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Shadow Warriors #7
Windbreak
"The family doesn't want a raid. . .they just want their loved ones back."
Shawn and Charity Braley came to the Philippines to seek the lost. But when Abu Sayyaf gunmen burst into their church one December morning, the American missionaries' abduction sets into motion a chain of events which will reverberate from the jungles of Mindanao, all the way to the White House.
CIA paramilitary Jack Richards brought his new strike team to Mindanao to hunt down a terrorist--to further cement the partnership between the Agency and their Filipino counterparts. But when the Braleys are taken, his mission changes. . .
Haunted by memories of the Vegas attacks, William Russell Cole arrives in Manila to head up the FBI's hostage recovery effort, only to find himself hamstrung by bureaucratic inertia, navigating the political quicksands.
For the kidnapped missionaries have become far more than just hostages--they've become pawns in a high-stakes geopolitical game.
A game everyone stands to lose.
Shawn and Charity Braley came to the Philippines to seek the lost. But when Abu Sayyaf gunmen burst into their church one December morning, the American missionaries' abduction sets into motion a chain of events which will reverberate from the jungles of Mindanao, all the way to the White House.
CIA paramilitary Jack Richards brought his new strike team to Mindanao to hunt down a terrorist--to further cement the partnership between the Agency and their Filipino counterparts. But when the Braleys are taken, his mission changes. . .
Haunted by memories of the Vegas attacks, William Russell Cole arrives in Manila to head up the FBI's hostage recovery effort, only to find himself hamstrung by bureaucratic inertia, navigating the political quicksands.
For the kidnapped missionaries have become far more than just hostages--they've become pawns in a high-stakes geopolitical game.
A game everyone stands to lose.
335 pages, Kindle Edition
Published August 14, 2020
83 people are currently reading
39 people want to read
About the author
Stephen England
35 books161 followersStephen England is the author of the bestselling Shadow Warriors thrillers, including Amazon's #1 Bestselling Political Thriller, Pandora's Grave, and its long-awaited sequel, Day of Reckoning--a novel hailed as "the perfect spy thriller for our time--chaotic, cynical, with only a few good men keeping the barbarians from the gate."
Drawing upon nearly a decade of research into the nature of Islam, the Middle East, espionage and counterterrorism operations, England's work has drawn praise for breathing new life into the genre with the hard-edged, unsparing realism of his portrayal of the war on terror, the people who wage it, and the moral and psychological costs exacted of those who take the war to the enemy where he lives. "Soldiers without uniforms. Fighting a war without end. Shadow warriors. . ."
The short stories NIGHTSHADE and TALISMAN round out the Shadow Warriors series, and England's work also includes the stand-alone historical adventure novel, Sword of Neamha.
Drawing upon nearly a decade of research into the nature of Islam, the Middle East, espionage and counterterrorism operations, England's work has drawn praise for breathing new life into the genre with the hard-edged, unsparing realism of his portrayal of the war on terror, the people who wage it, and the moral and psychological costs exacted of those who take the war to the enemy where he lives. "Soldiers without uniforms. Fighting a war without end. Shadow warriors. . ."
The short stories NIGHTSHADE and TALISMAN round out the Shadow Warriors series, and England's work also includes the stand-alone historical adventure novel, Sword of Neamha.
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
November 26, 2020
Another expertly crafted thriller from Stephen England. On the surface, it's a simple story about a hostage situation in the Philippines, but the story becomes so much more as the author weaves in personal conflicts, geopolitics, interagency rivalries, and historical tensions. It has SEALs and exciting action scenes, too, but the suspense truly comes from discovering what fates will befall the vast cast of characters, each of whom is distinctly drawn as a real and imperfect person. With Windbreak, I felt like I was reading the closest thing we have to an American Gerald Seymour.
October 16, 2020
FIND. FIX. FINISH.
“All of us want peace. Not the peace of the dead, but the peace of the living.” – 16th President of the Philippines Rodrigo Duterte.
“I have returned. By the grace of Almighty God, our forces stand again on Philippine soil.” – General Douglas MacArthur.
“We have prepared our bladed weapons because we lack firearms. With sharp kris, barong, campilan, tabas and spear; we will attack or defend as ordered, and no mercy shall be asked." – Proclamation of the Lake Lanao Moro Muslims committing to the WW2 anti – Japanese Mindanao guerrilla campaign.
When people think of the war on terror, the image that comes to mind is sand, dust and occasionally brown or grey mountains. Understandable. The primary theater of conflict in the Post 9/11 has been the sands of Iraq, the alleys of Gaza and the mountains of South Asia. But there are other warzones out there, ones which are just as important to those in the counter – terrorism business.
Among the overlooked warzones is the Southern Philippine island of Mindanao. Originally an American colony, the Philippines is a large South East Asian nation that has a Christian religious majority, and a very prominent Muslim minority. This minority, the Mindanao Moros and are proud of their history and proud at having defied the writ of Madrid, Washington, Tokyo and Manila. With such a formidable pedigree, they have conducted the Asia’s longest running insurgency, on and off for almost centuries. Battered but not broken, the Moros were also victims of America’s first full blown counter – insurgency effort aimed at subduing an Islamic society.
With near non – stop warfare in the jungle hills, slums and waters in and around Mindanao, the island has been a stranger to peace, only recently experiencing it with peace agreements forged with the progenitors of the insurgency. But the mantle of war has been taken up, by ISIS sympathizers from outside the Philippines, fanatics who are more vicious, cunning and ruthless than anything the authorities in Manila have faced to this date.
It’s into this warzone, one with far more historical resonance for America than any Middle Eastern nation, which counter – terrorism thriller novelist, Stephen England tells his latest story, WINDBREAK. Charting the war on terror since 2011, England is an indie thriller maestro who work has proven to be some of the most captivating contemporary thriller fiction of the last decade. Rich in gritty real world detail, unflinching in showing the thankless but necessary task those in the counter – terrorism business have and willing to go down the paths other thriller series fear to tread, the ‘Shadow Warriors Series’ marries the accuracy of Clancy with the raw humanity of ‘24’ to brilliant effect. And with a new decade beginning, England has begun to take his series to the next level with a brand-new setting away from the alleys of Europe and the dust of Gaza and Al Anbar. Now to the review. Can the hunting man still give chase when fate throws things in his way?
The novel begins in the run up to Christmas, in the south of Bukidnon Province. The Baptist Missionary Preacher Sean Braley is holding a Sunday Church Service with his family and Filipino colleagues in attendance. Halfway through the service, his Church is stormed by men with Type 56 Assault rifles, who shoot a considerable portion of his congregation and make off with him, his family and one of his associates.
To the west of the Braley family, in Zamboanga, CIA Special Activities Division officer Jack Richards is patting himself on the back for nabbing a notorious child killing Islamic Terrorist leader, having dragged the man to a detention center at the Philippine Army’s WESTMINCOM headquarters. Just as he’s about to call it a day however, news breaks of the kidnapping. The American President, mindful of his evangelical political constituency who supported his candidacy, begins cracking the whip on the Law enforcement, military and intelligence communities for results. In Washington, an old FBI Agent, rattled by a recent professional tragedy that went down on his watch, finds himself flying to Manila to conduct a most unconventional hostage rescue negotiation. In Coronado, a Navy Seal is informed that a new job for his men has fallen into his in tray.
