Into the Dark Frontier is a apparently a first novel for John Mangan, and thanks to NetGalley for sending the book along. In the not too distant future, the entire continent of Africa has become a failed state. In the midst of chaos, there is opportunity for some, danger for most. Slade Crawford, a former SEAL, has run into some trouble. His son died, his wife divorced him, and he was falsely accused of terrorism. Crawford fled to African in hopes of starting over, but he ran into the hopeless, the insane, and the sociopaths who were drawn to the situation. Crawford is a compelling character, as is the 15-year-old Elizabeth who was accidentally pulled into this anarchy. I was less impressed with Crawford’s antagonist, Colonel Gary Kraven.


The story was fast paced and Slade worked his way across the continent and through some unbelievably horrendous situations. Ultimately, it is my conclusion that this story is not simply in a genre that holds my interest. In the end, it was clearly a treatise on anti-globalism, and the blame for the troubles in Africa was blamed on the last few decades of decisions in support of globalism.

Hegelian Dialectic: You intentionally create a problem . . . which requires a solution . . .that benefits you. - G.W.F. Hegel

This is a fast-paced gory thriller that features ex-Navy SEAL Chief Petty Officer Slade Crawford who has been wrongly accused of domestic terrorism.

This book takes place in the near future and Africa is in a total shambles, with land up for the grabbing to those brave enough to settle there.

Crawford daringly escapes the U.S. and heads to Africa to lead the Judeans, a religious group, to their new promised land. But not everything is as it seems to be and Crawford and his group are soon under ferocious attack.

And Crawford finds his strings being pulled by a U.S. Colonel that uses the safety of his family as an inducement to get the results he needs.

This story, albeit out there, is too believable for comfort.

I received this book from Oceanview Publishing through Net Galley in the hopes that I would read the book and leave an unbiased review.

The dark Frontier is a ravaged Africa, maybe lot so lo.g in the near future. The hero Slade Crawford is fleeing from an Orwéllian USA that had trackers consists, all communication tapped.

He does it in style, landing by parachute from a stolen plane onto a ship of refugees who wish to establish a new colony strong in Faith.

Slade is veteran Sas. He is a tough cookie indeed but the dark Frontier holds more of the same terms of industrial-scale atrocities in the new Africa. There are berserker groups for example that seem to have taken a leaf from Vladimir Types.- spreading terror via implement. But what are the vested interests behind all these progroms? And will he be able to save the girl he has fallen for?

I do not know if the writer is drawing from his own experiences as a soldier who may have endured hard service. Slade does not seem like someone who could cope well with Civvy Street..

It's an engrossing read in a Rambo kind of a way, I found myself turning the pages furiously. I would not recommend this to those who would abhor depictions of bloodbaths and scenes of atrocities though.

Into a Dark Frontier
John Mangan

Outstanding and with the way things are in Africa I could see something like this happening.
Ex-Navy SEAL Slade Crawford, damaged by years of war, the loss of his family, and betrayed by his country, has escaped a Black Ops prison and fled to Africa.
Hired to lead a caravan of Christians to their "Promised Land" he discovers that an army of well equiped fanatics is killing everyone in their path. He is in their path and so is the caravan.

That is just the tip of the pyramid. It gets much better. For sheer
thrills this is one fast ride. There were characters that were easy to like and others that you could hate with ease. Slade was easy to like and sympathize with. He made a great hero. His background was well developed. I liked the way the pilgrims were portraid. A basic example of good and evil. Conflict in the ranks.
It all blended together in one very good thrilling read.

You won't go wrong with this Hero. I highly recommend "Into a Dark Frontier"

I received this copy from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. So glad I did.

2.5 stars


Even if I actually enjoyed the first half of the book - in spite of too much actions for my taste - the second part of this book didn't work for me at all.

I think the main reason is the disappearance of an intriguing mystery effect in the story-line and a sudden replacement of the characters, in addition to even more action.

I have an impression that the author is a big fan of computer shooting games, and in some scenes (actually in the entire second part) he got too inspired by one (or more) scenarios in his recent games and lost the healthy balance between many actions, compelling dialogues (oh, well, they were totally non-present) and quiet emotional moments (not that much either).

