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Black Ops #1

Jungle Kill

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The first book in a new high-octane, adrenalin-fueled combat adventure series following the dangerous missions of a six-man Special Forces team   Thrown out of the Special Air Service (SAS), Mitch thought his days as a special forces soldier were truly over. But when he is approached by an undercover unit embarking on a dangerous mission, he must make a choice. The mission is to rescue a West African freedom fighter, kidnapped by a gang of ruthless bandits who will stop at nothing to get what they want. The squad is the elite Black-Ops soldiers—Gaz, Two Moons, Tug, Benny, and Nelson—with the codename Delta Unit. Is Mitch the right man for the job? Can he secure the trust of the five men, and step back into the danger zone?

192 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2010

18 people are currently reading
147 people want to read

About the author

Jim Eldridge

159 books152 followers
Jim Eldridge is the author of many books for children, including titles in the My Story series, the Warpath books, and How to Handle Grown-Ups. He has had 250 TV scripts broadcast in the UK and internationally for children's and teen television, and is also the creator and writer of Radio 4's long-running comedy-drama series, King Street Junior.

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5 stars
46 (27%)
4 stars
56 (33%)
3 stars
41 (24%)
2 stars
21 (12%)
1 star
4 (2%)
Displaying 1 - 30 of 33 reviews
3 reviews
September 29, 2015
The book jungle kill by Jim Eldridge is about this group of this soldiers on a special mission to rescue someone from a jungle.

It is about a secret group from US and UK. They have a special mission to save a man that was kidnaped by the evil Mwanga. He is holding him so he can sell him off and make big money. It is their mission to save his life and get him somewhere safe. Tug, Two Moons, Mitch, Benny Gaz, and Nelson have their work cut out for them.

I really like how the story played out. The book started from the beginning and had many details about what they saw and when they were going to go through and what they knew at that point. I also liked how there was a lot of action compared to what I have read or seen in the past.
But what I didn't really like about the book, is that the end there was a lot of rambling on in my opinion. It was about unimportant stuff.


I Think this book was directed to people that like adventure and combat stuff. It is a war in the jungle.
Profile Image for Jonathan.
Author 2 books2 followers
June 27, 2023
I read the version of this book published as "Jungle Force" which I assume is because Scholastic didn't want to publish it with the word "kill" in the title. It's a bit strange because the book is violent and features plenty of killing. It's also odd that they edited the title for the US market, but they didn't appear to edit any of the book's content. The book features British spelling and grammar conventions. If I remember correctly, I bought this at a book fair. It's actually pretty dated and has a print date of 2011, but the story still holds up for today's world. It's about a covert ops team made up of UK and US special operatives. The plot is pretty simple. Mitch, the main character, is invited to join the Delta Unit on a mission to rescue a political figure in Nigeria. The book is interesting because it's written at a grade-school level, so it's easy to follow for just about anyone, but it has very adult, high-interest content related to warfare that I could see many young boys enjoying. I'm sure parents might be concerned about the violence, but it's relatively tame compared to many of the video games and movies teenagers are exposed to these days. I liked the book, and I wish there were more of this kind available. The typical political thriller and warfare books are usually too complicated for developing readers, and it was nice to have a story like this made so accessible.
There were only a few elements that I didn't like or that annoyed me. I thought the Nigeria setting and the villains were great. It seemed realistic, but the Nigerian people I know are all fluent in English and they aren't superstitious about bad magic. I think the author should have included other Nigerian characters to contrast with the villagers presented in the book. I think the characterization of Nigerians could have been more balanced.
Also, the author identifies guns by their names, and you would have to have some background knowledge on firearms to understand what's being described. I don't know enough about guns to know what the author means, so I would have to google each name to actually be able to see the pictures and understand. It would have been nice to be given more description or background on the weapons or for there to be an appendix or guide that had photos or illustrations of all the different weapons.
I also didn't like some of the author's comments about the USA. I know the book was made for UK audiences, but the author includes American characters, and I thought it was odd that all the Americans are people of color (like the author was checking off boxes). The book mentions the US like it is some racist hellhole where all the Americans have been marginalized in the past. I think it would have been good to include a character from the UK with similar experiences to show racism is universal, but instead, the author chooses to present the US as especially bad in that regard. Perhaps that is the case and there is no inequality whatsoever in the UK, but I think for a book like this it would have been better to drop all the race politics.
I really enjoyed the story overall, and I liked that it was such a quick and easy read. The action is great and even though I didn't really connect to the characters that much, I enjoyed following them on their mission.
Profile Image for Reemaayana.
106 reviews4 followers
December 11, 2019
The story begins with an amazing scene of tussle between trooper, Paul Mitchell and a Russian 'person' along with facts describing these army men. Then the story takes a turn towards the dark world of Africa where six professional men highly specialized in their field were brought together to accomplish the mission of releasing an African freedom fighter who is held captive by some ferocious gang of west Africa.
Best part about the story is its plot which runs smoothly as if a movie is going in the book and how these valiant personalities cop up with the harsh atmosphere of African vegetation is worth enjoying and learning. Then comes the main scenario followed by the awaiting danger.
The critical part is, the story lagged emotion, though there are certain scenes of bloodshed ad fight, but I did not get emotionally attached.
Overall it was an amazing read, a complete package of adventure and jeopardy.
1 review
March 8, 2020
an absolutely amazing book i enjoyed looking through it and i look forward to reading it many times again and again thank you for reading this!
1 review
April 2, 2021
Great book especially if you love a simple read packed full of action. Read this back in 2011 just after it come out and I still enjoy it to this day.
Profile Image for Neel.
21 reviews
October 14, 2012
Jungle Force
By Jim Eldridge
Adventure/Action
192 pages