And in Mindanao, Jack Richards and his Special Activities Division team and his allies in the PNP Special Action Force find themselves in a hot pursuit like none other. From the rarefied surroundings of Manila, to the site of one of Asia’s most violent war crimes, the chase is on. But with old certainties no longer able to be taken for granted, for the men and women trying to conduct a hostage rescue on the move, this time, not all of those in peril may survive what was going to be a one-way trip.
In terms of plot, WINDBREAK is a departure of sorts from the majority of hostage rescue action adventure thrillers. Unlike a dramatic take over of some grandiose location like a riff off Vince Flynn’s Transfer of Power or the Die-Hard Movie, WINDBREAK is a brutally accurate portrayal of one of the most popular tactics used by Philippine terrorist organizations. The kidnapping on the run. It is a scenario which provides a whole new ball game and many new story beats. And England takes full advantages of the opportunities the scenario in WINDBREAK provides. The situation in WINDBREAK is not static but very much dynamic with the protagonists, victims and villains reckoning with challenges beyond their control. Bad luck, tropical illnesses, near impassable jungle countryside and worst of all, media scrutiny of actions generated by political desires of others, there is no smooth Princess Gate – Special Air Service style resolution. Almost all the main players on the ground in the story are very much in peril, especially from deceptively comforting assumptions that in a world and war that’s long since changed, can kill those who didn’t deserve to die.
Action and setting? The author has always been different from other technothriller writers as he never has any swear words in his novels. But don’t be fooled. The Shadow Warriors series is perfectly capable of some literally blood pumping violence, for readers, and the in – story casualties alike. From the opening Sunday Church terrorist Raid, to a beautifully clockwork attack by a Philippine direct action commando unit, we even get some of the most outstanding examples of choreographed chaos in the series, with a vicious midnight three way gun battle and naval engagement along the jungles and sandy beaches of a small tropical island with great historical significance. And it’s the opportunity to use a different backdrop from the usual cold and dusty Afghanistan FOBs which the author seizes and pulls off to perfection. England introduces the reader to a whole new world most contemporary thriller fiction readers would have absolutely no idea of. He captures the Philippines, warts and all. Whether it be the military base that is the epicentre of the most important counter – insurgency effort in the Asia Pacific, the humid, litter strewn streets of Cotobato city, or the rocky sand of the island of Jolo, WINDBREAK doesn’t rely on the usual tourist traps or some glamorous metropolis. Rather it goes down a gritty route, taking the reader on a journey into some very unexpected and surprising places, bringing them to life at it does so.
Research? This book has some of the author’s best. The trademark of the Shadow Warriors series has always been that marriage of Tom Clancy level detail with the fast, brutal violence of action in the style of Jack Bauer’s ‘24’. And with WINDBREAK, the author ups his game. Aside from the excellently realized setting, the author is as usual on target, with the weapons, tactics, gadgets and the ins and outs of contemporary counter – terrorism which has changed radically ever since his first novel, 2011’s Pandora’s Grave. Whether it be a look into the Philippine National Police SAF team, and its operations, or the local corruption issues which both help and hinder the heroes of the story, WINDBREAK gives an accurate insight into a wholly different operating environment from Paris, London and Baghdad. And it’s an operating environment that’s long since changed. Gone is the easy compliance which America used to be able to take for granted.
With a new Philippine President who wants to rock the boat as part of a more transactional give and take approach to Philippine – American relations, devoid of the old sentimentality, the protagonists find themselves grappling with new obstacles that once seemed unimaginable. And it’s these unimaginable changes which the author explores masterfully. From the pacification of the old MNLF and MILF and the impact of the peace agreement hashed out with both, to the rise of the foreign ISIS jihadists who were allowed to take root due to the complacency of previous Philippine Administrations whose Generals and intelligence specialists kept downplaying the problem, WINDBREAK is probably the only espionage thriller currently written that has an up to date grasp on the true state of affairs in the Philippines. Finally, the author is able to convey the weight of America’s history in the Philippines and how even centuries later, when it has been forgotten by all the wrong people, that historical reckoning still carries weight. Weight that hasn’t been forgotten or forgiven and which several of the cast find themselves facing at the end of the road.
Characters? Many standouts. I’ll focus on a few. First, Jack Richards. With his division in turmoil due to the slow hemorrhaging of personnel, the taciturn Texan finds himself at long last in a position of leadership, commanding one of the CIA’s Paramilitary teams. It’s not a role Richards has lusted after but with his experience and cold discipline, it’s one which he’s actually suitable for. We get to see the best of him at work in this dynamic hostage rescue. Whether it be overseeing joint operations with local partners, stalking a rival through Cotobato City or cobbling together a last ditch operation with stolen cars, and a sniper rifle, Richards is at the top of his game in this story, a master covert operative going about his job with impeccable professionalism and fighting to accomplish his objective in the face of all the forces beyond his control that are dooming the hostages.
Secondly Sean Braley. Braley is the primary prize of the story. A young Pastor, who gets lumped with an assignment he is anxious about due to an understandable desire for self-preservation, Braley’s worst fears are confirmed when he, his family and some friends are involuntarily taken for a ride South beyond hope or safety. His plotline is gripping. Seeing friends die, family injured, tormented by disease and weighing up whether to make a desperate break for it or stay in captivity for the sake of those he loves. Braley also must reckon with a slow burning crisis of faith that has gradually crept up on him and strikes at the worst possible moment, when he’s one trigger pull away from oblivion. The author eviscerates the wish fulfillment ideal present in some hostage taking stories, showing that while not completely helpless, ordinary people in such situations like the Braleys still only have so much agency, even when back luck starts to get in the way of their hostage taker’s plans.
Third, the American and Philippine Presidents. The American President in WINDBREAK is a welcome escape from the usual respectable goody two shoes establishment type or some lazy caricature of the current real life incumbent in 1600 Pennsylvania. He’s a very tightly wound, disciplined fellow, but one who has a great disdain for a select number of big government entities, like the Central Intelligence Agency. And in this story, that disdain and inability to listen to the counsel provided by Langley and other members of his administration until it is far too late, begins causing a domino effect of disasters that culminate in the shattering of complacent certainties POTUS takes for granted. While the reader is not meant to be cheering this POTUS on, the author does a bang-up job humanizing him. You can see and understand this President’s logic which actually makes some sense, making him all the more unnerving as doom approaches those who don’t have the luxury of bullet proof glass and the fortified Camp David.
Next, we have the Philippine President. While only appearing in a few chapters, he steals each one. Unlike the usual Philippine Politician who would fawn over America, this President does not. A dead ringer for the current incumbent in Malacañang, (albeit with a different more ironic vice), the WINDBREAK Philippine President is publicly abrasive and enjoying every moment of thumbing his nose at the Americans, knowing that the geopolitical flux allows him to do so. Despising the historical dependence of his country on the USA, one which he considers deeply humiliating, don’t mistake him for the usual run of the mill despot in your average thriller novel. Behind the bluster lies a very cunning steel trap mind and pragmatism. And it’s this pragmatism which helps provide a way out for everyone when the gunfire finally stops.
Constructive criticism? I don’t have any. While this story doesn’t have page to page violence, gun battles and Michael Bay fireworks, it’s not supposed to. It’s more of a tense burning fuse that sparks every so often and then explodes with vicious intensity. And the final explosions are worth that wait as nothing goes completely to plan for the protagonists or opposition, and WINDBREAK is a better tale for it.
