"Blaze of Glory" by Major Jeff Struecker and Alton Gansky

*ALERT: SPOILERS BELOW*
In the second fiction offering from the combined talents of Jeff Struecker and Alton Gansky, Sgt. Major Eric "Boss" Moyer and his Special Operations team are once again thrown into a desperate situation - this time, it is to prevent a suicide bomber from taking out 20 of the world's leaders. But that is not the only crisis they face... Their mission will take them to Mexico to face a ruthless drug lord.
A new character is introduced to the team to replace a man they lost in their last mission (read the first book). But the new guy, Jerry "Data" Zinsser, suffers from PTSD after his previous team was mostly wiped out - and his flashbacks may compromise this new mission and put his team at risk.

I absolutely loved their first book, "Certain Jeopardy," and the second book is just as good. The writing is well-done, the characters are real and believable, and the pace is perfect. The action scenes will keep your heart racing until the last page.

If I had a criticism (and this is entirely a matter of preference), the humorous lines may have been a tad too numerous - especially in the tense moments. But, at the very least, they helped to break up the drama, and give your nerves a second to ease up. And mostly, they seem to be in-character for the ones who are saying them.

Besides that one minor thing, the book is everything you want in a military fiction - without the swarms of swear words and the unnecessary sexual scenes you find in other works. The characters are so real, you feel sympathetic for them without even realizing it. Your heart pangs for the ones who lose loved ones and friends as they weep. When Zinsser contemplates suicide (multiple times), you want to reach into the pages and shake him back to reality. The authors do a great job of painting a picture of a man tormented by PTSD. This is an issue that is hard to grasp for those of us on the outside looking in. As in the first book, the character J.J. - who is the lone Christian on the team - has to wrestle with his own conscience when he takes the lives of his enemies.

I appreciate the authors for tackling difficult subjects with grace. After reading Struecker's autobiographical book, "The Road to Unafraid", I have a lot of respect for the man. And Alton Gansky has proven himself to be a talented writer who can weave a great story.

Get these books - you won't be disappointed at all.
5 out of 5 stars.

"Wounds" by Alton Gansky

"Wounds" is a very emotional book. The story centers around Dr. Ellis Poe, a professor at a small seminary in southern California. Poe is tormented by a memory that he hasn't been able to escape since the event happened almost 30 years ago: witnessing the murder of a high school classmate. Poe was too scared to go to the police. But the fear was quickly replaced by crushing guilt - guilt that he has worn like an enormous burden for nearly three decades.
Meanwhile, homicide detective Carmen Rainmondi is on the trail of a serial killer. The murders have all been bizarre and brutal, with no obvious connections and no useful evidence. Each victim is ruthlessly tortured before death. What's more, the killer appears to be taunting the homicide team. Can Dr. Poe finally put his conscience to rest, and will Detective Rainmondi catch the killer before his grand finale?

I have the utmost respect for our law enforcement officers and investigators. Sure, there are dirty cops just like there are corrupt politicians and hypocrite pastors. But these men and women behind the badge do a tremendous service for our society. (Can you imagine what our nation would be like without them?) Alton Gansky did a great job of painting the law enforcement community as a tight-knit family (not without internal conflict) with a high regard for justice. He also took me inside the tormented mind of the homicide detective: a person who sees the worst crimes but looks beyond the gruesome to find the killers. These behind-the-scenes heroes are often overlooked and under-appreciated.

The main characters were well-developed and fairly realistic, but at times the book took on an almost "dark sitcom" feel. There may have been a tad bit too many lame jokes between cops. (But then again, I'm not a cop. Perhaps they need to have a macabre sense of dry humor in order to keep their sanity intact while viewing mutilated bodies day in and day out... If I ever meet one, I'll ask them.)

It was a very engrossing novel. I could feel the evil emanating from the pages when I was reading about the murders and the killer. My heart ached for the families that learned of their losses. I wanted to give Dr. Poe a hug and tell him that God had forgiven him. These are the kind of emotions and feelings that only great authors can elicit from us. And I believe Alton Gansky is a great author.

I have no major criticisms of this book. The story was over a little too fast (the good ones always are), and I would have liked a little more resolution and closure. However, without the resolution I am left with "tastes" of the book in my mind long after I am finished reading it - instead of merely closing the book, saying "that was good," and promptly forgetting about it. Perhaps that was one of Gansky's objectives? If so, well done, sir. I am still pondering it even though I finished it two days ago.....

"A Ship Possessed" by Alton Gansky

Alton Gansky gets some serious respect for his creativity: a demon-possessed nazi in a raft gets picked up by an American submarine in World War II, then the sub disappears... over half a century later, the sub shows up at a San Diego beach. It's (supposedly) empty, but how did it get there?

A retired Navy officer is called back to investigate this mystery. But his assistant, a young female officer, is trying her best (unsuccessfully) to hide her paralyzing fear of the sub. What is it about the sub that is causing her terror?

Brilliantly weaving the two stories (the WWII story, and the investigation by the retired officer), Gansky did a great job of creating a "spooky" feeling that adds the thrills to the books that are supposed to be "thrillers." Some authors are not able to achieve this. Not only that, but Gansky also includes very vivid descriptions of the spiritual realm that help to visualize what the demon-possessed people are experiencing during a possession.

I'm personally not an expert on demons or demon possession. And I have no idea what the spiritual realm would look or feel like to a demon-possessed person. But, taking it from a purely literary standpoint, Gansky's version is quite terrifying. (Although I'm sure real demon possession is much worse)

I enjoyed the book (not as much as "Certain Jeopardy", co-written with Jeff Struecker). I especially liked the parts describing Navy and Coast Guard procedures, terminology, etc. Submarines have always fascinated me. How do those guys not go crazy in there for so long? Anyway, there are two other books in this series, so I hope to get to those soon.

"Certain Jeopardy" by Jeff Struecker and Alton Gansky

This book delivers on so many levels - I was floored. The action was great, but the depth of the characters made the book exciting. The story is fairly simple: the U.S. sends a team of elite soldiers to do some reconnaissance in Venezuela. "They" believe that a terrorist group is training extremists there... In actuality, the Venezuelans have captured an American nuclear scientist and want to trade him to the terrorists to help them develop WMDs. The Special Ops team may have to kill the scientist to prevent his knowledge from being used by the wrong people. This creates quite a dilemma for a certain member of the Special Ops team who happens to be a strong Christian - and he is already reeling from the death of an innocent person at the hands of his team.

To put it bluntly, no non-Christian author can write this story because it deals with themes that are uniquely Christian (such as the scenario described above). When you have talented writers with real-life experience in the subject matter, who write for a bigger purpose than just to astound the readers with explosions and action, you cannot go wrong.

I was pleasantly surprised by the over-arching Christian elements to the story. There was at least one scene in the book where the Gospel was clearly presented - and the Christians in the story (with one back-slidden exception) wear the name of Christ well.

But, seriously, the most amazing thing about the book was the way that I immediately had a heart-connection with the characters. They felt like real people going through real problems and displaying real emotion. (Not all of the conflict happens with guns and gadgets... there are other problems - family problems, health problems, etc). I read a lot of books, and let me tell you that few authors have the ability to make characters this real.

In short, I cannot WAIT to start reading "Blaze of Glory"! Struecker and Gansky have made a fan out of me in a BIG way.

A rock-solid 10 out of 10 stars!