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War Hawk: A Tucker Wayne Novel

Review

War Hawk: A Tucker Wayne Novel

In THE KILL SWITCH, James Rollins and Grant Blackwood introduced readers to the unique team of Tucker Wayne and Kane. Tucker is a former Army Ranger and sometime colleague of the Sigma Force team, and his partner Kane is a skilled military dog.

Tucker and his K-9 buddy are facing their most difficult situation yet in WAR HAWK. Before the action is over, they will be forced to confront what it means to be human or canine in modern warfare and recognize the non-living forces that threaten to permanently change the present and future state of military conflict.

The Prologue is set in 1940 Buckinghamshire, England. Like all effective thrillers, WAR HAWK seamlessly blends the past with the present and ties each together in a fictional knot. The past features the infamous British intelligence agent Alan Turing, most recently the subject of the Oscar-winning film The Imitation Game. His Bletchley Park location, code-named Station X, is targeted by both Nazi and traitorous Allied forces who seek to possess Turing's ARES Project --- something powerful enough to rewrite history.

"WAR HAWK is relentless entertainment that never lets up, living up to the highly successful James Rollins model."

In the present, a new threat with ties to that 1940 incident has arisen. A dangerous and powerful billionaire named Pruitt Kellerman, a media mogul overseeing the Horizon Group, is using his riches to fund an unexpected attack. They are also after Jane Sabatello, who they see as a threat who could expose their nefarious agenda. Kellerman and his lackeys have already silenced a former Army soldier, Sandy Conlon, who had been working with the DIA --- Defense Intelligence Agency --- and discovered a plot that led to Kellerman's front door.

Jane rushes into the arms of her former colleague, Tucker. He and Kane do not need much persuading to join her in avenging Sandy's death and finding out who the actual enemies are. Tucker adds other members of his military past to the team, such as Frank Ballenger and a former teammate of Sandy's, Nora Frakes. They begin a globe-trotting adventure that leads them from one perilous situation to another. What makes WAR HAWK stand out from other military thrillers are the moments readers are allowed inside the mind of Kane and the unique perspective his military training as a K-9 soldier add to the narrative. Add to that the introduction of the latest class in drones, the War Hawk, and you have all the makings of a completely unique adventure.

The big finale is set in a Serbian mining town and definitely ends things with a bang. Tucker and company immediately recognize that the Kellerman-funded attack mirrors the WWII Gleiwitz battle, in which Hitler's Nazi army posed as Polish soldiers in order to justify Germany adding Poland to the global hit list. In the WAR HAWK version, an entire Serbian town and all its inhabitants are marked for death as casualties of a war that only Tucker and his team have a chance of preventing.

At its heart, WAR HAWK addresses the current issue of disseminating fact from fiction in the media, especially as it pertains to war coverage. The always reliable James Rollins makes a great teammate with former Operations Specialist Grant Blackwood, who also has collaborated with Tom Clancy and Clive Cussler, and the insight he provides allows readers to actually feel what it would be like as a military K-9. WAR HAWK is relentless entertainment that never lets up, living up to the highly successful James Rollins model.

Reviewed by Ray Palen on May 6, 2016

War Hawk: A Tucker Wayne Novel
by James Rollins and Grant Blackwood

  • Publication Date: December 27, 2016
  • Genres: Adventure, Fiction, Suspense, Thriller
  • Paperback: 544 pages
  • Publisher: William Morrow
  • ISBN-10: 0062135295
  • ISBN-13: 9780062135292