Wars change. The novelist, Brad Thor when releasing his 15th novel FOREIGN AGENT, observed that the Global War on Terror was a completely different and unrecognizable war from when it had started. The same can be said for the Moro Mindanao insurgency. Once an ethnonationalist war against Spaniards, Americans and then a brutal dictatorship, in 2020, radical Islamists outsiders, and local partners are trying to reignite the dying fires of violence by transforming the conflict into a nihilistic Jihad. WINDBREAK reflects this change, with its author masterfully taking the reader on a tense journey through a peace that has not yet consolidated and is still liable to erupt in automatic gunfire and pre – planted I.E.Ds.
The storyline brilliantly captures the unique challenges of South East Asian counter – terrorism, and how a forgotten period of counter – insurgency history still violently echoes. Its richly drawn characters plight becomes all to understandable and human as the reckoning comes. But while wars change, no one can be certain whether they’ll change for the better or worse. Only Stephen England knows. And whatever he brings forth on the Shadow Warriors, I'll be there to see it go down.
“All of us want peace. Not the peace of the dead, but the peace of the living.” – 16th President of the Philippines Rodrigo Duterte.
“I have returned. By the grace of Almighty God, our forces stand again on Philippine soil.” – General Douglas MacArthur.
“We have prepared our bladed weapons because we lack firearms. With sharp kris, barong, campilan, tabas and spear; we will attack or defend as ordered, and no mercy shall be asked." – Proclamation of the Lake Lanao Moro Muslims committing to the WW2 anti – Japanese Mindanao guerrilla campaign.
When people think of the war on terror, the image that comes to mind is sand, dust and occasionally brown or grey mountains. Understandable. The primary theater of conflict in the Post 9/11 has been the sands of Iraq, the alleys of Gaza and the mountains of South Asia. But there are other warzones out there, ones which are just as important to those in the counter – terrorism business.
Among the overlooked warzones is the Southern Philippine island of Mindanao. Originally an American colony, the Philippines is a large South East Asian nation that has a Christian religious majority, and a very prominent Muslim minority. This minority, the Mindanao Moros and are proud of their history and proud at having defied the writ of Madrid, Washington, Tokyo and Manila. With such a formidable pedigree, they have conducted the Asia’s longest running insurgency, on and off for almost centuries. Battered but not broken, the Moros were also victims of America’s first full blown counter – insurgency effort aimed at subduing an Islamic society.
With near non – stop warfare in the jungle hills, slums and waters in and around Mindanao, the island has been a stranger to peace, only recently experiencing it with peace agreements forged with the progenitors of the insurgency. But the mantle of war has been taken up, by ISIS sympathizers from outside the Philippines, fanatics who are more vicious, cunning and ruthless than anything the authorities in Manila have faced to this date.
It’s into this warzone, one with far more historical resonance for America than any Middle Eastern nation, which counter – terrorism thriller novelist, Stephen England tells his latest story, WINDBREAK. Charting the war on terror since 2011, England is an indie thriller maestro who work has proven to be some of the most captivating contemporary thriller fiction of the last decade. Rich in gritty real world detail, unflinching in showing the thankless but necessary task those in the counter – terrorism business have and willing to go down the paths other thriller series fear to tread, the ‘Shadow Warriors Series’ marries the accuracy of Clancy with the raw humanity of ‘24’ to brilliant effect. And with a new decade beginning, England has begun to take his series to the next level with a brand-new setting away from the alleys of Europe and the dust of Gaza and Al Anbar. Now to the review. Can the hunting man still give chase when fate throws things in his way?
The novel begins in the run up to Christmas, in the south of Bukidnon Province. The Baptist Missionary Preacher Sean Braley is holding a Sunday Church Service with his family and Filipino colleagues in attendance. Halfway through the service, his Church is stormed by men with Type 56 Assault rifles, who shoot a considerable portion of his congregation and make off with him, his family and one of his associates.
To the west of the Braley family, in Zamboanga, CIA Special Activities Division officer Jack Richards is patting himself on the back for nabbing a notorious child killing Islamic Terrorist leader, having dragged the man to a detention center at the Philippine Army’s WESTMINCOM headquarters. Just as he’s about to call it a day however, news breaks of the kidnapping. The American President, mindful of his evangelical political constituency who supported his candidacy, begins cracking the whip on the Law enforcement, military and intelligence communities for results. In Washington, an old FBI Agent, rattled by a recent professional tragedy that went down on his watch, finds himself flying to Manila to conduct a most unconventional hostage rescue negotiation. In Coronado, a Navy Seal is informed that a new job for his men has fallen into his in tray.
And in Mindanao, Jack Richards and his Special Activities Division team and his allies in the PNP Special Action Force find themselves in a hot pursuit like none other. From the rarefied surroundings of Manila, to the site of one of Asia’s most violent war crimes, the chase is on. But with old certainties no longer able to be taken for granted, for the men and women trying to conduct a hostage rescue on the move, this time, not all of those in peril may survive what was going to be a one-way trip.
In terms of plot, WINDBREAK is a departure of sorts from the majority of hostage rescue action adventure thrillers. Unlike a dramatic take over of some grandiose location like a riff off Vince Flynn’s Transfer of Power or the Die-Hard Movie, WINDBREAK is a brutally accurate portrayal of one of the most popular tactics used by Philippine terrorist organizations. The kidnapping on the run. It is a scenario which provides a whole new ball game and many new story beats. And England takes full advantages of the opportunities the scenario in WINDBREAK provides. The situation in WINDBREAK is not static but very much dynamic with the protagonists, victims and villains reckoning with challenges beyond their control. Bad luck, tropical illnesses, near impassable jungle countryside and worst of all, media scrutiny of actions generated by political desires of others, there is no smooth Princess Gate – Special Air Service style resolution. Almost all the main players on the ground in the story are very much in peril, especially from deceptively comforting assumptions that in a world and war that’s long since changed, can kill those who didn’t deserve to die.
Action and setting? The author has always been different from other technothriller writers as he never has any swear words in his novels. But don’t be fooled. The Shadow Warriors series is perfectly capable of some literally blood pumping violence, for readers, and the in – story casualties alike. From the opening Sunday Church terrorist Raid, to a beautifully clockwork attack by a Philippine direct action commando unit, we even get some of the most outstanding examples of choreographed chaos in the series, with a vicious midnight three way gun battle and naval engagement along the jungles and sandy beaches of a small tropical island with great historical significance. And it’s the opportunity to use a different backdrop from the usual cold and dusty Afghanistan FOBs which the author seizes and pulls off to perfection. England introduces the reader to a whole new world most contemporary thriller fiction readers would have absolutely no idea of. He captures the Philippines, warts and all. Whether it be the military base that is the epicentre of the most important counter – insurgency effort in the Asia Pacific, the humid, litter strewn streets of Cotobato city, or the rocky sand of the island of Jolo, WINDBREAK doesn’t rely on the usual tourist traps or some glamorous metropolis. Rather it goes down a gritty route, taking the reader on a journey into some very unexpected and surprising places, bringing them to life at it does so.
