Review: Loss of a most promising author
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 07 17, 2012
First, most reviewers are probably unaware that Mr. Britton passed away in 2008, at the age of only 27.  Thus, the last book of this bundle and his most recentThe Operativewere published posthumously, and one should expect them to differ from his first three in polish.As for this bundle, I thought the price looked good, especially in light of the glowing reviews for the individual books, and ended up devouring the entire thing in a few days.  Well, it's summer, and they're that good.  Except for the fourth (and briefest) volume in the bundle, which didn't quite measure up.  Under the circumstances, I decided to base my rating on only the first three volumes, which were easily still worth the purchase price.Mr. Britton's hero, Ryan Kealey, is yet another special forces vet, who has become a CIA operative.  He works directly for the DDO, John Harper, who has a recurring role in these books along with the CIA Director and the President.  The most important recurring character, however, is Naomi Karmai, a CIA analyst who has specialized in the Persian Gulf countries that are the focus of these books.  These characters are human; they make terrible mistakes, get hurt, but somehow get the job done.The books are action packed, but never lose sight of the motivations and emotions of their characters.  The military details ring true, as they should given Mr. Britton's own service in the US army.  But I was just as impressed by Mr. Britton's apparent comfort in describing meetings held in the Oval Office and Situation Room.One reviewer noted Mr. Britton's tendency to fall prey to "Wikipedia" moments, and he did love to be very precise when it came to equipment.  I didn't mind.MINOR SPOILER: The first three books need to be read in sequence for maximum enjoyment, and that "trilogy" ends with two plot lines open for further elaboration.  One might reasonably expect that to occur in the fourth book.  It doesn't, and we will never know what Mr. Britton intended, if anything, unless he revealed it to someone before his untimely passing.