Review: Good story and characters, but the author jumped around too much.
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 11 7, 2011
Collateral Damage is the first in the "Silent Warrior" series. No news yet about the next installment, but several characters have their beginnings in this book.Jack and several of his special ops team mates were injured in a battle against terrorists in Afganistan. They are now home on American soil to heal...  All except Neil, who didn't survive. Jack can't remember all of the details of how his friend was killed in the fight. He won't let himself rest until Neil's death is solved.During the battle, Jack was shocked when he downed a terrorist who was obviously American in origin. Wanting answers, Jack searches out the American terrorist's widow. When he arrives on her door step, all heck breaks loose. Before he can blink, Jack finds himself fighting to save the lives of not only the widow, but her twin sons as well. Lauren seems innocent and unaware of her husband's treason. Is she really a fellow terrorist in disguise?The story of the main couple was terrific. Unfortunately, the author didn't stick with it. She jumped around and gave equal time to two different bad guys and their personal lives, three other soldiers, and two other women. The story of Neil's widow was good, but intrusive in this book. It really should not have been so long or detailed. Better to have saved it for a separate book. I'm guessing she and her new love interest will get their own book, and it will probably be quite good, but I didn't love having this book interrupted by them so often.As far as the main couple's story, I enjoyed most of it. Plenty of action and romantic tension. Sweet bonding between Jack and Lauren's twin little boys.  Jack is a man who has known the harshest parts of life, but is not above recognizing that he needs to make some changes to improve life for himself and those he loves. Lauren is a dedicated mom who wants to find true happiness for herself and her boys.There was only one annoying portion of the book where Lauren (non-military, totally untrained, mother of two, who spends her free time doing charity work) is brought along to help with a mission to free her sons from a terrorist prison situation. I never understand why authors like to throw that kind of nonsense into an otherwise realistic story... I.e. "We are going into a life threatening terrorist situation where trained enemies will be armed to the teeth and ready to shoot us on sight. I know!  Let's take along a civilian who has never owned a gun!  No doubt she'll come in handy and not prove to be a liability in any way." (not a quote from the book; just an example of the type of thinking). Sounds ridiculous because it is.Other than that, the book was engaging, romantic, and action-packed.On a side note:  How disappointing that we'll never get to read Neil, "the Sandman's", book. To be honest, he intrigues me more than his widow's current love interest. Neil was heroic, unprejudiced, fun-loving, brave, a kick-a** soldier who gave his life while blocking terrorists from reaching his own team of American soldiers, and he was totally in love with his wife. I was annoyed to read that his wife wasn't as head-over-heals for him as he was for her.  Can we have a new story for him instead?  Bring on the Sandman!