Research? This book has some of the author’s best. The trademark of the Shadow Warriors series has always been that marriage of Tom Clancy level detail with the fast, brutal violence of action in the style of Jack Bauer’s ‘24’. And with WINDBREAK, the author ups his game. Aside from the excellently realized setting, the author is as usual on target, with the weapons, tactics, gadgets and the ins and outs of contemporary counter – terrorism which has changed radically ever since his first novel, 2011’s Pandora’s Grave. Whether it be a look into the Philippine National Police SAF team, and its operations, or the local corruption issues which both help and hinder the heroes of the story, WINDBREAK gives an accurate insight into a wholly different operating environment from Paris, London and Baghdad. And it’s an operating environment that’s long since changed. Gone is the easy compliance which America used to be able to take for granted.
With a new Philippine President who wants to rock the boat as part of a more transactional give and take approach to Philippine – American relations, devoid of the old sentimentality, the protagonists find themselves grappling with new obstacles that once seemed unimaginable. And it’s these unimaginable changes which the author explores masterfully. From the pacification of the old MNLF and MILF and the impact of the peace agreement hashed out with both, to the rise of the foreign ISIS jihadists who were allowed to take root due to the complacency of previous Philippine Administrations whose Generals and intelligence specialists kept downplaying the problem, WINDBREAK is probably the only espionage thriller currently written that has an up to date grasp on the true state of affairs in the Philippines. Finally, the author is able to convey the weight of America’s history in the Philippines and how even centuries later, when it has been forgotten by all the wrong people, that historical reckoning still carries weight. Weight that hasn’t been forgotten or forgiven and which several of the cast find themselves facing at the end of the road.
Characters? Many standouts. I’ll focus on a few. First, Jack Richards. With his division in turmoil due to the slow hemorrhaging of personnel, the taciturn Texan finds himself at long last in a position of leadership, commanding one of the CIA’s Paramilitary teams. It’s not a role Richards has lusted after but with his experience and cold discipline, it’s one which he’s actually suitable for. We get to see the best of him at work in this dynamic hostage rescue. Whether it be overseeing joint operations with local partners, stalking a rival through Cotobato City or cobbling together a last ditch operation with stolen cars, and a sniper rifle, Richards is at the top of his game in this story, a master covert operative going about his job with impeccable professionalism and fighting to accomplish his objective in the face of all the forces beyond his control that are dooming the hostages.
Secondly Sean Braley. Braley is the primary prize of the story. A young Pastor, who gets lumped with an assignment he is anxious about due to an understandable desire for self-preservation, Braley’s worst fears are confirmed when he, his family and some friends are involuntarily taken for a ride South beyond hope or safety. His plotline is gripping. Seeing friends die, family injured, tormented by disease and weighing up whether to make a desperate break for it or stay in captivity for the sake of those he loves. Braley also must reckon with a slow burning crisis of faith that has gradually crept up on him and strikes at the worst possible moment, when he’s one trigger pull away from oblivion. The author eviscerates the wish fulfillment ideal present in some hostage taking stories, showing that while not completely helpless, ordinary people in such situations like the Braleys still only have so much agency, even when back luck starts to get in the way of their hostage taker’s plans.
Third, the American and Philippine Presidents. The American President in WINDBREAK is a welcome escape from the usual respectable goody two shoes establishment type or some lazy caricature of the current real life incumbent in 1600 Pennsylvania. He’s a very tightly wound, disciplined fellow, but one who has a great disdain for a select number of big government entities, like the Central Intelligence Agency. And in this story, that disdain and inability to listen to the counsel provided by Langley and other members of his administration until it is far too late, begins causing a domino effect of disasters that culminate in the shattering of complacent certainties POTUS takes for granted. While the reader is not meant to be cheering this POTUS on, the author does a bang-up job humanizing him. You can see and understand this President’s logic which actually makes some sense, making him all the more unnerving as doom approaches those who don’t have the luxury of bullet proof glass and the fortified Camp David.
Next, we have the Philippine President. While only appearing in a few chapters, he steals each one. Unlike the usual Philippine Politician who would fawn over America, this President does not. A dead ringer for the current incumbent in Malacañang, (albeit with a different more ironic vice), the WINDBREAK Philippine President is publicly abrasive and enjoying every moment of thumbing his nose at the Americans, knowing that the geopolitical flux allows him to do so. Despising the historical dependence of his country on the USA, one which he considers deeply humiliating, don’t mistake him for the usual run of the mill despot in your average thriller novel. Behind the bluster lies a very cunning steel trap mind and pragmatism. And it’s this pragmatism which helps provide a way out for everyone when the gunfire finally stops.
Constructive criticism? I don’t have any. While this story doesn’t have page to page violence, gun battles and Michael Bay fireworks, it’s not supposed to. It’s more of a tense burning fuse that sparks every so often and then explodes with vicious intensity. And the final explosions are worth that wait as nothing goes completely to plan for the protagonists or opposition, and WINDBREAK is a better tale for it.
Wars change. The novelist, Brad Thor when releasing his 15th novel FOREIGN AGENT, observed that the Global War on Terror was a completely different and unrecognizable war from when it had started. The same can be said for the Moro Mindanao insurgency. Once an ethnonationalist war against Spaniards, Americans and then a brutal dictatorship, in 2020, radical Islamists outsiders, and local partners are trying to reignite the dying fires of violence by transforming the conflict into a nihilistic Jihad. WINDBREAK reflects this change, with its author masterfully taking the reader on a tense journey through a peace that has not yet consolidated and is still liable to erupt in automatic gunfire and pre – planted I.E.Ds.
The storyline brilliantly captures the unique challenges of South East Asian counter – terrorism, and how a forgotten period of counter – insurgency history still violently echoes. Its richly drawn characters plight becomes all to understandable and human as the reckoning comes. But while wars change, no one can be certain whether they’ll change for the better or worse. Only Stephen England knows. And whatever he brings forth on the Shadow Warriors, I'll be there to see it go down.
October 13, 2020
FIND. FIX. FINISH.
“All of us want peace. Not the peace of the dead, but the peace of the living.” – 16th President of the Philippines Rodrigo Duterte.
“I have returned. By the grace of Almighty God, our forces stand again on Philippine soil.” – General Douglas MacArthur.
“We have prepared our bladed weapons because we lack firearms. With sharp kris, barong, campilan, tabas and spear. We will attack or defend as ordered, and no mercy shall be asked." – Proclamation of the Lake Lanao Moro Muslims committing to the WW2 anti – Japanese Mindanao guerrilla campaign.
When people think of the war on terror, the image that comes to mind is sand, dust and occasionally brown or grey mountains. Understandable. The primary theater of conflict in the Post 9/11 has been the sands of Iraq, the alleys of Gaza and the mountains of South Asia. But there are other warzones out there, ones which are just as important to those in the counter – terrorism business.
Among the overlooked warzones is the Southern Philippine island of Mindanao. Originally an American colony, the Philippines is a large South East Asian nation that has a Christian religious majority, and a very prominent Muslim minority. This minority, the Mindanao Moros and are proud of their history and proud at having defied the writ of Madrid, Washington, Tokyo and Manila. With such a formidable pedigree, they have conducted the Asia’s longest running insurgency, on and off for almost centuries. Battered but not broken, the Moros were also victims of America’s first full blown counter – insurgency effort aimed at subduing an Islamic society.
