The book-a-week challenge continues with The Dawn’s Early Light: A Mike Elliot Thriller Book 1, Revised Edition, by Lee F Duffy.
Major Mike Elliot had drawn what seemed to be good duty, if one considers embassy duty in Tunisia good duty. At least he wasn’t a Special Forces operative anymore. He had enough of that, at too dear a cost.
Elliot had no way of knowing that organizing an evacuation of embassy personnel would lead to security breaches, dead Marines, a hijacking, and Elliot confronted with saving his wife, with him in Tunisia and now a hostage on the plane, while he remained bound and under the watchful eye of terrorists. He knows he has to act. But how?
Duffy places half the action is in Beirut at a time when it was the epicenter of worldwide terror watch, the other half in Cyprus, where he writes a nail-biting narrative too real to not be easily envisioned unfolding on cable news. He leaves no stone unturned: readers get a full dose of special ops, the chain of command, inter-service cooperation, international diplomacy, and the desperate, vengeful, hate-driven acts of terror that are a fact of life in our modern world.
Duffy is a former Army Green Beret and Ranger, and it shows. His attention to detail is extraordinary for any writer, but it’s what you’d expect from someone who wore the uniform and lived to tell tales. The Dawn’s Early Light grips your throat, shakes your attention, and doesn’t let go. Duffy provides enough military for the enthusiasts, enough tension for the thriller fans, and enough what’s-gonna-happen-next for anyone trying to outguess what Duffy has in store. Good luck with that.
The Dawn’s Early Light is the first book in the Mike Elliot Thriller series. Duffy has created a vivid character for our times. I can’t wait to read Book 2, Bombs Bursting in Air. I have to confess: I’ve had this ebook for almost two years in my reader. Everyone has lots to read and no time to read everything, but still. Shame on me for waiting so long. If you like military thrillers or want to take a chance on a new genre, read The Dawn’s Early Light. Don’t wait.
5 stars out of 5.
Available at Amazon and Smashwords. You can find Duffy’s Amazon page here.
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Check in every week for Book Review Wednesday. I’m reading and reviewing a book a week throughout 2018. Join me. Authors, if you have a book you would like reviewed, send me an email at joe@josephmarkbrewer.com.
Joseph Mark Brewer writes the Shig Sato mysteries. Mix up some Lieutenant Columbo and Kurt Wallander and you have an interesting character in Sato and a thrilling new series set in the heart of Tokyo. Click for your copy of The Gangster’s Son, The Thief’s Mistake, Traitors & Lies, or Cat’s Meow. And check out Shig’s Readers Club to get a free copy of Tokyo Summer, the exciting Shig Sato prequel that tells the story of the events that led up to The Gangster’s Son.
Joseph Mark Brewer 