Review: Well, it's like this...
Rating: 1 out of 5
Date: 01 1, 2013
John Scalzi, Joe Haldeman, David Drake, et.al., don't have to worry about Fiore's "Riley's Rogues" displacing them in the pantheon of great military scifi writers.  This is simply horrible. And it's not the writing which is competent enough. It's the whole concept that just doesn't make sense.To start with, it would seem highly unlikely that a raw fresh out of the military academy lieutenant would be placed in charge of an experienced Special Operations squad with a bad "reputation". It just doesn't make sense that any commander, no matter how qualified the lieutenant was in school, would be put in this position.Second, and this is the most egregious part, Riley and his commanding officers are the most incompetent bunch of SpecOps officers ever placed into print. Every single scenario Riley is placed into does not work out - and it's usually due to Riley's reluctance to do what needs to be done.  Fiore also writes Riley into some ridiculous decisions that no experienced SpecOps officer would make. For instance, leaving your highly experienced sniper behind when heading out into situations in which a sniper would be invaluable. And he makes Riley lament about the lack of a sniper - it's just stupid.The book is filled with these kinds of scenarios and it quickly becomes a struggle to read.I wish Mr. Fiore well, but this is not good military scifi. It's not even good scifi.