John Ringo, Unto the Breach

Unto the Breach

John Ringo

Baen, December 2006, $26.00

ISBN 1416509402

The terrorists hold hostage the beloved daughter of Russian research biologist Dr. Tolegen Arensky. They demand that he provide them with weapons of mass destruction from his place of work, the Russian Institute for Agricultural and Biological Research, or else his offspring and others he cherishes will die.

Meanwhile in Georgia, American expatriate Mike Harmon is the warlord of the Keldara Caucasus tribe. He enjoys his life in the former Soviet republic, but worries about the nearby Chechen war. Now his former associates from when Mike was a Seal operative and instructor ask him to rescue a Russian scientist and his daughter from terrorists, who demand Arensky abet their efforts to obtain WMD. Mike reluctantly agrees to enter Chechen with some of his best warriors, but soon realizes his so called friends failed to tell him the rest of the story.

The fourth Mike Harmon thriller is John Ringo at his best. The storyline is loaded with action, especially a terrific battle scene climax, yet it also deeply allows the reader to see inside Mike as he struggles with values he took for granted, but no longer can as he wonders just who the terrorist is. Readers of the series will want to read this latest entry, perhaps the best of a strong series, while newcomers will enjoy this stand alone, but also seek the backlist (see GHOST, KILDAR and CHOOSERS OF THE SLAIN).