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No Fortunate Son

Brad Taylor

Why we're reading this: Even being made redundant by upper management can't stop Pike and Jennifer from their counter-terrorist w…more
[close] Even being made redundant by upper management can't stop Pike and Jennifer from their counter-terrorist work. When a relative of their employer goes missing, with nothing better to do, Cahill and Logan fly to Europe in order to run down leads. What they uncover is a unique, deadly shell-game involving the original pioneers of terrorism and the children of the current administration's Cabinet members.

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Jan 19, 2015 Samuel rated it really liked it · review of another edition

A FRIEND IN NEED.

[4.5 stars rounded down to four]

"After all, my wife and I have given nine hostages to fortune. Our children and your children are more important than anything else in the world. The kind of America that they and their children will inherit is of grave concern to us all."- Joseph Patrick Kennedy

The writing machine. That's a nickname Brad Taylor's former colleague turned fellow military thriller writer "Dalton Fury" coined to describe the author of the smash hit, critically accl A FRIEND IN NEED.

[4.5 stars rounded down to four]

"After all, my wife and I have given nine hostages to fortune. Our children and your children are more important than anything else in the world. The kind of America that they and their children will inherit is of grave concern to us all."- Joseph Patrick Kennedy

The writing machine. That's a nickname Brad Taylor's former colleague turned fellow military thriller writer "Dalton Fury" coined to describe the author of the smash hit, critically acclaimed Pike Logan/Jennifer Cahill saga. 7 books and a growing bundle of short stories in the span of a few short years. But each of them is some of the best Post 9/11 military thriller work the genre has seen in quite a while. The research is impeccable, the authors prose is crisp and clean. plots are relevant and reflect the real world geopolitical concerns of today and the characters have only become more developed as the series has progressed. "No Fortunate Son" continues this trend. Rather than an epic threat however, Taylor appears to have gone with a personal story like the incredible "Enemy Of Mine", his third book, which focused on the characters to great effect. Now to the review. How bloody could things get when personal and professional lives explode in the world of counter-terrorism?

The novel begins in a bar at Fort Bragg. Some Irishmen attempt to abduct one of the patrons but botch it when they're forced to exchange gunfire. We then cut to Pike Logan and Jennifer Cahill. After a quick glimpse of their domestic life, they get an unceremonious letter in the mail terminating their employment from the counter-terrorist unit, "The Taskforce". Meanwhile, from Europe to Okinawa, certain US Armed services personnel are disappearing. The one thing they have in common? Family connections to influential officials. One in particular causes the current administration to panic, which only rises when the group responsible sends a clip of a cabinet member's son getting a hole drilled through the front of his head with an AK47. Meanwhile, Kurt Hale, commander of the Taskforce, requests a rendezvous with Pike and Jennifer, contracting them to find his nephew who appears to have been scooped up with the hostages. Pike and Jennifer accept the task, fly to Europe and begin an investigation into a elegantly complex plot whose endgame is to reignite one of the original terrorist causes which has been long forgotten.

"No Fortunate Son" appears to have slightly less focus on plot compared to the previous book. Nonetheless, it's solid. From a hunt through the Paris underground, a frantic race up the London Eye and culminating in a climax through Camden Town, Pike and Jennifer get to show what they're made of when they can't use the resources of the Taskforce. The research for this book is still up to the standard of the previous entries. This time, we get a look at how social media apps are being utilized like never before by international terrorists. Snapchat for instance, plays a key role in the book and in the climax, but not in the way you would think.

Now to the characters, which are the focus of the book. I'll focus on three.
First Pike and Jennifer. Now with a lot of leeway on his hands, Pike doesn't waste this opportunity. Whether it be Serbian criminals, RIRA terrorists or Metropolitan Police, even when he doesn't have the guns, kit and eyes which he normally has on speed dial, Pike is dogged and is methodically ruthless at running down leads. He's also become a much better person since the first book. When he realizes that one of his friends is in danger of experiencing the situation which ruined his life back in book one, he steps up to the bat, even when still chaffing about getting made redundant.
Next, Jennifer. One of my top three favorite female protagonists in the military/spy thriller genre, she is on fire in "No Fortunate Son", kicking arse and taking names. As the series has progressed, she's suffered a lot (to put it mildly) but she's only grown in competence during each book. In this story, she is at the top of her game and during the climax, she's the only thing standing between Kurt Hale's nephew and a group of approaching shooters. Its her quick thinking which saves them both.
Then, there's Kurt Hale. The author fleshes him out considerably and puts him in a position of vulnerability which he hasn't been in. As if attempting to untangle his personal and professional concerns isn't enough, he's also trying to fight an increasingly difficult battle to get his best friend back on board.

Overall, "No Fortunate Son" maintains Brad Taylor's position as one of the top authors in the military thriller genre. Despite being less focused on plot, fleshing out the characters and the relationships further makes this another excellent entry. I wait with bated breath at book 8 which focuses on a plot by Daesh, and in the meantime, recommend this one to the rest of you.

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