This review is written with a GPL 4.0 license and the rights contained therein shall supersede all TOS by any and all websites in regards to copying and sharing without proper authorization and permissions. Crossposted at WordPress, Blogspott, Librarything & Bookhype by Bookstooge’s Exalted Permission

Title: Tier One Wild
Series: Delta Force #2
Author: Dalton Fury
Rating: 3.5 of 5 Stars
Genre: Action/Adventure
Pages: 344
Words: 124K

Synopsis:

From Devilreads & Me

Former disgraced Delta Force commander Kolt "Racer" Raynor has earned his way back into The Unit after redeeming himself during an explosive operation at a black site in Pakistan. But he is about to face his deadliest challenge yet.

The most wanted man in the world, American al Qaeda commander Daoud al Amriki, and his handpicked team of terrorist operatives, have acquired stores of Russian-built, shoulder-fired surface-to-air missiles (SAM's) from ex-Libyan spies in Cairo. Their mission: infiltrate the United States and take down American aircraft. The country's best are tasked with stopping them. But when a SEAL Team Six mission to take down al Amriki goes wrong, Major Raynor and his Delta Force team find themselves front and center as Amriki and his terrorists work their way closer to America. And time is running out.

Amriki and his group make it into American and bring down several planes. One cell is caught, which was Amriki's plan to distract everyone from his real plan to shoot down the President of the United States who is going to be traveling by helicopter. With the laws of the land forbidding them to act, Delta Force is left on the sidelines as an official agency. But when Raynor and his friend TJ (who was captured by Amriki in the previous book and knows him like a second brother) strike out on their own, they know they are doing the right thing.

TJ gives his life to stop Amriki and Raynor kills the son of a monkey, thus saving the President.

My Thoughts:

While I'm giving this the same rating as the previous book, I enjoyed my time reading this more. Raynor isn't so much of a jerkface due to his returning officially to Delta Force, but he doesn't let the reader forget for one instance that he's the new and improved version of Kolt Raynor. I think most of my enjoyment sprang from the fact that Raynor isn't as much a solo character as in the first book. Usually, I'm a big fan of the Lone Cowboy (in whatever setting) against the world, but Raynor just works better as part of a team and Delta Force is ALL about the Team.

The action starts out hot and heavy with Delta Force taking down a hijacked 747 WHILE IT IS TAKING OFF! That was just cool. It felt like the author started out with a sprint and then we eased into a long, loping run to go the distance. The rest of the book was us getting to the scene where Raynor and Amriki face off and the President of the United States is in danger.

The one issue I did have was with there being a female in Delta Force. Given, she's not supposed to be on the Action Team but she's part of an initiative to broaden the scope of what Delta can do (ie, married couple's are a lot less suspicious than a group of four men). I've google'd women in the special forces and most of the articles are by publications that I don't trust, not one iota. So while they report that there are women in the various branches of the Special Forces, nothing has been said/written if the regulations for entering have changed (ie, the physical side of things). Aside from that, I am not in favor of women serving in combat positions in the military anyway. I realize that is yesterday's fight though and have pretty much moved on.

That does bring me to something that I did like about a modern military, the psychology of the people who can operate as Special Forces. The author shows how the various teams are rotated so that they can not only get some R&R but also be examined by Shrinks. People can't go around killing people (even ones who really do deserve to die) without there being consequences to the mind and emotions. While Fury doesn't do a full on “Headology 101”, he does acknowledge it is a real factor and needs to be addressed. I talked about this briefly in my Whose Body? review earlier this month but it feels like this generation of soldiers is the first where their mental space is as of much concern as the physical side of things. I for one find that encouraging.

To end, this was much more enjoyable than book one and I'm looking forward to what Kolt Raynor and his team has to deal with in the next book.

★★★✬☆ ( )

Dalton Fury, what an appropriate name, for a Delta Force Commander. He is an excellent writer & storyteller, bring you into the thick of the action. The book is based on factual operational procedure but because most of the missions are top secret, he has had change the story line. This is a page turner and you will not be disappointed. Highly recommend. ( )