October 16, 2017
Early in Tata’s solid fourth Jake Mahegan novel (after Besieged), the ex–Delta Force operative kills two gunmen who confront him late one night at a cabin on the grounds of a North Carolina golf resort, where he was supposed to meet two of his former Delta Force teammates, Patch Owens and Sean O’Malley. Patch and Sean have been taken prisoner, along with Jake’s mentor, Maj. Gen. Bob Savage, as part of a terrorist plot masterminded by Chechen war orphan Zakir Lecha, who has managed to sneak into the U.S. Aided by fighters smuggled into the country among legitimate Syrian refugees, Zakir succeeds in kidnapping the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. Bartholomew Bagwell, and his wife, from their Arlington, Va., home. Their daughter, Army Ranger Cassie Bagwell, works with Jake, already on the trail of his missing buddies, to take down the terrorists. The plot may follow familiar lines, but the high-octane action scenes make this a must-read for military thriller fans. Agent: Scott Miller, Trident Media Group.
November 1, 2017
Tata's latest Jake Mahegan thriller throws his hero into an ambush, along with a huge target on his back. A call on a secure line for assistance has Mahegan head to his commander's home, only to find guns pointed at him. He escapes, barely. As he tries to ascertain what has happened to his commander and his teammates, he slowly uncovers a terrorist plot that is revenge for a mission he conducted earlier in Syria. The mastermind, known as Jackknife, will stop at nothing to destroy Mahegan, and the higher the collateral damage, the better. Tata does a wonderful job balancing the action with the characters, and the setting in the Blue Ridge Mountains, combined with the lack of trust that permeates the narrative, generates a sense of claustrophobia that only adds to the tension. Fans of books set in the world of special ops will surely enjoy this one. Tata, a retired brigadier general in the U.S. Army, is getting better and better with each new novel.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2017, American Library Association.)