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Springblade #6/battle
Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 1990
3 people want to read
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November 7, 2025
A DEA agent is lost in the jungle of Burma, which is infested with soldiers working for the local drug lord. Fortunately, he has jungle survival training, so he just MIGHT survive until the Springblade team arrives to pull him out.
The trouble with this novel is that it takes FOREVER to gather the team and finally insert them into Burma. There is some action/suspense stuff involving the agent has he avoids capture and kills a few mercenaries to get food and weapons, but between those incidents we get chapter after chapter of each individual team member being notified, briefings, planning and bits of characterization. All of this is well-written in of itself, but in the end its just padding. In this 198-page novel, we don't get to see the team arrive in Burma until about page 130. And a lot of the final action happens off-page! "One of the helicopters has spotted the IR strip on the agent's hat. We'll send out an infiltration team to bring him in to the defensive site we've set up." Page Break. "Well, the agent is here. Good job, men." Even parts of the final battle, when the bad guys attack while the team is arranging to evacuate, happens off page.
The parts we do get to "see" are exciting and, to be fair, the time spent establishing characters means we do care about a team member who doesn't make it. But, gee whiz, this is an action adventure novel. Get to the action quicker and let us experience it!!
The trouble with this novel is that it takes FOREVER to gather the team and finally insert them into Burma. There is some action/suspense stuff involving the agent has he avoids capture and kills a few mercenaries to get food and weapons, but between those incidents we get chapter after chapter of each individual team member being notified, briefings, planning and bits of characterization. All of this is well-written in of itself, but in the end its just padding. In this 198-page novel, we don't get to see the team arrive in Burma until about page 130. And a lot of the final action happens off-page! "One of the helicopters has spotted the IR strip on the agent's hat. We'll send out an infiltration team to bring him in to the defensive site we've set up." Page Break. "Well, the agent is here. Good job, men." Even parts of the final battle, when the bad guys attack while the team is arranging to evacuate, happens off page.
The parts we do get to "see" are exciting and, to be fair, the time spent establishing characters means we do care about a team member who doesn't make it. But, gee whiz, this is an action adventure novel. Get to the action quicker and let us experience it!!
Displaying 1 of 1 review