With near non – stop warfare in the jungle hills, slums and waters in and around Mindanao, the island has been a stranger to peace, only recently experiencing it with peace agreements forged with the progenitors of the insurgency. But the mantle of war has been taken up, by ISIS sympathizers from outside the Philippines, fanatics who are more vicious, cunning and ruthless than anything the authorities in Manila have faced to this date.
It’s into this warzone, one with far more historical resonance for America than any Middle Eastern nation, which counter – terrorism thriller novelist, Stephen England tells his latest story, WINDBREAK. Charting the war on terror since 2011, England is an indie thriller maestro who work has proven to be some of the most captivating contemporary thriller fiction of the last decade. Rich in gritty real world detail, unflinching in showing the thankless but necessary task those in the counter – terrorism business have and willing to go down the paths other thriller series fear to tread, the ‘Shadow Warriors Series’ marries the accuracy of Clancy with the raw humanity of ‘24’ to brilliant effect. And with a new decade beginning, England has begun to take his series to the next level with a brand-new setting away from the alleys of Europe and the dust of Gaza and Al Anbar. Now to the review. Can the hunting man still give chase when fate throws things in his way?
The novel begins in the run up to Christmas, in the south of Bukidnon Province. The Baptist Missionary Preacher Sean Braley is holding a Sunday Church Service with his family and Filipino colleagues in attendance. Halfway through the service, his Church is stormed by men with Type 56 Assault rifles, who shoot a considerable portion of his congregation and make off with him, his family and one of his associates.
To the west of the Braley family, in Zamboanga, CIA Special Activities Division officer Jack Richards is patting himself on the back for nabbing a notorious child killing Islamic Terrorist leader, having dragged the man to a detention center at the Philippine Army’s WESTMINCOM headquarters. Just as he’s about to call it a day however, news breaks of the kidnapping. The American President, mindful of his evangelical political constituency who supported his candidacy, begins cracking the whip on the Law enforcement, military and intelligence communities for results. In Washington, an old FBI Agent, rattled by a recent professional tragedy that went down on his watch, finds himself flying to Manila to conduct a most unconventional hostage rescue negotiation. In Coronado, a Navy Seal is informed that a new job for his men has fallen into his in tray.
And in Mindanao, Jack Richards and his Special Activities Division team and his allies in the PNP Special Action Force find themselves in a hot pursuit like none other. From the rarefied surroundings of Manila, to the site of one of Asia’s most violent war crimes, the chase is on. But with old certainties no longer able to be taken for granted, for the men and women trying to conduct a hostage rescue on the move, this time, not all of those in peril may survive what was going to be a one-way trip.
In terms of plot, WINDBREAK is a departure of sorts from the majority of hostage rescue action adventure thrillers. Unlike a dramatic take over of some grandiose location like a riff off Vince Flynn’s Transfer of Power or the Die-Hard Movie, WINDBREAK is a brutally accurate portrayal of one of the most popular tactics used by Philippine terrorist organizations. The kidnapping on the run. It is a scenario which provides a whole new ball game and many new story beats. And England takes full advantages of the opportunities the scenario in WINDBREAK provides. The situation in WINDBREAK is not static but very much dynamic with the protagonists, victims and villains reckoning with challenges beyond their control. Bad luck, tropical illnesses, near impassable jungle countryside and worst of all, media scrutiny of actions generated by political desires of others, there is no smooth Princess Gate – Special Air Service style resolution. Almost all the main players on the ground in the story are very much in peril, especially from deceptively comforting assumptions that in a world and war that’s long since changed, can kill those who didn’t deserve to die.
Action and setting? The author has always been different from other technothriller writers as he never has any swear words in his novels. But don’t be fooled. The Shadow Warriors series is perfectly capable of some literally blood pumping violence, for readers, and the in – story casualties alike. From the opening Sunday Church terrorist Raid, to a beautifully clockwork attack by a Philippine direct action commando unit, we even get some of the most outstanding examples of choreographed chaos in the series, with a vicious midnight three way gun battle and naval engagement along the jungles and sandy beaches of a small tropical island with great historical significance. And it’s the opportunity to use a different backdrop from the usual cold and dusty Afghanistan FOBs which the author seizes and pulls off to perfection. England introduces the reader to a whole new world most contemporary thriller fiction readers would have absolutely no idea of. He captures the Philippines, warts and all. Whether it be the military base that is the epicentre of the most important counter – insurgency effort in the Asia Pacific, the humid, litter strewn streets of Cotobato city, or the rocky sand of the island of Jolo, WINDBREAK doesn’t rely on the usual tourist traps or some glamorous metropolis. Rather it goes down a gritty route, taking the reader on a journey into some very unexpected and surprising places, bringing them to life at it does so.
Research? This book has some of the author’s best. The trademark of the Shadow Warriors series has always been that marriage of Tom Clancy level detail with the fast, brutal violence of action in the style of Jack Bauer’s ‘24’. And with WINDBREAK, the author ups his game. Aside from the excellently realized setting, the author is as usual on target, with the weapons, tactics, gadgets and the ins and outs of contemporary counter – terrorism which has changed radically ever since his first novel, 2011’s Pandora’s Grave. Whether it be a look into the Philippine National Police SAF team, and its operations, or the local corruption issues which both help and hinder the heroes of the story, WINDBREAK gives an accurate insight into a wholly different operating environment from Paris, London and Baghdad. And it’s an operating environment that’s long since changed. Gone is the easy compliance which America used to be able to take for granted.
With a new Philippine President who wants to rock the boat as part of a more transactional give and take approach to Philippine – American relations, devoid of the old sentimentality, the protagonists find themselves grappling with new obstacles that once seemed unimaginable. And it’s these unimaginable changes which the author explores masterfully. From the pacification of the old MNLF and MILF and the impact of the peace agreement hashed out with both, to the rise of the foreign ISIS jihadists who were allowed to take root due to the complacency of previous Philippine Administrations whose Generals and intelligence specialists kept downplaying the problem, WINDBREAK is probably the only espionage thriller currently written that has an up to date grasp on the true state of affairs in the Philippines. Finally, the author is able to convey the weight of America’s history in the Philippines and how even centuries later, when it has been forgotten by all the wrong people, that historical reckoning still carries weight. Weight that hasn’t been forgotten or forgiven and which several of the cast find themselves facing at the end of the road.
Characters? Many standouts. I’ll focus on a few. First, Jack Richards. With his division in turmoil due to the slow hemorrhaging of personnel, the taciturn Texan finds himself at long last in a position of leadership, commanding one of the CIA’s Paramilitary teams. It’s not a role Richards has lusted after but with his experience and cold discipline, it’s one which he’s actually suitable for. We get to see the best of him at work in this dynamic hostage rescue. Whether it be overseeing joint operations with local partners, stalking a rival through Cotobato City or cobbling together a last ditch operation with stolen cars, and a sniper rifle, Richards is at the top of his game in this story, a master covert operative going about his job with impeccable professionalism and fighting to accomplish his objective in the face of all the forces beyond his control that are dooming the hostages.
Secondly Sean Braley. Braley is the primary prize of the story. A young Pastor, who gets lumped with an assignment he is anxious about due to an understandable desire for self-preservation, Braley’s worst fears are confirmed when he, his family and some friends are involuntarily taken for a ride South beyond hope or safety. His plotline is gripping. Seeing friends die, family injured, tormented by disease and weighing up whether to make a desperate break for it or stay in captivity for the sake of those he loves. Braley also must reckon with a slow burning crisis of faith that has gradually crept up on him and strikes at the worst possible moment, when he’s one trigger pull away from oblivion. The author eviscerates the wish fulfillment ideal present in some hostage taking stories, showing that while not completely helpless, ordinary people in such situations like the Braleys still only have so much agency, even when back luck starts to get in the way of their hostage taker’s plans.
