WOW about sums Rogue Threat up. It is well developed, a quick read that is
thoroughly thrilling, enticing and chock full of fast action. A. J. Tata has written a
great book. I was taken from the first page. I really hope that someone scoops this up
and makes a movie out of it. I am sure that Tata would become a household name overnight,
if that happens. This book has a really good pace and is astonishingly interesting
because it delves a bit into the actual reality of the military and our defense systems
and what makes it all run efficiently. The fact that Tata is a Brigadier General can’t
be lost on the authenticity of the scenes and the military reality.
Rogue Threat opens with the first Iraqi War (Desert Storm) in February of 1991
and a general named Jacques Ballantine (from the Iraqi Guard), who watches his brother
being killed by Zachary Garrett during a battle between the forces. Henri comes to save his
brother Jacques and Zachary has to kill him, or be killed. Jacques knows this is the way
of things and had willingly let his brother into the war, even knowing that the threat of
death was very real; but now he can’t live with his younger brother's untimely death at
the hands of the American soldier.
Now move forward to twelve years later in Virginia, a year after the death of Zachary
at the hands of some Islamists in the Philippines during another conflict. Matt, Zachary’s
younger brother, was in the line of fire this time, with Zachary coming in to save him.
But this time, Zachary was the one killed. The thing that both of the brothers were trying
to stop was a gigantic theft and sale of some eighteen UAVs to the enemies of America, along
with the technology to run them.
Skip forward a year to find Matt in medical rehab, recovering from his own wounds and
the burial of an older brother he worshipped. Matt is called back into the Service and
the CIA by the President to find Ballantine. Only this time, Ballantine is in Canada,
with several revenge plots in hand that Matt has to stop, or at least get put on the back
burner for a while. The first question that comes up is about those missing UAV Predators.
Matt is teamed up with a lovely anti-terrorist named Peyton O’Hara, whose fiery temper temper
is as short as her Irish name. And then many other questions start popping up all around,
such as if Ballantine is really behind the bombing and gassing of thousands at a stadium in
Charlotte NC, during a Charlotte Sting game... or the blowing up of the Mall of America and
the bombing of a set of tracks, derailing into the Delaware River a high-speed Metroliner train
en route between Washington DC and New York's Penn Station. These things all happened almost
simultaneously during a span of about two hours. Thousands are killed, many more are injured
and Matt Garrett and his sidekick Peyton O’Hara are missing and quickly presumed dead by the
government.
This all happens in about the first 45 pages and the action just gets better from
there on out. Miracles happen, lives are lost and taken, lives are saved and resumed. Tata
is in his element and he is a masterful writer who has a total grasp on the synchronization
between the military and the White House and all the different elements that he brings into
this story. It is all very realistic and you think you are in the middle of these battles.
Great book. As I said, WOW is the word that best encapsulates this story. Tata is a master
and he has many more books in him for his main character, Garrett. A must read if you like
this type of story. I do, and I couldn’t put it down. In fact I had to go back and re-read
many parts of the story to bring it all up to speed and totally grasp the reality of it all.