It is why- I have to be honest-skimmed through the final third of the book.
The ending is a bit abrupt, but those who enjoyed Into a Dark Frontier could look forward to the further sequel. I ,most likely, leave it go.

But I have to admit, that this book could make a good action movie. It is why I'd prefer to watch this book than to read it.

If you are a fan of action packed thrillers, it is probably a book for you.

This is a bit of a complex review for me. But for starters, let me say that John Mangan had me hooked from the first page. A military man, Slade Crawford, is one the run and trying to escape the country. We don't know why, what he has done, or who he is running from. There is a very touching scene as he is saying goodbye to his sister, knowing he probably won't ever see her again. It paints him in a light that makes you ache for him.
Once Slade escapes onto a ship you learn that he has been employed to protect a small religious group that feels their needs will be better met in law-less Africa. Except they didn't anticipate a blood cult to be waiting for them there. Or the people that are financing the cult.
This book has all the right ingredients for a fast paced thriller. And I loved it. At least, I loved the first half of it.
But then I felt I lost a lot of the connection I had to Slade and the rest of the characters. It became easy to put the book down and wait a few days to come back to it. The action slowed and instead detailed a lot of reconnaissance and communications with Colonel Kraven (a Colonel who is blackmailing him into doing his bidding). All of these things are important, but it seemed that with the change of pace, Slade changed into a one-dimensional character. I felt he was complex and interesting in the first half of the book, but flat in the last half. I began to only see him as a killer, doing everything it took to survive. I wanted to see some of the humanity within that.
Critics of this review (because many people will disagree with my critical assessment) will point out that Slade was trying to rescue a girl, Elizabeth, through all this. That's true. But that relationship (and honestly, it was a relationship I was confused by) was believable in the first half, and turned kinda weird in the second half. She was a teenager and he was a bit older than her. Sometimes he seemed to take on the role of father and protector, and other times...I wasn't sure what was happening. I'm also not completely sure of his motives in wanting to rescue her.
Overall, I am going to have to give the book 3 out of 5 stars. Great premise, great start, but didn't feel like it kept the momentum or the connection.

Note: Into a Dark Frontier contains strong language, including multiple uses of the F-word

Damn. Now that's some good storytelling! Action from beginning to end, with just enough breaks so I could stop and catch my breath...then back on my feet kicking ass and taking names! Pew, pew...yeah that's my gun noise. Seriously, the fact that I could believe in every bad thing that happens in this book is what made it all so terrifying. It was a brutal and graphic read. You only have to watch the news to realize how real this could be, or even pay a little attention to what the U.N. is not doing.....I loved Slade, and those Kiwi's! They were funny and made a dark situation just a little bit lighter. Mr. Mangan has already been put on a post-it note, and stuck to my wall. Well, his name anyway. That way I'll remember to check for his newest books. I can't wait to read more of what I'm hoping will be a continuing series. My thanks to Oceanview publishing and Netgalley.

The action starts on page one with our hero, Slade Crawford, on a wild and improbable escape from the United States and the forces that are after him.. He reminds me of Clive Cussler’s Dirk Pitt— the man you can always count on to come out on top, no matter how overwhelming or unlikely the physical or human obstacles. The setting is Africa and the author does a good job describing the geography, lawlessness and completely different ways of living than what we are familiar with on this side of the Atlantic. He refers to political and military happenings that don’t often get reported in the West and I enjoyed that change of pace. The plot involves conspirators who are using a scorched earth approach to acquiring territory and resources in southern/eastern Africa to advance their evil agenda. Enter our hero, who quickly analyzes the situation and does his best to help the settlers who’ve hired him get to their destination safely. It’s a harsh, bloody journey. I enjoyed the plot concept, the realistic descriptions of place, the action and the assortment of interesting characters and their interactions; the book’s weaknesses show up when Slade turns introspective and we get a bit of motivational analysis. Fortunately that wasn’t a large part of the book. The upshot: a good, though violent, action thriller in a different setting. Mangan leaves the door open for a sequel— I hope he writes it.

