Kensington Books and NetGalley provided me with an electronic copy of Besieged. I voluntarily chose to review this book and my opinion is freely given.

Captain Jake Mahegan is checking on the daughter of a collegue, on school grounds, when an attack occurs. Waking up after being knocked unconscious, Mahegan discovers that a twelve-year-old autistic girl has been kidnapped. Little does Mahegan know, but his investigation will take him deep into a conspiracy that may threaten the nation he loves.

Having not read the previous novels, I expected to feel a little lost at the beginning of the novel, but the author does a good job in presenting the character. The novel is a bit repetitive, especially regarding all of the military action. Being that the author is a high ranking military official, I expected the novel to be serious business and very timely. Overall, the book was good, but just did not grab my attention in a way that I would be wanting to read the first two books.

"Besieged" eBook was published in 2017 and was written by A. J. Tata (http://www.ajtata.com). Mr. Tata has published 9 novels. This is the third of his "Captain Jake Mahegan" series.

I categorize this novel as ‘R’ because it contains scenes of Violence. The story is set in the contemporary US. The primary character is US Army Captain (retired) Jake Mahegan.

While Mahegan is retired from his time as a Special Forces operator, he is still loosely connected. When responding to a call for help from a deceased colleague's daughter, he is drawn into the plot for an attack on the US by terrorists.

Mahegan must avoid terrorists that come after him. He must also find a young girl they have kidnapped. She is autistic, but a brilliant mathematician. Her math and programming skills are sought by the terrorists to aid in their large scale attack on the US.

I really enjoyed the 10 hours I spent reading this 464 page Fiction Thriller. I have read other novels by Mr. Tata and really have enjoyed them. He does a good job crafting a modern military thriller. I thought the characters were well developed and I liked the plot for this novel. I liked the inclusion of drones into the plot. The choice of art work was very appropriate for this novel. I give this novel a 4 out of 5.

Further book reviews I have written can be accessed at https://johnpurvis.wordpress.com/blog/.

My book reviews are also published on Goodreads (https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/31181778-john-purvis).

Besieged by A.J. Tata

Very Exciting! I found a new hero to love in Jake Mahegan!

Thank You to both NetGalley and Kensington Books for a copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review.

Brigadier General A.J. Tata is a new author for me. I’ve begun a lot of my reviews with those words and again I have to say thank you to NetGalley for exposing me to all these new and wonderful authors. I thought I had a decent size list of writers to read before but through this service I have discovered so many new authors’ books to read and I love it!

Ok, here is a quick run down of the book. Jake is surfing and he gets a call from a former teammate. The message says “No Broken Promise”. That’s code that another former teammates daughter, Promise White, needs help. She is a teacher at an elementary school and when he is walking to the door of the school there is a kid of about 20 with a long coat on that is carrying weapons under the coat and soon it is revealed that he also is rigged with a bomb around his torso that is remote controlled by an unknown adversary. Jake distracts him enough so the teachers can get the kids to safety. The bomb does go off but outside the school. It’s here we meet Misha Constance who is Autistic and brilliant at writing code. Another bomb is delivered to the school via an autonomous car. Jake is knocked unconscious and Misha is kidnapped. Later we find out that an Iranian terrorist, Darius Mirza, is behind this and many more attacks on America’s infrastructure with the end goal of destroying America. That is the quick and dirty but this novel is so much more.

Jake Mahegan is a fantastic protagonist. I love that he is Native American. I love that his background as a former Delta Forces Captain has made him powerful, skilled, and thoughtful. Before he makes a move he has already thought of several contingency plans in case the first option doesn’t work. His observational and strategic skills are brilliant and makes you want him by your side in a tough spot or officially by your side during a mission. He is capable and confident without being arrogant, macho or obnoxious. He is fierce when he is defending someone he cares about but even at 6’6” you can totally picture him as a softy or giant teddy bear when dealing with a woman he cares about or child. Those nuances make him so much more interesting and compelling as an action hero or as just a man.

As a woman, I know I am not the target audience writers of this genre are trying to appeal to, but I appreciate it that General Tata did not make Jake a ladies man or a player and that there were no women in skimpy bikinis or dresses or any gratuitous sex scenes to add a notch on Jake’s bedpost. I also appreciate that he doesn’t second guess the two women’s, or Misha’s for that matter, abilities to hold their own. It was nice to see strong female characters that could help him “get the job done”.

I love Jake and look forward to reading A.J.’s other novels featuring him but I have to say that I adored the “leading lady” in this novel and that means Misha Constance. Misha is an eleven year old Autistic prodigy. Another reviewer remarked that the author showed Autism as a superpower more than as a disability and I’d have to agree and disagree with that. I think Tata shows Autism as both a disability and as a superpower at different times in the book. We are only introduced to Misha for a brief moment before she is kidnapped the first time. We learn that she is a savant with mathematics and computer coding which is her father’s job at the Cefiro car company, a Cuban car company that features autonomous vehicles, with a factory and R&D site located in Wilmington, North Carolina. She and her father are very close and he has invented special glasses that help her to function in the world a little easier. She uses text messaging primarily to communicate with others but early on we are shown the Impressiveness of her mind.

From the book- Something was wrong. Misha was violently flailing her arms and began shouting, “Glasses! Glasses!” Misha’s filter to the world had just been removed. Misha was stomping her feet and waving her arms and sobbing now. As if a switch had been flipped, she’d gone from controlled to out of control. Without her glasses she looked very different, a knight without her armor. All her senses were on fire at the same time and she could not stop the burn. Her eyes were seeing everything!

Without the glasses we see Misha’s disability and with the glasses on we see her brain as a superpower. In her vulnerable state you just want to pick her up and hold her and comfort her. In her superpower mode you just want to sit back and be awed by the genius and brilliance of her mind.

A.J. Tata has created a powerful, exciting, intense story that is both fun to read and also a bit frightening in its plausibility. Sometimes it scares me when an author writes a plot that is so close to reality that an enemy of the U.S. could read it and get ideas for a ‘blueprint” on how to take America down. That being said, I look forward to reading more from this author and recommend it to any fans of this genre.

A friends daughter that Jake is there to see is put in a coma, an 11 year old prodigy kidnapped by terrorists and that is all in the first third. Look at reading world here comes Jake with no breaks!!! Great one

This is my first Tata novel. What an Awesome author!!!

The story and the characters made a great thriller I didn't want to put down. Misha, the young girl in this novel, was a welcome in the writing world today. While people may have impairments that make others avoid contact with them. These people often have something to contribute to society. While Misha maybe an odd individual, she enriched and inspired me as a reader to not be so judgmental to other I cross paths with on a daily basis.

This novel was a thriller from the starting gates to the finish line. I will patiently was for the next novel, to see what Tata has in store or Mahegan. Mr. Tata has a new loyal reader...

BESIEGED BY A.J. TATA. Wow! From page one to the very end you get action, bombings, Iranians on American soil & in the middle of all the chaos a little girl with special talents and special needs. Jake Mahegan former Special Forces walked into the middle of a hornet's nest when he visits an elementary school. After the school is bombed, Jake must figure out why the bad guys want a little girl. Misha is no ordinary girl as we (and Jake) find out the hard way. From the moment he enters the school its non stop action, numerous bombings and bad guys who want him dead and the girl in their possession. Jake must stop them at all costs.

This is the first of this series I have read ( This is book three) but I've become an instant A.J Tata fan! He makes sure there is no dull moments in his books!

I recieved this book free from Netgalley in exchange for a review.