from Stallone's Cobra film) although it does look good on the cover.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews