Force Protection

Alan Craik #5

by Gordon Kent

From Rules of Engagement to Hostile Contact, Gordon Kent has captivated readers with novels that combine authentic portrayals of global secret operations with the passions that go with the yearning for family and peace, the deceptions of agents in the field, and the extraordinary risks the bravest and best will take for a cause. His new suspense novel is vintage a heart-stopping tale of a terrorist strike, its explosive aftermath, and the struggle of special agents in a battle that is reshaping the globe.To Americans, the scene is agonizingly familiar. The mangled steel of a U.S. warship in a foreign harbor. The revolving loops of CNN footage and faraway streets strewn with debris. But for Lieutenant Commander Alan Craik, the terrorist attack on the USNS Jonathan Harker is part of the job. Fighting terrorism from Pakistan to the Far East, Craik reacts to a spontaneous horror with calm action. But an enemy Craik doesn’t know has carried out the bombing in the teeming port of Mombasa, Kenya—for reasons he cannot guess.While Alan Craik finds himself in the middle of a scene of carnage, his wife, Rose Siciliano Craik, is fighting her own battle, proving her flying prowess, rising to astronaut training school in Houston while trying to hold her family together. Now she herself has been forced to accept around-the-clock protection from NCIS—the Navy Criminal Investigative Service. NCIS special agent Mike Dukas, Rose and Alan’s friend, is playing it by the book. But he’s also playing his hunches. Dukas thinks it might not be coincidence that Craik was in Mombasa when the terrorists struck—and that a sniper was using the cover of chaos to take a shot at Craik himself.As agents scramble around the world to find the planners of the attack, and another bomb goes off in Cairo, Craik, his wife, and their friend are at the center of the storm. And as each makes fatal choices, they begin to sense that the fight they’re in is not the kind they’ve planned and trained for—and that whoever is behind the devastating Mombasa terrorist attack may be coming relentlessly after them.

Genres: Thriller, Military Fiction

528 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2004

About the author

Pseudonym of writers Kenneth M. Cameron with his son Christian Cameron.

Series:
* Alan Craik

Reviews

[Henri Moreaux · Rating 3 out of 5]

Force Protection continues on from Hostile Contact, this time around Alan, Mike, Rose, Dick & Harry are drawn into a suspected Islamic terrorist attack when a dhow (traditional Arab sailing vessel) filled with explosives powers into the side of a US Navy merchant ship killing a visiting Admiral and numerous sailors as well as disabling the ship in the Kenyan port it is visiting. Simultaneously a riot starts in the nearby Kenyan town destabilising the region and causing a violent response from the Kenyan National Police.

An explosion later targets a US Aid office in Cairo and a naval officer is tortured and murdered, a systematic web of terrorism appears to be targeting US interests in the region and Alan & Mike are at the forefront of the investigation.

As far as excitement goes it's better than Peacemaker but not quite on par with Top Hook, the bulk of the book is pretty good leading to an excellent closing however I did feel that it lacked the enthrallment that Top Hook had. This may be due to the plot which doesn't quite hold up to the prior books level of realism and is kind of a bit left field and could almost be interchanged with practically anything and not really affect the story too much. The instigating factors of the plot are almost secondary to the actual unfolding of it.

All that said, it's still an interesting and entertaining read.

[Christine Irvin · Rating 4 out of 5]

A US warship has been attacked. Lieutenant Commander Alan Craik's wife is almost killed in an attack on her. And there is evidence that another attack is being planned. Are these incidents related? And, can Craik and his team figure out what is going on before anything else happens?

I read this whole book, but I must say I wasn't terribly impressed by it. Perhaps if I had read earlier books in the series, I would have enjoyed this one more. The author uses many acronyms - such as AVS, CIC, MARI and dozens more - and doesn't explain them in the text. Like I said, perhaps if I had read other books in the series, I would be more familiar with these.

Also, the story is told from many points of view. Although this can provide a window into the thoughts of more than one character at a time, it can also become confusing, as is the case with this story.

[Melissa Jaillet · Rating 4 out of 5]

good book

[MMG_.G0 · Rating 4 out of 5]

Kinda like it. It's not too bad.

[Jessica Brill · Rating 2 out of 5]

This story isnt extremly exciting or different. I think for me this is because the writting didnt really flow and I noticed a lot of military slang scattered through out the book that I had no idea what they meant. It is a perfectly ok novel however.

[Scott · Rating 4 out of 5]

good action. kept my interest throughout.

[Tim Corke · Rating 3 out of 5]

Kent's Force Protection won't win any prizes for originality or classic story telling but it will gain fans for the amount of action and interest it creates.

[colleen · Rating 3 out of 5]

read 05.xx.05