The Insider Threat by Brad Taylor
is a realistic thriller. As a retired Lt. Colonel and a veteran
of the US Special Forces he writes from his experiences and
insights, creating a great premise. Although this story is
fiction it is also a chilling reminder regarding the serious
threat of ISIS.
The plot has Pike Logan, the head of Taskforce, a covert terrorist
unit, working with his team to thwart terrorist attacks. From
Kenya to Jordan to Europe and possibly here in America they
must find and stop ISIS recruits who are Americans with passports
that allow them to move freely throughout the world.
Taylor stated, “Libya is terrorist central, and I wanted
to show the linkage with terrorism. That is why in the beginning
of the book I put the quotes from them and allow readers to
see how their words are dangerous. These people going to the
Islamic State have a love for killing. By and large their
policy is to be archaic and do disgusting acts. There is no
negotiating with ISIS, since it only values killing people
who they see as Infidels. They speak in ‘556,’
that is their language. Since ‘556’ is a military
round of an army rifle, it becomes obvious there is no reasoning
with them.”
All of the protagonists are strong, independent, and complicated
individuals whose sole passion is protecting what is right
and good in this world. Israeli agents Aaron and Shoshana
are fascinating characters that are brought back from the
previous story. The interactions of all these characters make
for good and humorous banter. Readers will root for these
characters with Shoshana seen as a female Pike.
Taylor noted, “I wanted to find a way to bring the Israeli
agents back for this book. I found out how to do it when I
discovered through research that the beheaded journalist,
Steven Sotloff, actually had dual Israeli-American citizenship.
The interaction between these characters makes for an interesting
story. Shoshana is a victim of her own violent circumstances,
which makes her different than Jennifer who still sees the
world through rose colored glasses. Pike likes Shoshana because
she is similar to him: not politically correct and will bend
the rules as far as she can go, unless given a direct order.”
On the other hand, the antagonists are pure evil. They are
based on the 1987 movie The Lost Boys, where a gang of vampires
recruits teenage boys. Taylor labels his terrorist group,
The Lost Boys, who are young American men that have gone to
the dark side by working with ISIS. They are blond haired,
blue-eyed with no social media presence, who can slip easily
into the US, falling under the radar. Another interesting
fact is that a main terrorist is named Ringo, while others
are called the Beatles, named after the legendary rock group
because of their English accents.
A theme evident in all of Taylor’s books is the how
commanders must play Monday morning quarterback. Based on
his own experiences, Taylor “wants to show if you make
a decision in combat it may not necessarily be the correct
one. Sometimes you make a decision and bad things happen,
which you must live with and try to learn from.”
The Insider Threat has nonstop action, and a very
realistic plot. As with Tom Clancy novels he is able to write
about serious dangers in a very suspenseful and intense way.
Through well-defined characters and dialogue this novel is
a page-turner that is a must read.
Reviews of other titles in this series
Day
of Rage #6
No
Fortunate Son #7
The
Insider Threat #8
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