Third, the American and Philippine Presidents. The American President in WINDBREAK is a welcome escape from the usual respectable goody two shoes establishment type or some lazy caricature of the current real life incumbent in 1600 Pennsylvania. He’s a very tightly wound, disciplined fellow, but one who has a great disdain for a select number of big government entities, like the Central Intelligence Agency. And in this story, that disdain and inability to listen to the counsel provided by Langley and other members of his administration until it is far too late, begins causing a domino effect of disasters that culminate in the shattering of complacent certainties POTUS takes for granted. While the reader is not meant to be cheering this POTUS on, the author does a bang-up job humanizing him. You can see and understand this President’s logic which actually makes some sense, making him all the more unnerving as doom approaches those who don’t have the luxury of bullet proof glass and the fortified Camp David.
Next, we have the Philippine President. While only appearing in a few chapters, he steals each one. Unlike the usual Philippine Politician who would fawn over America, this President does not. A dead ringer for the current incumbent in Malacañang, (albeit with a different more ironic vice), the WINDBREAK Philippine President is publicly abrasive and enjoying every moment of thumbing his nose at the Americans, knowing that the geopolitical flux allows him to do so. Despising the historical dependence of his country on the USA, one which he considers deeply humiliating, don’t mistake him for the usual run of the mill despot in your average thriller novel. Behind the bluster lies a very cunning steel trap mind and pragmatism. And it’s this pragmatism which helps provide a way out for everyone when the gunfire finally stops.
Constructive criticism? I don’t have any. While this story doesn’t have page to page violence, gun battles and Michael Bay fireworks, it’s not supposed to. It’s more of a tense burning fuse that sparks every so often and then explodes with vicious intensity. And the final explosions are worth that wait as nothing goes completely to plan for the protagonists or opposition, and WINDBREAK is a better tale for it.
Wars change. The novelist, Brad Thor when releasing his 15th novel FOREIGN AGENT, observed that the Global War on Terror was a completely different and unrecognizable war from when it had started. The same can be said for the Moro Mindanao insurgency. Once an ethnonationalist war against Spaniards, Americans and then a brutal dictatorship, in 2020, radical Islamists outsiders, and local partners are trying to reignite the dying fires of violence by transforming the conflict into a nihilistic Jihad. WINDBREAK reflects this change, with its author masterfully taking the reader on a tense journey through a peace that has not yet consolidated and is still liable to erupt in automatic gunfire and pre – planted I.E.Ds.
The storyline brilliantly captures the unique challenges of South East Asian counter – terrorism, and how a forgotten period of counter – insurgency history still violently echoes. Its richly drawn characters plight becomes all to understandable and human as the reckoning comes. But while wars change, no one can be certain whether they’ll change for the better or worse. Only Stephen England knows. And whatever he brings forth on the Shadow Warriors, I'll be there to see it go down.
“All of us want peace. Not the peace of the dead, but the peace of the living.” – 16th President of the Philippines Rodrigo Duterte.
“I have returned. By the grace of Almighty God, our forces stand again on Philippine soil.” – General Douglas MacArthur.
“We have prepared our bladed weapons because we lack firearms. With sharp kris, barong, campilan, tabas and spear. We will attack or defend as ordered, and no mercy shall be asked." – Proclamation of the Lake Lanao Moro Muslims committing to the WW2 anti – Japanese Mindanao guerrilla campaign.
When people think of the war on terror, the image that comes to mind is sand, dust and occasionally brown or grey mountains. Understandable. The primary theater of conflict in the Post 9/11 has been the sands of Iraq, the alleys of Gaza and the mountains of South Asia. But there are other warzones out there, ones which are just as important to those in the counter – terrorism business.
Among the overlooked warzones is the Southern Philippine island of Mindanao. Originally an American colony, the Philippines is a large South East Asian nation that has a Christian religious majority, and a very prominent Muslim minority. This minority, the Mindanao Moros and are proud of their history and proud at having defied the writ of Madrid, Washington, Tokyo and Manila. With such a formidable pedigree, they have conducted the Asia’s longest running insurgency, on and off for almost centuries. Battered but not broken, the Moros were also victims of America’s first full blown counter – insurgency effort aimed at subduing an Islamic society.
With near non – stop warfare in the jungle hills, slums and waters in and around Mindanao, the island has been a stranger to peace, only recently experiencing it with peace agreements forged with the progenitors of the insurgency. But the mantle of war has been taken up, by ISIS sympathizers from outside the Philippines, fanatics who are more vicious, cunning and ruthless than anything the authorities in Manila have faced to this date.
It’s into this warzone, one with far more historical resonance for America than any Middle Eastern nation, which counter – terrorism thriller novelist, Stephen England tells his latest story, WINDBREAK. Charting the war on terror since 2011, England is an indie thriller maestro who work has proven to be some of the most captivating contemporary thriller fiction of the last decade. Rich in gritty real world detail, unflinching in showing the thankless but necessary task those in the counter – terrorism business have and willing to go down the paths other thriller series fear to tread, the ‘Shadow Warriors Series’ marries the accuracy of Clancy with the raw humanity of ‘24’ to brilliant effect. And with a new decade beginning, England has begun to take his series to the next level with a brand-new setting away from the alleys of Europe and the dust of Gaza and Al Anbar. Now to the review. Can the hunting man still give chase when fate throws things in his way?
The novel begins in the run up to Christmas, in the south of Bukidnon Province. The Baptist Missionary Preacher Sean Braley is holding a Sunday Church Service with his family and Filipino colleagues in attendance. Halfway through the service, his Church is stormed by men with Type 56 Assault rifles, who shoot a considerable portion of his congregation and make off with him, his family and one of his associates.
To the west of the Braley family, in Zamboanga, CIA Special Activities Division officer Jack Richards is patting himself on the back for nabbing a notorious child killing Islamic Terrorist leader, having dragged the man to a detention center at the Philippine Army’s WESTMINCOM headquarters. Just as he’s about to call it a day however, news breaks of the kidnapping. The American President, mindful of his evangelical political constituency who supported his candidacy, begins cracking the whip on the Law enforcement, military and intelligence communities for results. In Washington, an old FBI Agent, rattled by a recent professional tragedy that went down on his watch, finds himself flying to Manila to conduct a most unconventional hostage rescue negotiation. In Coronado, a Navy Seal is informed that a new job for his men has fallen into his in tray.
And in Mindanao, Jack Richards and his Special Activities Division team and his allies in the PNP Special Action Force find themselves in a hot pursuit like none other. From the rarefied surroundings of Manila, to the site of one of Asia’s most violent war crimes, the chase is on. But with old certainties no longer able to be taken for granted, for the men and women trying to conduct a hostage rescue on the move, this time, not all of those in peril may survive what was going to be a one-way trip.
