"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.

"The Road to Unafraid" by Capt. Jeff Struecker

 Captain Jeff Struecker is well-known for two reasons: #1 - Winning the Best Ranger competition in 1996, and #2 - leading part of the rescue effort in Somalia during the Black Hawk Down incident (yes, the same incident featured in the book and movie of the same name).

I believe he should be well-known for two other reasons. #1 - His outstanding Christian testimony, and #2 - his skill at writing. I previously reviewed the first novel that he co-authored with Alton Gansky (see here); and I was overwhelmingly impressed at the action, the story-line, the depth of the characters, and the Christian emphasis in that book... I'm planning on reading the next several books that this duo has written - they are on my list, but so are a couple hundred others, so it may take a while to get to them!

In this book, Capt. Struecker chronicles his early life and what led him to join the Army in the first place. He also details the personal love of pushing himself to the limits, which is the reason he became a Ranger. He pushed himself always to do his very best and to BE the very best - an ethic that stuck with him after he became a dedicated Christian. Struecker saw action in Panama, Kuwait, and of course Somalia; and he details some of the challenges and horrors of war that he faced in those situations. He writes with gut-wrenching emotion, holding nothing back. He probes the deepest parts of his own mind and spirit to give his readers the clearest picture. The result is truly captivating.

But the most captivating part of the book, at least to me, was how he faced the challenge of deciding to follow Christ. And I'm not just talking about getting saved - I'm talking about his change of lifestyle to stop smoking, drinking, swearing, and listening to rock music (while already a Ranger - imagine the pressure!). I'm also talking about his decision to go to seminary and enter the ministry (he became a chaplain). These stories are highly inspirational. I wish every man could read this book to see that being a Christ-follower is not a sign of weakness.

The book ends with a lengthy pep-talk for the reader - and a clear sign pointing to Christ as the only hope for mankind for eternity. If you want to read a book that will challenge you to push yourself to the limits for Christ, then read this one. If you have a loved one who is in the military, and is facing the questions of life and eternity, give them a copy of this book. Struecker handles these issues in a way that no one else but a combat veteran and committed Christian could present them. And most importantly, Jesus Christ shines through this story as the true Hero and Savior.

"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!