INTO THE DARK FRONTIER is a suspense thriller showing the world seems in turmoil focusing on events unfolding in Africa. John Daman introduces his protagonist Slade Crawford who is an ex-seal who was going to Africa to escape prosecution of trumped charges by Homeland Security. When Slade misses his ship’s departure, he steals a small engine plane and chases it out to sea. Readers meet Slade as he parachutes out of the plane and lands on the ship’s deck. Daman provides Slade’s backstory and military experience at the same time he provides his readers with the backstory of the three hundred men, women, and children on board the ship. The author describes the persecutions the families are leaving behind hoping to find a new life in Africa. Daman gives more details of how Slade’s experience dealing with life in Africa has brought him together with the group of settlers.

The storyline’s momentum increases as quickly as readers can turn to the next page. Mangan describes the dangers the people face traveling in Africa. Slade acting as the pilgrim's guide and protector discovers there is a well-organized group of mercenaries attacking existing colonies and new settlers. Regardless of discoveries of burnt out building and mutilated bodies, Slade is unable to convince the group of the dangers ahead.
Daman introduces several support characters both good and evil adding twists and turns to unfolding events. The author keeps readers guessing what will happen next while Slade begins to wonders who he should trust. When an army colonel shows up bringing Slade’s past with him makes demands for his silence. Readers feel the settlers’ tension as Mangan describes the immigrants’ feelings. The author keeps his reader on the edge of their seats as they try to understand Slade’s actions. Mangan places them inside Slade's head so they can feel and experience his turmoil when he realizes he has feelings for a few of the settlers.
The author creates several subplots changing the storyline’s direction. Mangan gives readers an inside look at the severity of the mercenaries attacks including the heart-wrenching story of attack and capture of the settlers. The storyline’s momentum increases as Slade’s plans to save his friends using the data he has found to leverage getting help from the colonel to save his friends and commits to stopping whoever is responsible for the slaughtering of innocents. Mangan adds intensity to his compelling storyline describing Slade’s race against time to implement his plan, and he uses his ex-military experience to bring a dramatic solution to his problem. There is a story behind the message in Mangan’s INTO A DARK FRONTIER earning a five-star ranking.

In the near future, the continent of Africa has collapsed into chaos, with criminals and rogue security agents ruling over a greatly diminished, poverty- and disease-stricken population. Over in America, ex-Navy SEAL Slade Crawford has been falsely accused of terrorism by the government he spent 20 years serving. Emotionally broken by the death of his son in a terrible accident and the resultant falling apart of his marriage, Slade decides to take up the offer of being professional Security Advisor to a group of fundamentalist Christians called the Judeans, who hope to resettle in the decimated Africa.

Escaping from the country that betrayed him, he arrives in Cape Town and sets out across the wilderness with his newly trained associates. However, they soon discover that the situation is more desperate than they suspected, with evidence of brutal organised attacks being carried out on foreign settlements. As Slade struggles to keep the group alive, he finds himself captured by a US colonel Gary Kraven who agrees to let him go free but blackmails him into investigating a sinister blood cult that seems to be responsible for the attacks. Torn between doing what he must survive and maintain his honour, Slade attempts to pursue the cult but finds himself fighting for his life and the lives of the Judeans and having to ultimately decide where his loyalties truly lie.

This book begins with Slade fleeing the US in a stolen truck, eventually escaping by stealing a plane and flying off over New York Harbour before parachuting down to the boat that will take him to Africa. This adrenaline-thrilled sequence sets the pace for the rest of Into a Dark Frontier, which rarely lets up on the level of action from that point on. The gripping writing moves at a lightning-fast pace with constant twists and turns and the reader finds him/herself rapidly turning pages, desperate to find out what will happen next. The momentum slows down a little during the second half but picks up rapidly towards the end of the thrilling finale, which leaves the story open for a potential sequel – something I would definitely want to get my hands on if it were to be written.

I found the background plot of this story to be highly imaginative and quite unusual. The concept of an entire continent devoid of civilisation is a frightening one, and the way that the author describes how the lawless state of Africa came to be is unsettlingly plausible. With the state of the world as it is at the moment, the thought of some dramatic act of war leading to a drastic re-organisation of the way that civilisations are run is not too inconceivable, and reading fiction about one possible outcome of such an event is both entertaining and chilling.