In terms of plot, WINDBREAK is a departure of sorts from the majority of hostage rescue action adventure thrillers. Unlike a dramatic take over of some grandiose location like a riff off Vince Flynn’s Transfer of Power or the Die-Hard Movie, WINDBREAK is a brutally accurate portrayal of one of the most popular tactics used by Philippine terrorist organizations. The kidnapping on the run. It is a scenario which provides a whole new ball game and many new story beats. And England takes full advantages of the opportunities the scenario in WINDBREAK provides. The situation in WINDBREAK is not static but very much dynamic with the protagonists, victims and villains reckoning with challenges beyond their control. Bad luck, tropical illnesses, near impassable jungle countryside and worst of all, media scrutiny of actions generated by political desires of others, there is no smooth Princess Gate – Special Air Service style resolution. Almost all the main players on the ground in the story are very much in peril, especially from deceptively comforting assumptions that in a world and war that’s long since changed, can kill those who didn’t deserve to die.
Action and setting? The author has always been different from other technothriller writers as he never has any swear words in his novels. But don’t be fooled. The Shadow Warriors series is perfectly capable of some literally blood pumping violence, for readers, and the in – story casualties alike. From the opening Sunday Church terrorist Raid, to a beautifully clockwork attack by a Philippine direct action commando unit, we even get some of the most outstanding examples of choreographed chaos in the series, with a vicious midnight three way gun battle and naval engagement along the jungles and sandy beaches of a small tropical island with great historical significance. And it’s the opportunity to use a different backdrop from the usual cold and dusty Afghanistan FOBs which the author seizes and pulls off to perfection. England introduces the reader to a whole new world most contemporary thriller fiction readers would have absolutely no idea of. He captures the Philippines, warts and all. Whether it be the military base that is the epicentre of the most important counter – insurgency effort in the Asia Pacific, the humid, litter strewn streets of Cotobato city, or the rocky sand of the island of Jolo, WINDBREAK doesn’t rely on the usual tourist traps or some glamorous metropolis. Rather it goes down a gritty route, taking the reader on a journey into some very unexpected and surprising places, bringing them to life at it does so.
Research? This book has some of the author’s best. The trademark of the Shadow Warriors series has always been that marriage of Tom Clancy level detail with the fast, brutal violence of action in the style of Jack Bauer’s ‘24’. And with WINDBREAK, the author ups his game. Aside from the excellently realized setting, the author is as usual on target, with the weapons, tactics, gadgets and the ins and outs of contemporary counter – terrorism which has changed radically ever since his first novel, 2011’s Pandora’s Grave. Whether it be a look into the Philippine National Police SAF team, and its operations, or the local corruption issues which both help and hinder the heroes of the story, WINDBREAK gives an accurate insight into a wholly different operating environment from Paris, London and Baghdad. And it’s an operating environment that’s long since changed. Gone is the easy compliance which America used to be able to take for granted.
With a new Philippine President who wants to rock the boat as part of a more transactional give and take approach to Philippine – American relations, devoid of the old sentimentality, the protagonists find themselves grappling with new obstacles that once seemed unimaginable. And it’s these unimaginable changes which the author explores masterfully. From the pacification of the old MNLF and MILF and the impact of the peace agreement hashed out with both, to the rise of the foreign ISIS jihadists who were allowed to take root due to the complacency of previous Philippine Administrations whose Generals and intelligence specialists kept downplaying the problem, WINDBREAK is probably the only espionage thriller currently written that has an up to date grasp on the true state of affairs in the Philippines. Finally, the author is able to convey the weight of America’s history in the Philippines and how even centuries later, when it has been forgotten by all the wrong people, that historical reckoning still carries weight. Weight that hasn’t been forgotten or forgiven and which several of the cast find themselves facing at the end of the road.
Characters? Many standouts. I’ll focus on a few. First, Jack Richards. With his division in turmoil due to the slow hemorrhaging of personnel, the taciturn Texan finds himself at long last in a position of leadership, commanding one of the CIA’s Paramilitary teams. It’s not a role Richards has lusted after but with his experience and cold discipline, it’s one which he’s actually suitable for. We get to see the best of him at work in this dynamic hostage rescue. Whether it be overseeing joint operations with local partners, stalking a rival through Cotobato City or cobbling together a last ditch operation with stolen cars, and a sniper rifle, Richards is at the top of his game in this story, a master covert operative going about his job with impeccable professionalism and fighting to accomplish his objective in the face of all the forces beyond his control that are dooming the hostages.
Secondly Sean Braley. Braley is the primary prize of the story. A young Pastor, who gets lumped with an assignment he is anxious about due to an understandable desire for self-preservation, Braley’s worst fears are confirmed when he, his family and some friends are involuntarily taken for a ride South beyond hope or safety. His plotline is gripping. Seeing friends die, family injured, tormented by disease and weighing up whether to make a desperate break for it or stay in captivity for the sake of those he loves. Braley also must reckon with a slow burning crisis of faith that has gradually crept up on him and strikes at the worst possible moment, when he’s one trigger pull away from oblivion. The author eviscerates the wish fulfillment ideal present in some hostage taking stories, showing that while not completely helpless, ordinary people in such situations like the Braleys still only have so much agency, even when back luck starts to get in the way of their hostage taker’s plans.
Third, the American and Philippine Presidents. The American President in WINDBREAK is a welcome escape from the usual respectable goody two shoes establishment type or some lazy caricature of the current real life incumbent in 1600 Pennsylvania. He’s a very tightly wound, disciplined fellow, but one who has a great disdain for a select number of big government entities, like the Central Intelligence Agency. And in this story, that disdain and inability to listen to the counsel provided by Langley and other members of his administration until it is far too late, begins causing a domino effect of disasters that culminate in the shattering of complacent certainties POTUS takes for granted. While the reader is not meant to be cheering this POTUS on, the author does a bang-up job humanizing him. You can see and understand this President’s logic which actually makes some sense, making him all the more unnerving as doom approaches those who don’t have the luxury of bullet proof glass and the fortified Camp David.
Next, we have the Philippine President. While only appearing in a few chapters, he steals each one. Unlike the usual Philippine Politician who would fawn over America, this President does not. A dead ringer for the current incumbent in Malacañang, (albeit with a different more ironic vice), the WINDBREAK Philippine President is publicly abrasive and enjoying every moment of thumbing his nose at the Americans, knowing that the geopolitical flux allows him to do so. Despising the historical dependence of his country on the USA, one which he considers deeply humiliating, don’t mistake him for the usual run of the mill despot in your average thriller novel. Behind the bluster lies a very cunning steel trap mind and pragmatism. And it’s this pragmatism which helps provide a way out for everyone when the gunfire finally stops.
Constructive criticism? I don’t have any. While this story doesn’t have page to page violence, gun battles and Michael Bay fireworks, it’s not supposed to. It’s more of a tense burning fuse that sparks every so often and then explodes with vicious intensity. And the final explosions are worth that wait as nothing goes completely to plan for the protagonists or opposition, and WINDBREAK is a better tale for it.
Wars change. The novelist, Brad Thor when releasing his 15th novel FOREIGN AGENT, observed that the Global War on Terror was a completely different and unrecognizable war from when it had started. The same can be said for the Moro Mindanao insurgency. Once an ethnonationalist war against Spaniards, Americans and then a brutal dictatorship, in 2020, radical Islamists outsiders, and local partners are trying to reignite the dying fires of violence by transforming the conflict into a nihilistic Jihad. WINDBREAK reflects this change, with its author masterfully taking the reader on a tense journey through a peace that has not yet consolidated and is still liable to erupt in automatic gunfire and pre – planted I.E.Ds.
