REVIEWS
4.5 Stars on Amazon
DOGS BARK PEOPLE DIE
Wilson’s ambitious debut novel blends two popular genres that would seem to be at odds: the last mission adventure and the man and his dog story. Jean-Claude Van Damme and Chuck Norris might kick themselves that Jackson Wade hadn’t been created for them in their 1980s action movie heyday. A “living legend” as a college wrestler who later hardened his skills in Bangkok mixed martial arts cage matches, Wade forged a new patriotic path by enlisting in the Army following the United States’ invasion of Afghanistan. As a Delta Force golden boy, he became “the king of getting results” while developing a badass reputation (when a psychiatrist asks how he sleeps after killing a man, Wade responds, “On my right side”). Is he a rule bender? “Sometimes…if it means accomplishing our mission,” he proclaims. Rule-breaking is what it will take when he and his Team Echo colleagues are recruited for a mission to take out a Taliban cell along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border. By the time he is told confidentially, “You won’t like this operation, but the brass wants it done,” readers will be all in, especially when he develops a seemingly psychic bond and life-changing friendship with a de Kochyano spay, which translates to “dog of the nomads.” Wilson, a retired Air Force brigadier general, deftly brings his military knowledge and experience to bear in this series opener. He has a vivid sense of place, from a Bangkok backwater warehouse where fight crowds “smoked Marlboro cigarettes, guzzled Singha beer, and popped yaa baa, a mixture of methamphetamine and caffeine,” to a Taliban village complex in Pakistan. He writes great action set pieces and has a good ear for military banter. A glossary of military acronyms would have been helpful, but that’s what Google is for.
Entertaining escapism with old school military heroics.
5 Stars on Amazon
GOOD DEEDS GONE BAD
Wilson continues the adventures of former Delta Force soldier-turned-mercenary Jackson “Jax” Wade and his giant Kuchi dog partner in this sequel to Dogs Bark and People Die (2020).
Fresh off a successful mission in Afghanistan with former Delta Force brother-in-arms Jesse Morris, Jackson Wade is contacted by his former employer, Damocles Security Services, at his home in Thailand with an urgent request. … the U.S. president’s niece, a human rights activist, is trapped in Taliban territory with two of her would-be rescuers, both female CIA operatives. … as they inch closer to their destination, Morris asks a profound question that is very much a theme of the work: “Is Dog becoming more like us, or are we becoming more like Dog?”
There are numerous narrative elements that make this novel—and this series—simply unputdownable. The character development is exceptional; while the vast majority of military thrillers feature emotionally stunted, two-dimensional stereotypes, Wilson digs deep into not only Wade’s psyche, but also those of supporting female characters, including former U.S. Army captain Gretchen Sachs, the executive assistant to the head of Damocles; Carol Rossa, deputy CIA station chief in Kabul; and Sharon Beck, an analyst on the counterinsurgency desk in the CIA section of the American embassy in Kabul. The multilayered characterizations are complemented by adrenaline-fueled pacing and nonstop action that will keep readers breathlessly turning pages. Short chapters and frequent shifts of POV also help to maintain the fast and furious narrative momentum. Military fiction afficionados will appreciate the attention to detail when it comes to weaponry and tactical equipment: “Oakley Tombstone shooting glasses with gray-brown lenses covered their eyes, and each wore tan tactical shooting gloves. HK 416C carbines were near at hand, with 10.4-inch barrels, vertical foregrips, retractable stocks, Aimpoint CompM4 reflex sights, and inserted twenty rounds of .300 AAC Blackout cartridges.” Wilson’s frequent references to pop culture add an additional layer of interest and subtle humor—name-checks of Jean-Claude Van Damme, the Game of Thrones series, Mad Max, and Stephen King’s Cujo will have readers smiling to themselves. But the principal element that makes this series such a wildly unique military-thriller saga is the psychic connection between Wade and Dog. Their ability to “mind-talk” is fascinating in and of itself, but the way Wilson subtly ties it to arcane Afghani folklore—“some Kuchi dogs are magical”—makes the connection even more intriguing. One minor caveat: The story’s romance elements around Wade and Morris and their respective love interests come across as forced, inauthentic, and, frankly, unnecessary.
A thrilling amalgam of Clancy’s Jack Ryan and London’s White Fang set in the chaos of South Asia.
5 Stars on Amazon
DON’T POKE THE TIGER
Jackson “Jax” Wade is enjoying a quiet life living as a “gentleman farmer” growing rice and apples in Chiang Mai alongside his Kuchi dog (fittingly called Dog), with whom he shares a deep and inexplicable psychic connection. When he’s asked to protect Rosie Tick—a popular American singer performing in Chiang Mai—he accepts, knowing that a delusional stalker whom Tick already has a restraining order against may be nearby. Wade stops the assailant before he can accost Tick as she’s partying at a local nightclub after the show, but the brutal beat-down is captured on video by numerous patrons, and the stalker is so humiliated that he vows revenge. Complicating matters is the wastrel son of an American senator (who has aspirations of running for president of the United States) who owes a substantial amount of money in gambling debts to a ruthless Russian crime cartel. To save his own skin, he tips the Russians off with details of a jewel-smuggling operation run by Lily Sullivan, a powerful businesswoman nicknamed the Queen of Jade. Sullivan hires Jax after she’s blackmailed. With numerous criminal groups targeting Wade, he uses his deep connection with his almost supernatural dog to lay down some karmic retribution.
The author delivers a page-turning blend of military fiction and mainstream thriller in this work. In addition to his breakneck pacing and adeptly choreographed action sequences, Wilson has an effortlessly fluid writing style. The elite level of understanding, experience, and military insight the author—a retired brigadier general in the U.S. Air Force—brings to the table is obvious. Here’s just one of countless examples: “I carried a Beretta M9. I like the Sig Sauer P365, but I’ve never used it in a close-in gunfight. In the [Special Operations Group], my primary weapon was a suppressed Sig Sauer MCX-SPEAR LT. It had a telescoping stock and held a twenty-round mag.” While the numerous plotlines get a bit convoluted in spots, the strength of Wilson’s prose compensates. He’s acutely aware of the power of a good phrase—so much so that every chapter is titled with a particularly memorable quote from its text. Additionally, most chapters include revelatory, bombshell-delivering sentences, any one of which could serve as a perfect catchphrase for book cover copy. (Here are just a few examples: “If you hunt the pack, the pack hunts you”; “What can the Tiger Master do for you?”; “If you come for the Queen, don’t miss.”) Wade’s brief carnal experiences, while entertaining, seem a bit unnecessary and unsustainable—but that may be the point. (From one love interest: “Like always, time is against us, and our paths are going in a different direction. You and Dog are where you belong, as I am.”)
Fans of Jack Reacher will love this saga featuring two badass heroes, though only one eats raw chicken for breakfast.