Jungle Force is a book about a team of soldiers who is on a mission to save a famous West African freedom fighter who is kidnapped by a gang of ruthless bandits who will stop at nothing to get what they want. The squad is a group of 7 elite soldiers- Tug,Two Moons,Tug,Nelson,Mitch,Gaz and Benny. They squad is called Delta Unit. Some of these names are code names. They get betrayed by a group that they trusted in Africa. As soon as the landed, gunfire! Miraculously, the Delta Unit kills everyone.They keep going and stop when they see a village. A couple men are being tortured by the same people who kidnapped the freedom fighter, so they decide to help the helpless men. They knock out 3 and leave the fourth one to give them information. He tells them where the bandits are hiding out. They make a plan to first break the generator of the building and then cut the electricity and also because they had night vision goggles. Half of the Delta Unit deals with the bandits by locking them into room while the other half of the Delta Unit saves the freedom fighter. They make it out but 3 of their men are shot but the set a charge and then drive away. They call in the jet and it takes them back home.

I really liked this book for many reasons. First, I love reading books on action and adventure. I have played the game Call Of Duty Black Opps. When I first saw it in the library, the cover caught my attention. It had a group of people in a boat carrying guns with fire behind them. It looked pretty awesome so I decided to read it. The second reason is that the Delta Unit had code names. I wonder if I had my own code name. I wish it could be Raptor or Striker. It would be so awesome if everyone called me by my code name. The third reason is that they had really good plans and ideas. Near the end of the book, Delta Force uses their wits to totally demolish the bandits, First thet cut the line to generator so later when the stop the electricity, the bandits can't rely on the generator to turn the electricity back on. Once they go in, it is pitch dark but they cut the electricity for a reason; so the bandits could not see them. Everyone in the Delta Unit has a pair of night vision goggles. I used to have a pair of the toy night vision goggles. They were not that good. Overall, I really liked this book and I would really recommend it to anyone who likes a book that is full of action, adventure and suspense! :)

4 reviews1 follower
Currently reading
January 6, 2017
The title of the book I have read is jungle force by Jim eldridge. I really liked this book. What I liked about the book was the action and suspense of horror. Even though some parts can be brutal and horrifying parts. It kept it interesting. For example a horrifying part, was where the bandits threatened to cut villagers hands off, if they didn’t give information. Also harsh beatings, with suspense of not knowing what’s about to happen.
The main setting of this story was mostly in the jungle of west Africa. The characters were a army squad including mitch,nelson,two moons,benny,tug, and gaz. There squad was named Delta unit.There were a few conflicts in this story. First when the squad arrived in the jungle for a mission to rescue an african freedom fighter named mwanga, they were attacked right off the back. The bandits knew they were coming somehow. They defeated that small group of attackers and moved on. The next conflict is when they discovered a village while looking for mwanga. The people were being attacked and beaten by bandits. They threatened to cut off the villagers hand if they didn’t have the information that they wanted. Mitch and his team defeated those 4 bandits.
One villager showed thanks by showing his quad where mwanga was being captive. The next conflict was a hotel with bandit guards surrounding it(that had mwanga captive in it). With lots of preparation, Mitch’s team was ready for the rescue. As they entered they had to wipe out lots of guys, but found mwanga and broke him out. It was all about to be over until their escape car was hit with an explosion.Half of the squad got away but mitch got caught. Mitch woke up tied to a tree. The bandits leader nglo was in front of him. He threatened to cut off his arm if he didn’t tell him where mwanga was taken. Luckily Mitch’s team came back and took the guys down. They all escaped and passed the mission
This story connects to the unit theme because of the suspense and horror. For example when they entered the hotel and it was really quiet, you didn’t know what was about to happen. You had to try to anticipate what was about to happen, but didn’t know creating suspense. A new insight for me was hope for the suspense of the story, to create the thrill of the genre horror. I would recommend this book to others because he had lots of action, a little suspense and horror, and you also learn things about warfare that you didn’t know before.
Profile Image for Nina.
334 reviews21 followers
August 3, 2010
Jungle Kill is exactly as the cover looks like. Packed with action and no time to slow down. This book will be a favourite for any boy who loves this genre and who are looking for the ride of their life.

Mitch, the main character, has to earn his trust in the new squad. He has a secret that he doesn’t want to share, unless they ask for it. His character is courageous, strong, honest and takes care of business. I liked that he also looked out for the others in his squad and for the villagers. In 192 pages there isn’t a lot of depth in the characters, but I didn’t find this necessary. All of the characters where great and played their own part in the story.

The battles are exactly how they are always shown in a action movie.
A lot of blood, soldiers running, fighting and at the same time shooting guns.
The author does a great job describing the weapons and words that soldiers use.

Overall an action packed story that I enjoyed a lot. It’s a story that is not for everyone and that’s the reason why the author has put on the back of the book a warning side. It contains graphic scenes of warfare!
Profile Image for Charles H Berlemann Jr.
196 reviews3 followers
April 7, 2016
Not great, but not totally bad either

A so-so book that I found out later was written for young adult genre. The gist of the story is about a secret military group made up of ex-special forces from the U.S. and the U.K. they are given the missions that are impossible and totally deniability. This book this group has to save some political type from a warlord in Nigeria. It played out like an hour long drama series. Hero meets the team, the team doesn't jive with him, they violate rules and rescue a village from the warlord. Get help, but are captured, a plan comes together and the political type is rescued the warlord is eliminated and everyone is back in friendly lands with drinks in hand. The only thing missing was the freeze frame comedy moment as the credits rolled.

Seriously, two stars for a reason that the tropes were thick and heavy, the characters were cardboard, the atmosphere was missing (Nigeria could have been Miami for all the effort of the author) and the ending was too pat. It was fun, but not worth keeping so that is why it's two stars and really more like almost two and a half.
Profile Image for Kendra.
633 reviews6 followers
January 21, 2012
Mitch joins a Black Ops unit and goes on a super-secret mission to free a kidnapped political leader in West Africa. Being the newbie to the unit, Mitch hopes to gain the trust of his fellow soldiers while using his language expertise on the mission. When Mitch defies his superior's orders, will he be allowed to stay in the unit?

This high energy, action-packed adventure will appeal to reluctant readers. Featuring short, episodic chapters, the reader will be fully-immersed in the story before realizing it. Even though the story is violent, the author didn't capitalize on the gore factor. The characters do use their weapons to battle the enemy which does result in some deaths, but none are described in too much detail. Yes, there are some plot holes and huge questions regarding Mitch's past, but I knew before starting this story wasn't intended to be top literature. I can see many a reader enjoying Jungle Kill. I give it a C.
9 reviews
December 8, 2014
Michael Shera
12/8/14
Jerger Period 6


Jungle Force also published as Jungle Kill by Jim Eldridge is about a Special Forces soldier named Paul Mitchell. It is about him and 5 other elite soldiers trying to locate and rescue Joseph Mwanga, a strong political leader in West Africa. Through out the book the elite team makes their way through thick vegetation in the Niger Delta. They eventually find the abandoned building where he is held hostage and rescue him and kill the leader of the major gang that kidnapped Mwanga.

