Mercenaries, You hear about them occasionally and obviously they are a good topic to write about. What if they did something a little illegal and you want your company involved only in legal stuff from now on. I liked this story it is harsh and raw. How you expect them to be.
Devlin is solving his trouble the way he knows and though it is easy to find him stupid for that I did understand. The book reads a bit like a movie. I did not really grasp the valued of the Tracy, the reporter. I think that have been bigger and more explained or left out. Devlin his part and Lukas point of view gave me all the information I wanted for this story.

My usual book is a crime-thriller so I thought this would be right up my street. In fits and starts I enjoyed it but I felt it lacked a little polish and I couldn't quite put my finger on why. Crucially the final scene annoyed me but I can't really explain why without spoiling it for others. It gave me an instant "really!?" reaction for the choices Ray makes in the final scenes that spoilt the climax for me completely. As such feel compelled to mark this as an average 3 overall as I left it disappointed.
Thank you though for the preview copy.

An excellent thriller with a post-military context
Mercenaries or not? They worked in countries where arms dealing and training are commonplace
Now the past comes to take care of them, violence to violence

Wallace Stroby writes a fast paced and intense thriller that delves into the murky world of US politics and military defence contractors. Ray Devlin is an ex-soldier, ex-mercenary, who sails off the Florida coast on his patched up boat, Higher Tide, when an old colleague, Bell, tracks him down ostensibly to join a new team venture which Ray has no interest in. To his dismay, it all ends badly when an attempt to kill him is made. Ray has no idea what is going on, but is concerned that another attempt on his life will be made. Tracy Quinn works as a crime reporter on the struggling Observer newspaper and website. She is working in a highly stressed and pressurised environment with lay offs, budget cuts and rumours of buy offs, and she is expected to change what she has been doing and threatened with losing her job if she fails to comply.

Ray sets off to visit another old colleague, Roarke, who runs a bar in Philly to see if he can shed any light on what has happened, but gets no further insights. What is odd is that a decomposing dead body has a common link to a past overseas contract to put a General Ramirez in power, a right wing dictator, with the tacit approval of the US government where huge human rights abuses and murder took place. In the present, Ramirez is facing considerable protests and efforts to overthrow him. Ray's concern for his ex-wife and son, Brendan, has him travelling to Connecticut to warn them. After a horrifying multiple killing at a bar makes it absolutely clear that Ray will be hunted down and eliminated, Ray begins to tentatively colloborate with Quinn off the record. As Tracy, with the assistance of Alysha Bennett, begin to dig into and write up the story, she finds she is not immune from danger either. The bodies pile up as corrupt and ruthless attempts to secure billions of dollars worth of military defence contracts are underway, and those forces are determined to eliminate anyone perceived as a threat.

The shadowy world of mercenaries, below the radar overseas political machinations by the US government, and the secretive world of military defence contractors make for a wonderful and non-stop action thriller. The character of Ray, haunted and scarred by his traumatic past, a man of integrity, frightened that his family is at risk, pushes him from someone forced to react to what is happening to take a more proactive approach which might just kill him. His partnership with Tracy piles the heat on his pursuers as the truth begins to slowly drip out into the public arena through the news forums. I found this a compelling, entertaining and thrilling read from Wallace Stroby. Many thanks to Hodder and Stoughton for an ARC.