Review: street ranger
Rating: 1 out of 5
Date: 07 29, 2012
I found nothing related to meeting any gal of note as stated in description.  To me is immaterial - just mentioning it.  This is stated in description as prequel.  It read as potential for such - but reads as stand alone piece (which I prefer) .  There was no cliffhanger ending - it finished for this short.Leon Brown is an Army Ranger who sees action overseas, gets injured about the time a family tragedy strikes and he is sent home on compassionate leave - rather than re -deployed.  His past is of the streets and gangs and petty crime type.  He gets foisted into the army rangers to avoid prison time (I will explain my issues with such later), becomes a better man for the trainging (per his own narrative).  Due to the circumstances of the tragedy, his mindset of integrity and operating within a code of honor will be tested as he finds a need for vengeance overpowering.  This short is him going through the paces toward the goal of satisfying resolution for his sister.It is not a horrible premise - but a lot needs be ignored in order to swallow the tale as presented.  The Army Rangers is an elite group that has minimum threshold for acceptance.  A test is one of the requirements.  Since Leon was a child of the streets (rather than studious) it is unlikely he could pass the test minimum.  Additionally, one must pass a security clearance check which someone with a criminal background and headed for prison is unlikely to pass.  I am uncertain that the armed forces even offer service to country (this is set in 2005 or 2006) to prevent jail time.  I have heard of such from many, many years ago (youthful offenders being allowed to enlist to thwart such) - but I do not think the practice has occurred in decades.  In any case (say they allow) - it is very unlikely that such "recruit " would be allowed into elitist ranks of rangers straight from the starting gate.  So, I had some real issues with plausibility (even though fiction) of given plot device as foundation of story.  It (if allowing all that as believable) is really beyond suspension the conclusion this soldier came to related to his decision of returning to duty.  He was unable to make an elective choice to stay home or return (if one allows his enlistment to thwart prison) - so the scenes related to his decisionmaking in that front were directly contradictory to premise set out.  Tossing in with cops seemed believable - then moving to others is not too hard to imagine in covert manner to get his end result.  The ability to obtain information was semi plausible and worked in scene - but the rest just did not ring with enough bits of reality to make this a series character wherein I feel compelled to continue with future books.The editing was sub par - there were numerous errors related to grammar and punctuation.  There was at least one error every other page (on average) .Sorry - the promise of the premise alone is not strong enough to recommend this title or author at this time.Christine