Backshot

Starfist: Force Recon #1

by David Sherman, Dan Cragg

An exciting new special-ops adventure from the battle-tested vets who created the popular Starfist series

Jorge Lavager, charismatic leader of the mysterious Union of Margelan, ferociously guards an agricultural research facility on the planet Atlas. What that facility conceals will prove whether Lavager is an idealist seeking to unify Atlas under a banner of freedom and prosperity-or a tyrant aiming to control all of Human Space.

The Marines of Fourth Force Recon's second platoon are dispatched to Atlas to uncover the truth. They will have to sneak past state-of-the-art surveillance equipment barring unlawful entry to the planet and land in a desolate area miles from their target. And if they discover lethal new weapons instead of legitimate research, the thirty-six Marines are to seize the compound-guarded by merciless, armed-to-the-teeth soldiers-and destroy it. But what the recon team finds on Atlas sets off a chain of events that will force some hard decisions on the Marines . . . and end in a deadly surprise.

Genres: Science Fiction, Fiction, Space, Military Fiction, Military Science Fiction, Ebooks, Planets

357 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 2005

About the author

David Sherman was the author or co-author of some three dozen books, most of which are about Marines in combat.
He wrote about US Marines in Vietnam (the Night Fighters series and three other novels), and the DemonTech series about Marines in a fantasy world. The 18th Race trilogy is military science fiction.
Other than military, he wrote a non-conventional vampire novel, The Hunt, and a mystery, Dead Man's Chest. He also released a collection of short fiction and non-fiction from early in his writing career, Sherman's Shorts; the Beginnings.
With Dan Cragg he wrote the popular Starfist series and its spin off series, Starfist: Force Recon—all about Marines in the Twenty-fifth Century.; and a Star Wars novel, Jedi Trial.
His books have been translated into Czech, Polish, German, and Japanese.
David passed away in November 2022.

Reviews

[Otis Campbell]

Now, if you’ve ever read the main Starfist books, you know they usually follow the 34th FIST grunts who show up with enough loud-mouthed firepower to wake the dead. But this book right here is a whole different breed of cat. It kicks off a spinoff series all about the sneaky-pete boys: Fourth Force Recon Company's second platoon. The whole mess takes place on a far-flung, dirt-farming planet called Atlas. There’s this smooth-talking, slick-willy character named Jorge Lavager who runs a outfit called the Union of Margelan. Lavager is guarding a particular agricultural research facility tighter than a miser guards his pennies, and the big cheeses back in Human Space can't figure out if the guy is a freedom-loving idealist or a power-mad tyrant trying to build weapons to rule the galaxy. So, they pack up thirty-six Marines, slap 'em with orders to sneak past the fanciest planetary surveillance radar you ever did see, and drop 'em smack in the middle of a miserable, bone-dry wasteland miles away from anything. The mission? Hike on over, nose around, and if it turns out Lavager is growing illegal bombs instead of prize-winning tomatoes, blow the whole place to kingdom come. Since Sherman was a real-deal Marine and Cragg was a big-shot Army Sergeant Major, the military flavor is thicker than sausage gravy. There ain't a bunch of fluffy soap-opera drama here; it is focused strictly on the gritty reality of combat. The book even throws a curveball by introducing a stone-cold sniper named Bella Dawn, who happens to be the first female combat shooter to jump into the Starfist universe.

[Brandon]

Slow beggining and couldn't get into it but the last half picked up and cranked up the action. I would say the biggest con was introducing a lot of interesting characters and then only seeing them once or twice after

[Paschalis]

elibrary

[arxisun]

backshot 💟💟

[Brian Turner]

The first in a spin-off series to Sherman's StarFist series.
The Force Recon teams are the infiltrators of the normal FISTs (Fleet Initial Strike Team), going ahead of the others and also taking on their own covert missions.

As usual with his writing, the civilians are in two groups - one is inept and working towards their own agenda, while the others are either ex-Marines themselves or in favour of them and in charge. Also, the Marines are the best of the best, never leave anyone behind etc., etc.

There are quite a few good scenes, especially when the hidden agenda is realised, and whilst the Marines are on their mission.

A decent start to a series.

[Fredrick Danysh]

A novel of futuristic space Marines. The men of the Fourth Force Recon's second squad are inserted to investigate the Union of Margelan on a research planet. The Marines will have to deal deadly surprises and make hard choices.

[Mark]

Average military sf with a rather gaping plot hole undermining its foundations.

[Dale (Aus)]

Workman like with the action sequences well done but the characters needed more filling in as the book was over before I started to get a feel for them.

[David]

It was ok, but shame that the characters were introduced but got to know so little about most of them.