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Enemy of Mine (Pike Logan, #3)

Brad Taylor

Why we're reading this: The closing act in the establishing arc of Brad Taylor's Pike Logan/Jennifer Cahill counter-terrorism sag…more
[close] The closing act in the establishing arc of Brad Taylor's Pike Logan/Jennifer Cahill counter-terrorism saga. A scheme has been set in motion by Washington to broker a peace deal between Israel and the Palestinians. Only problem? Two of the best assassins in the Middle East have accepted the contract on the bag-man. And one of these killers happens to have crossed paths with Pike.

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May 03, 2013 Samuel rated it it was amazing

Enemy of Mine Is the third book in the Pike Logan series, and the conclusion of a story arc. The author, former Delta Force operator Brad Taylor tops himself and turns what could have ended up as a cliché assassination story, into a roaring tale of revenge, terrorism and shocking surprises that will blindside you. Despite the scope being reduced with no epic threat like in the previous novel, Enemy of Mine is a more personal story for Pike and Jennifer and shakes up the character interaction bet Enemy of Mine Is the third book in the Pike Logan series, and the conclusion of a story arc. The author, former Delta Force operator Brad Taylor tops himself and turns what could have ended up as a cliché assassination story, into a roaring tale of revenge, terrorism and shocking surprises that will blindside you. Despite the scope being reduced with no epic threat like in the previous novel, Enemy of Mine is a more personal story for Pike and Jennifer and shakes up the character interaction between them in a compelling way.

In the beginning, we meet an assassin codenamed “infidel” who sets up an innovative death trap in Holland for a potential threat to Hezbollah. Back in America, Pike Logan is having a bad dream, watching his family get murdered, the crime still unsolved. Meanwhile in Washington, plans are made to broker a lasting peace deal between Palestinian moderates and Israel, with the innovative addition of a $20 million bribe to set the agreement in stone. An envoy is sent over to the Middle East, covertly but unfortunately, word gets out. As a result, a disgruntled Palestinian nationalist makes a reluctant deal with certain “special interest” groups to provide him with the backing to kill the envoy and in his mind, protect his dream of a Palestinian state. However,” infidel” learns about this, and angry at being left out goes rouge, attempting to do the job and get the $20 million for his retirement fund. Getting wind of the situation, the Taskforce is deployed to Lebanon in order to eliminate the threat to the envoy, a job which suddenly becomes personal to Pike and Jennifer Cahill when they find out the true identity of one of the assassins. All these plot threads come together in a crescendo of deception, fanaticism and revenge with Pike on the final stage of his redemption and facing a tempting opportunity for revenge that may finally wipe away the stains of the past.

Plot wise, Enemy Of Mine shakes things up. Taylor drags Pike and Jenifer through hell and back at unexpected times throughout the story and despite winning the day at the end, both don’t come out intact. The action is a little more toned down from the last book but only a little. From the opening assassination in Holland to Hezbollah’s torture chamber and office in Lebanon to a gut wrenching climax In Qatar’s Four Seasons hotel, Enemy Of Mine delivers constant shocks that will leave you breathless. In Pike Logan’s world, you can only ever expect the unexpected. Innovative technology once again plays a big part in Enemy Of Mine, the Taskforce once again bringing its formidable surveillance and hacking capabilities into play, and the Palestinian assassin deploying a very innovative device which is designed to make his targets elevator fall to earth, hard. Said device is also made by the most notorious real life bomb maker in Al Qaeda who makes an off page cameo in the story. At the same time, Taylor attempts to pick apart the Palestinian problem, a geopolitical issue that has driven many insane, with moderately successful results. Taylor also tries to show with surprising frankness, the Lebanese perspective of the 2006 Israeli invasion, and pulls it off showing the human and geopolitical cost of it, with much of the country falling into the seductive embrace of the Iranian backed Hezbollah. He successfully demonstrates through the Palestinian assassin, “The Ghost” that contrary to the stereotype, Islamist terrorists aren’t one big happy family but instead have different priorities and levels of fanaticism from each other. But the most important of the many themes in the story is revenge. Taylor tries to juxtapose Pike’s opportunity for revenge with the nagging fear that he’ll become the monster who so thoroughly ruined his life back in One Rough Man.

But like the previous Pike Logan books, it’s the great characters that shine and Brad Taylor takes them to interesting places. Pike’s fully resettled into his job as a member of the Taskforce and has almost recovered psychologically from the murder of his family. However, he’s still the dangerously competent operator who can out think and out gun the forces against him on the fly. The Taskforce also gets in new member in the form of Brett, the CIA SAD officer who kicked off the events of the previous novel and provides much needed comic relief at times when Enemy Of Mine is at its darkest. But out of the protagonists, once again, its Jennifer Cahill, former hysterical college student and now badass who steals the show and runs away with it. From putting together a successful rescue mission to save Pike from Hezbollah operatives to breaking the dangerously sociopathic “Infidel’s” nose, she’s fully developed into a sensitive, yet extremely lethal female protagonist, a true rarity in what is a genre dominated by John Rambo clones. The villains are also given a chance to shine, the “Infidel”, being someone we’ve all come to hate and has become even more demented than usual. In a pivotal scene, he hurts one of the Taskforce members in a ghastly way you won’t expect. But the best villain would have to be the Palestinian nationalist “The Ghost”, a true standout. Taylor has made what could have been a run of the mill Islamist fanatic into a surprisingly sympathetic character whose motivations are almost understandable. He’s also an Islamic equivalent of Forsyth’s “Jackal” and savvy enough to give the Taskforce a run for its money.

Now comes the critiquing, the crucial reveal of one of the assassin's true identities was slightly anti climatic and previous readers will see who he is from a long way off, but apart from that, the story was lovely.

Overall, Enemy Of mine is a superb closure to a story arc and one of the best revenge tales since the late Vince Flynn’s Consent To Kill. Brad Taylor has found his place in the top tier of thriller novelists with his excellent plots, nuanced grasp on geopolitics and some of the best characters to grace a saturated genre, I readily recommend the Pike Logan saga to anyone who’s tired of re-reading their old Tom Clancy novels and cynical about wasting their money “on the same old thing” in the kindle store. In my opinion, it’s one of the best thrillers of 2013….for now. Because in the next book, “The Widow’s Strike”, which has just been released, Taylor tackles the terrifying world of bio warfare… and a virus which could leave us quite dead in the wrong hands….. ...more

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Mar 31, 2013 Pamela Small rated it it was ok

Shelves: dumb-yuck-bleh-arrgh, thriller-political-espionage

I love espionage and techno thrillers, but this one was just TOO technical!

The writing was stilted: a lot of tell but not show! The characters were dull and flat. I couldn't keep track of all the tactical jargon nor the convoluted plot and numerous settings.

I think I will go with Brad Thor, Ben Coes,Nelson DeMille, and Vincent Flynn for the espionage/terrorists thriller genre!

In fairness, I admit I thoroughly enjoyed the first two entries in the Pike Logan series, however. This one may just be ...more

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Aug 17, 2015 Jarrod rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: fiction

This is an awesome book where an un-expected twist reveals some much needed revenge and closure. There is a ton of action and twisting plot throughout the book. This book really gripped me and was a page-turner. I thoroughly enjoyed it. The end leaves you wanting more, but without a cliff-hanger. The dynamic duo of Jennifer and Pike are just awesome.

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