Slade, whilst initially coming across as a little bit clichéd, is a likeable and understandable hero who I felt empathy for throughout the story. His backstory is suitably tragic and, despite his many obvious flaws, he is evidently a good man who has suffered a lot at the hands of those who he was loyal to. The supporting characters were also interesting and likeable, especially the kind-hearted Judean leader Abe and Elizabeth, the feisty daughter of one of the Judean refugees. My one criticism of the characterisation was that the villains of the story felt a little two-dimensional and at times it seemed like Slade was almost too skilled and too much of a stereotypical action hero in his encounters with them.

Overall, I enjoyed this book immensely and would definitely be keen to read more by this author, either in the form of a sequel or a new story.

Daenerys

Breakaway Reviewers received a copy of the book to review

This is one of the best books in the black ops genre. When you are betrayed by the government you have faithfully served, have lost your family, and are being hunted by everyone, life becomes a nightmare attempt to survive. The story is based in current events, and makes sense politically. The action includes a strange sect that uses violence, torture and death for its rituals. When Slade becomes a guide and protector for a group of religious pioneers in Africa, a Christian nut becomes an enemy, fighting Slade on every turn until his beliefs lead to disaster. Despite his tenuous existence, Slade tries to do the right thing, and that makes his problems worse. The writing creates great mental images, and the many characters are unique and developed in depth. The realism and nature of the plot ring very true, causing concern for the reader beyond the action in the book. The very end suggests we may see more of Slade, and I am ready

Slade Crawford is having problems of his own but his friend has given him a chance to change his life if he can be at the harbor to escort a group wanting to go to Africa to live in their own community with their religious beliefs. He is a little late but makes it on board and then tries to explain how hard life will be but the group have made their decision to go. We see the lack of safety, lack of government and all of the problems they find. Can they get help? Not so much. They have arms but too much inexperience. There is a global struggle here that none of them were prepared to face.

Slade Crawford is on the run. A decorated navy seal he has been wrongly accused of terrorism. After two years in US custody, he is able to escape from his no-name blacksite prison and make his way to freedom. But it is a freedom based on the hell of war, disease and death. He is on his way to Africa, a continent that has been destroyed by sectarian violence, famine and disease. So begins the thriller, Into a Dark Frontier, by John Mangan.

Read the entire review at https://journalingonpaper.com/2017/08/11/book-review-into-a-dark-frontier-by-john-mangan/

An excellent thriller with relentless action. Mostly unpredictable. A few typos and formatting problems.

I liked the book and I liked old Slade. Still what will the book world do when it runs out of "ex-seal". :) Decent read

Set in the near future, Africa has been destroyed and someone does not want it rebuilt. Slade Crawford, a once respected Seal is on the run, looking for a new start. He is helping a group relocate to Africa, but his past is coming for him. This is a good book, the first half moves along at a nice pace, it does get a bit bogged down during the surveillance stage, but picks up nicely for the final encounter. Does leave it open for a second book, if so this is a strong starter.

If you like action packed thrillers then this could be just the ticket for you. The main character, Slade, is gunshot, blasted out of the sky, parachuted onto a boat, publicly humiliated by a teenage girl, kidnapped and released by a multi-task force, all within the first third of the story.

There some talk of religion, but it certainly doesn’t overpower the plot. There’s a lot of talk of logistics, which isn’t surprising considering the author clearly knows what he’s talking about on that front.

The writing is crisp – sharp and snappy, just like the chapters, a whopping 74 of them.

My favorite character was Elizabeth. In-fact, she was the saving grace of the story for me, as she’s the only character I became truly invested in.

I was really excited when three kiwis (New Zealand men) joined the plot. My joy only lasted for as long as it took for their dialogue to do my head in. I struggled to understand what was being said, which is saying something considering I’m Kiwi born and bred. It’ll be interesting to see what others think. Who knows maybe we do sound the way these man are portrayed. Although I’ve never heard a fellow kiwi utter such things as ‘don’t get astro on me’ or ‘Every skinny in town went meat axe last night.’

As per the above, if you like action packed thrillers, you may very well find yourself submerged in this unique plot author John Mangan has woven. It doesn’t end with a gaping cliffhanger, but where it left off certainly indicates there’s more to come.

3 - I liked it - stars.

NOTE: I received an ARC, via NetGalley. Content may differ slightly upon publication

It was a unique thriller that dealt with agenda 21 and a pan African war that destroyed the Governments of Africa.. I wish they gave it a clear cut ending .