The storyline brilliantly captures the unique challenges of South East Asian counter – terrorism, and how a forgotten period of counter – insurgency history still violently echoes. Its richly drawn characters plight becomes all to understandable and human as the reckoning comes. But while wars change, no one can be certain whether they’ll change for the better or worse. Only Stephen England knows. And whatever he brings forth on the Shadow Warriors, I'll be there to see it go down.
August 14, 2020
England boldly goes where few - if any - of his peers have gone before
The author once again demonstrates his knack for creating original story concepts. This time he pulls it off by putting two rarely used ingredients into the mix.
First, the setting. The bulk of the action takes place on the Philippines, and England’s well-known proclivity for cultural and historical details pays off in spades here.
Personally, I have neither been to the Philippines nor know a great deal about them. Yet, after reading WINDBREAK, I feel more educated than I probably would after three weeks of educational leave.
The second thing that stands out is the topic of hostage situations. The author examines it from all angles and puts the emotional turmoil of everyone involved under a microscope. The results are equal parts frightening and fascinating, and pose tantalizing questions: what would you do if you were taken hostage? Would you try to escape? Try to be a hero? Or rather cower down in fear despite your best efforts to the contrary? And what about the supposed rescuers? How far would they be willing to go if their hands were practically tied by looming foreign policy repercussions?
Discovering the answers to those questions makes for an intense and immersive read, one you won’t forget any time soon.
Add to that England’s trademark ring of authenticity where it comes to the portrayal of the intelligence community and kinetic military operations as well as his ability to make all characters humanly flawed and therefore relatable, no matter their affiliations, and you have all the pieces of a masterclass thriller which showcases an irrefutable truth of war: in a matter of life and death, no one can afford the luxury of a clear conscience or gets entitled to the privilege of taking moral high ground.
The author once again demonstrates his knack for creating original story concepts. This time he pulls it off by putting two rarely used ingredients into the mix.
First, the setting. The bulk of the action takes place on the Philippines, and England’s well-known proclivity for cultural and historical details pays off in spades here.
Personally, I have neither been to the Philippines nor know a great deal about them. Yet, after reading WINDBREAK, I feel more educated than I probably would after three weeks of educational leave.
The second thing that stands out is the topic of hostage situations. The author examines it from all angles and puts the emotional turmoil of everyone involved under a microscope. The results are equal parts frightening and fascinating, and pose tantalizing questions: what would you do if you were taken hostage? Would you try to escape? Try to be a hero? Or rather cower down in fear despite your best efforts to the contrary? And what about the supposed rescuers? How far would they be willing to go if their hands were practically tied by looming foreign policy repercussions?
Discovering the answers to those questions makes for an intense and immersive read, one you won’t forget any time soon.
Add to that England’s trademark ring of authenticity where it comes to the portrayal of the intelligence community and kinetic military operations as well as his ability to make all characters humanly flawed and therefore relatable, no matter their affiliations, and you have all the pieces of a masterclass thriller which showcases an irrefutable truth of war: in a matter of life and death, no one can afford the luxury of a clear conscience or gets entitled to the privilege of taking moral high ground.
August 20, 2020
Over the span of ten works, Stephen England has established himself as a master thriller writer, blurring the lines between fiction and reality in his tales of espionage and special operations action. His latest work, WINDBREAK, rips the story straight from the headlines and delivers a harrowing tale that is sure to keep the reader up hours past their bedtime.
The basis of the story: a group of Christian missionaries are abducted by Filipino jihadists, and public demand to rescue them rapidly builds. CIA paramilitary Jack Richards (who was once a member of Harry Nichols's SAC/SOG team and now runs his own team) is at the forefront of the covert side of the rescue effort, while the FBI's Hostage Recovery Fusion Cell (helmed by Supervisory Special Agent William Cole, last seen in England's DAY OF RECKONING) handles the overt end. International politics are exacerbated by actions of a President who will remind open-minded readers with knowledge of political science of one part Rand Paul and one part Donald Trump. Things continue to escalate until the explosive climax, one that can hardly be quantified as a happy or even bittersweet ending.
The action is crisp, and the characterization is top notch, something that has been increasingly improving with each entry in the series. It was a page turner from start to finish, dripping with high-octane violence and higher-stakes intrigue.
I highly recommend this book to fans of the thriller genre. You owe it to yourself to read this book.
The basis of the story: a group of Christian missionaries are abducted by Filipino jihadists, and public demand to rescue them rapidly builds. CIA paramilitary Jack Richards (who was once a member of Harry Nichols's SAC/SOG team and now runs his own team) is at the forefront of the covert side of the rescue effort, while the FBI's Hostage Recovery Fusion Cell (helmed by Supervisory Special Agent William Cole, last seen in England's DAY OF RECKONING) handles the overt end. International politics are exacerbated by actions of a President who will remind open-minded readers with knowledge of political science of one part Rand Paul and one part Donald Trump. Things continue to escalate until the explosive climax, one that can hardly be quantified as a happy or even bittersweet ending.
The action is crisp, and the characterization is top notch, something that has been increasingly improving with each entry in the series. It was a page turner from start to finish, dripping with high-octane violence and higher-stakes intrigue.
I highly recommend this book to fans of the thriller genre. You owe it to yourself to read this book.
October 8, 2020
Another 5 star from Stephen England
It doesn't take long to find out that Stephen once again put a lot of thought and research while writing Windbreak. The political struggle in the book is fascinating. Stephen kept me wondering where he was taking me on this hostage rescue until the end. I hope you enjoy this as much as I did.
It doesn't take long to find out that Stephen once again put a lot of thought and research while writing Windbreak. The political struggle in the book is fascinating. Stephen kept me wondering where he was taking me on this hostage rescue until the end. I hope you enjoy this as much as I did.
September 13, 2022
A good read
Well researched and written. I would recommend to anyone interested in the current war on terror. Few books of this genre have their setting in the Philippines. This was well done.
Well researched and written. I would recommend to anyone interested in the current war on terror. Few books of this genre have their setting in the Philippines. This was well done.
September 5, 2023
Trust?
Extremely well written and a great read. Realistic and more true than some want to believe. Stephen England writes with a style that grabs the reader and makes his books hard to put down because the ending will be something not to miss.
Extremely well written and a great read. Realistic and more true than some want to believe. Stephen England writes with a style that grabs the reader and makes his books hard to put down because the ending will be something not to miss.
May 16, 2024
Either I am just too busy right now to fully enjoy, or the plot lines include far too many characters to stay focused…while i enjoy the story lines and the principle characters I’ve found myself reading less each day…you’ll have to judge…
August 2, 2024
The web you weave.
I enjoyed this book, as I have enjoyed the series. Stephen England certainly throws technical jargon like confetti, and a scarily accurate
story line to boot.
I thank you Stephen, keep up the good work..
Take care John (from downunder)
I enjoyed this book, as I have enjoyed the series. Stephen England certainly throws technical jargon like confetti, and a scarily accurate
story line to boot.
I thank you Stephen, keep up the good work..
Take care John (from downunder)
October 6, 2020
Messed up
This was so confusing and so many people, groups and just plain boring. I finally fast forward this for the rescue and that was a mess.
This was so confusing and so many people, groups and just plain boring. I finally fast forward this for the rescue and that was a mess.
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews