The Barrabas Edge

Soldiers of Barrabas #26

by Jack Hild, Joe Roberts

GIVE NO QUARTER

A bloody coup in Central America brings a ruthless anti-American general to power in a strategic Latin country. The US government desperately wants him out, but President Caesar Armande Trieste is betting that his elite death squad will keep him in.

In the hills above the dense jungle, Nile Barrabas and his hard-hitting mercenaries execute a double-barreled mission: turn a group of villagers and farmers into an army and restore a disgraced vice president to power.

220 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]

Solid book in the series by the great Robert Randisi. Much better than the previous three by Preston. They are tasked to overturn a coup in El Salvador and put the former Vice President that escaped back in power as the President. The SOBs have to try and train a small group of locals to help in the mission but mostly it's up to them to go against the country's army somehow or the other.

Highly recommended, Randisi is always good. The only problem is the epilogue makes no sense, a member is basically dead out of the blue. But that is literally the last two pages so it doesn't hurt the book overall.

[Wayne]

The S.O.B.s are sent down to El Salvador the take out the new leader of the country, who took over through murder. They are six mercenaries who have a small rebel army to help them in their task.

A much better outting for this series. The last few have been some real stinkers. Nothing new is in here, but it's pretty much what you'd expect in this type of book. Mercs armed to the teeth with full metal jackets ripping a path through the nasties.

[Gregory Klages]

I am, frankly, a little amazed that there are any reviews for this book. I picked it up in a book giveaway box, and thought it might provide some insights into mid/late-80s fictional characterizations of US involvement in Latin America.

I picked it up one day when I was bedridden and sick with a sinus cold, barely able to think. It was a good distraction, but... it was the intellectual equivalent of eating a bag of chips while watching a movie.

[Drew]

I first read this book nearly 30 years ago. I bought it on eBay to see if it held up. While the mission and tactics are dated, the story was still good.