David DeBatto and Pete Nelson C.I.: Dark Target

C.I.: Dark Target

David DeBatto and Pete Nelson

Warner, Feb 2006, $6.99, 416 pp.

ISBN 0446615749

After he lost his sister on 9/11, Boston Police Officer Dave DeLuca re-enlisted in the army and went to Iraq as a counter intelligence officer, where his performance was deemed excellent. After returning with his team to the states, Dave received a promotion to Chief Warrant Officer 2 and leader of "Team Red, a special operations counter-intelligence unit. His first assignment is to find Cheryl Escavedo, who while working at the underground base in Cheyenne Mountain, allegedly stole classified material.

The search leads to the Arizona Desert, where Dave and a tribal policeman track Cheryl's footprints, until they suddenly end near a sheet of glass-like material. Realizing that he has not been given the whole story, he demands his superior officer tell him what is really going on and learns that she probably stole information on Darkstar, a top secret star wars type weapon that mustn't fall into enemy hands. The clues take the team from a cult that believes that a UFO is coming, to Mexican drug lords and Cheryl's room-mate. Deluca feels that it isn't the woman he's really after; that proves right because someone has taken control of Darkstar and is using it for his purposes that run counter to what it was originally designed for.

C.I. DARK TARGET is a novel that has plenty of action, excitement and James Bond type adventures. The authors clearly prove the point, that without accountability the political-military-industrial complex can do what it wants without the public being any the wiser. It also means that when things go wrong, the people who work in the shadows are called upon to fix things up or die trying. Readers will look for more capers starring the protagonist and his Team Red.