Jennifer and Pike have started a cover organization useful to the Task Force. Ostensibly it exists to provide support to archaeological teams heading into marginal areas. They are on a benign cover - creating trip when suddenly indicators in several intelligence agencies spike red. There is something big coming down and no one has specifics. Jennifer, Pike and a few members of Task Force may be in the right place to risk it all and save the day. Or get shot down before they even get started.

Pike's continuing struggle with the darkness inside him occasionally shadows the main events, adding a depth and poignancy to a damn fine military thriller.

Like his first novel One Rough man, ALL NECESSARY FORCE is written with a gritty realism difficult to capture. It also tells a great story, keeping me on a knife-edge of suspense.

This second in the Pike Logan series begins in the Cambodia of the 1970's then veers to the Sudan of a few years ago before settling in to the main narrative. One of the weaknesses of complexly plotted thrillers is the need to cover ground important but tangential to the central story, not easily done without losing the reader right off the bat. But Brad Taylor despite this being only his second novel handled the lead-ins like a master, using pithy prose and vivid character sketches to bring the scenes alive and keep them memorable enough to fulfill their roles later in the book.

Another strong skill is illustrated when it becomes necessary to explain and expound on military or government acronyms and obscure terms relating to computer and information technology. I have often experienced an unpleasant disruption in the narrative flow when otherwise experienced authors attempt to teach at the expense of their storyline. Brad Taylor has grasped the knack of giving us enough information for understanding without affecting the level of suspense he is building. I am now a solid fan, and look forward to (hopefully) many books to come.

Book Summary

Retired Delta Force officer Brad Taylor-whose debut thriller, One Rough Man, was a national bestseller-continues his electrifying Pike Logan series.

A terrorist hit is coming.

The CIA, FBI, and Department of Defense systems have spiked, but traditional intel is going nowhere. It falls to the Taskforce-a top- secret team that exists outside the bounds of U.S. law and is charged with finding and destroying asymmetric threats-to stop the unknown conspirators.

A shadowy trail leads the Taskforce through Asia and into Egypt, where an attack leaves one hardened Taskforce member dead and another barely breathing. Pike Logan and his partner, Jennifer Cahill, are forced to helm the increasingly convoluted and dangerous mission-a mission that tests Jennifer's ability to justify means for an end and Pike's tenuous ability to stay in control. Sifting their way through the opposing plots of two terrorist organizations will turn out to be the least of their problems when a weapon of unthinkable power touches American soil . . . the only country in which Taskforce members are forbidden to operate, and the only country that Pike Logan may be unable to save.

Told with unparalleled realism informed by Taylor's decades of experience in the U.S. Army Infantry and Delta Force, All Necessary Force takes readers on a terrifying journey that ends at our own front door.

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