This is a great book that uses lots of description to really paint a picture in the readers mind. This book is a little graphic and does use detail to describe people being killed.

This is a good book for 7th graders and up that like books with lots of action.
Profile Image for Joseph.
24 reviews
July 31, 2013
For the intended audience (young adult) it's not a terrible military action story. However, if you're like me, and enjoy far more technical novels such as Tom Clancy's, I would not recommend this book. It's generally oversimplified, and at times seems to have been written by an author whose military knowledge came from playing Call of Duty. However, given as the book was free on Kindle when I got it, I can't complain too much. The story was fairly generic, but not so much so that it made me want to stop reading altogether.

In short: good for younger readers, or those who might be bored by the technical aspects of more adult military novels.
15 reviews1 follower
September 24, 2012
Genre: Adventure
Length: 192 pages
Brief summary: It's about a guy that gets kidnapped in the special force and they need this guy named Mitch (who is a trained special force that left) to help them and since Mitch took a lot of tours in Africa (in the jungle) they need him for help and how to get there. Later in the book yo will see more crazy war stuff.

Explain my rating: I rated this a 5 star because I like adventure books also I like the way the author wrote this book. Not to big of a book, not to small. You will like this book if you like to read adventure books like me.
16 reviews
November 16, 2012
This action/adventure book book is very thrilling. It's a great and quick read at 187 pages. Jim Eldredge did a great job writing this book. I was always attached and I couldn't put the book down. I love how much action there was. Also it had a great story line.

About the book; Mitch, a former spec ops member, is recruited back into the forces to find the politician running as a candidate in West Africa. He is kidnapped by a group of bandits. Through all the bumps on the road, it's there job to find him alive.
Profile Image for Russell Phillips.
Author 53 books40 followers
February 9, 2012
I haven't read many young adult books, so didn't really know what to expect. What I got was a fairly short book, with lots of action and a straightforward plot.

To an adult reader, it's a simple, quick read. That's not necessarily a bad thing. It's fast-paced, uncomplicated and fun. If that's what you're in the mood for, this book is ideal. If you want something long and complex, look elsewhere.
Profile Image for James Groenestein.
101 reviews5 followers
March 18, 2012
A really well structured story with an insight into the special forces life. I could picture the scenes and characters well and get a view of what it was like to be Mitch during the mission. I was a bit skeptical about his age though as he seemed a bit young I thought. Still worth recommending to young teenaged lads!
12 reviews
Read
March 3, 2013
The book jungle force by jim Eldridge is a vary action packed book where the main character is trying to find this man he ends up finding him and needs to kill him he sneaks to his room and try's to kill him but he had a gun and they have a epic battle this book was a great book and i Recommend it to anyone who likes action and adventure.
3 reviews
February 7, 2013
This is the best book i have ever read. The people that would like to read this book would be anyone who likes action books. If you want to read it but you think it is a war book it is not!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
10 reviews
December 8, 2016
Lots of action, great team of people and so much action. This is something you would dream of doing but failing just like in games. They go into places you would never dare think of and doing everyone a favor by saving the innocent and killing some gangs.
Profile Image for Brian H..
146 reviews10 followers
December 23, 2011
The story was entertaining, if not very predictable...But it was extremely evident that the author knew little about special operations forces and the way these men act during an operation.
Profile Image for Cathy.
896 reviews22 followers
January 14, 2013
This wasn't my usual type of story but I enjoyed it. US/UK commando team goes into Nigeria to reacquire a kidnapped leader.
1 review
May 4, 2013
Im not a big reader but this book yo! Im reading it 4 a book report and just cant get away from it. It makes me feel like im so close to the characters and like im in the middle of all the action
13 reviews1 follower
April 13, 2015
Jungle Force is a book about a man who left his platoon and now has join with a different group and then they had to go save this guy.
Profile Image for Nick Nason.
3 reviews1 follower
December 5, 2014
jungle force ; The book jungle force was probably the best book i've ever read it was filled with excitement and action . I would give this book 5 stars .
Displaying 1 - 30 of 33 reviews

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