Red Metal is an exciting, fast moving page turner. I have enjoyed all of the books in the Gray Man series.

I was provided an e-arc from netgalley to read and review

I unfortunately missed the opportunity to read

(See all of my Book Reviews) - “Red Metal” eBook was published in 2019 and was written by Mark Greaney (https://markgreaneybooks.com/). Mr. Greaney has published 10 novels.

I categorize this novel as ‘R’ because it contains scenes Violence and Mature Language. The story is set in contemporary times. A small contingent of the Russian military conspire with the Russian president to invade the west and recapture a mine of Rare Earth metals.

Tensions are high between the US and China. With the threat of an invasion of Taiwan, military forces are redeployed to support the island. The Russians have been unhappy since they were forced to abandon the Rare Earth mine in East Africa. Now that the attention of the US is focused on Asia, the Russians implement a high stakes plan to recapture the mine and gain control for decades of high tech.

The story is told from the viewpoints of several characters, though a few stand out. On the Russian side the two generals leading the major military efforts are the main characters. On the side of the ‘Allies’ are a Marine Lt. Colonel fresh from a desk in the Pentagon, a French Special Forces Captain, a young Polish reservist, an American A-10 pilot, an American armor maintenance officer who is thrust into command of a combat unit, and the commander of a submarine.

The action flows back and forth between Allies and Russian forces. A strike is made from deep in Russia into Western Europe, following a well prepared plan. Simultaneously another force is secretly deployed to Africa to capture and hold the mine.

With the bulk of US forces already deployed to Asia, the Russians meet little resistance at first in their surprise attack. Slowly though, the Allies begin to pull together and resist the Russian onslaught.

I thoroughly enjoyed the 19 hours I spent reading this 652-page thriller. I thought that this novel had a very enjoyable and elaborate plot. Not all of the characters that are touched upon survive the many confrontations. I do like the selected cover art. I give this novel a 5 out of 5.

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Amazing military thriller! Reminiscent of the best of Tom Clancy. If you enjoy a modern warfare, thrill a minute ride, this is for you. It’s a bit long but flies by!

I really enjoyed this standalone novel from Mark Greaney. The action never stops and its an interesting theory that could also start a WW3. A little on the longer side, and that is sue to the character descriptions and setting the stages. I look forward to many more of these!

Unbelievable thriller! Non stop action from the get go. Greaney and Rawlings know military action like the back of their hands. Read this book! You will be glad you did!

I thoroughly enjoyed Mark Greaney’s Gray Man series, but since Red Metal was a collaboration with a Lt.Col. of the Marine Corps, I figured this would be a different sort of book. In fact, the first two chapters were so deep into military terms and strategy, I almost gave up there and then. However I pushed on and began to get into the story. The Russians are attempting to regain control of a rare earths mine in Kenya, which they had lost to American forces three years previously A Russian colonel has a daring strategy which he manages to sell to the Russian military. It requires a two front campaign, one force pushing through Poland with a camouflaged train and the other coming down hard in Africa. His back-up strategy if the Russian army does not prevail, is to set off nuclear devices in the mine so the West does not keep control of those important minerals.
The Pentagon and NATO military experts world-wide are more concerned about the Chinese threatening in their part of the world and are not paying much attention to the few observers who try to alert them to signals of Russian threats. As the story unfolds we follow the action in both Europe and Africa as individuals, men and women, career soldiers and diplomat, American, Polish, French and Russian all have their parts to play in a drama that takes us to the brink of nuclear meltdown.
This was not an easy read for someone who never played soldier, but by skimming the equipment lingo and concentrating on the characters, I found this to be a gripping story with no assurance of easy victory. I still prefer Greaney’s stories of one man against the world, but by the end of Red Metal, I felt like I had been to war.

This wasn't my normal type of read, but Red Metal ended up being a realistic portrayal of the aftermath of a Russian strike against the rest of Europe and Africa. The story felt like WWIII was being played out on the pages, diverse and extremely well developed characters and plot movement.

Great book which surprised me since I thought it might be another gray man book. Great story that covers the traditional Russia-US conflict and now the Chinese component. I definitely see another book coming out of this. Good characters, interesting story, life and death, the fact that war never goes as planned. I would read another one now that I know what will happen.

Berkley and NetGalley provided me with an electronic copy of Red Metal. I was under no obligation to review this book and my opinion is freely given.

Red Metal is a realistic portrayal of the aftermath stemming from a Russian military strike against Europe. As Russian tanks cross Poland, headed for Germany, a coalition group of allied soldiers from around the globe are the only ones keeping the world from total destruction. Can the operatives from the US, France, Poland, and Germany restore the balance of power?

When I requested Red Metal, I was expecting another outstanding Gray Man novel. What I got instead was a military thriller that shows the harsh realities of life in the modern age. The book is a little too involved, long where it should have been tightened up. Topping out at well over 600 pages, the novel gets bogged down in places, taking away from the thrilling pace in others. A shorter book with the current, thrilling pace would have been more successful. Military thrillers are a hard sell for me, as they often get too technical in the details and too brutal for my tastes. Readers who like a realistic portrayal of the military in a thriller setting may like Red Metal, but it clearly was not the novel for me.

I have liked Greaney's Gray Man series so decided to try this book when an ARC was available on NetGalley. This is a definite departure from Greaney's Gray Man Series as it is about a desperate Kremlin that takes advantage of a military crisis in Asia to simultaneously strike into Western Europe and invade east Africa in a bid to occupy three Rare Earth mineral mines that will give Russia unprecedented control for generations over the world's hi-tech sector. Pitted against the Russians are a Marine lieutenant colonel pulled out of a cushy job at the Pentagon and thrown into the fray in Africa, a French Special Forces captain and his intelligence operative father, a young Polish female partisan fighter, an A-10 Warthog pilot, and the captain of an American tank platoon who, along with a German sergeant, fight from behind enemy lines in Germany all the way into Russia.

The writing and story line are excellent. The characters are well developed. I will admit, though, that I had trouble with all the military acronyms, some of which were explained and some of which I was expected to know but did not. It was slow going for me as I had to stop a lot and look up the meaning of the acronyms (thank heavens for Kindle's built in dictionary) and finally just started reading over them hoping I wasn't missing anything. I also had trouble keeping up with all the characters in addition to the ones mentioned above.

Those who like books with a lot of military detail will enjoy the book as many other reviewers have. I enjoyed the story and, as I said, the writing was excellent, but think I will stick to Greaney's Gray Man series.

What a wonderful story. It was like having a 50 yard line seat at the start of World war III,with an explanation of what was going to happen next .Diverse characters with exceptional development. A real page turner. I honestly couldn’t read it fast enough. Five stars doesn’t do it justice.

Red Metal is a military thriller by Mark Greaney (who wrote with Tom Clancy back in the day) and LtCol H. Ripley "Rip" Rawlings IV, USMC

Here's the short version: An old adversary--the Kremlin--decides to pit its stealth and military might against the U.S. and her allies. That's how World War III starts and it is fought with a full cast of well-fleshed-out characters--most of whom I really liked (even, surprisingly, one of the Russian Generals). But, for me, it was the women--three strong female characters, unusual in military fiction--who kept me absolutely riveted. Hand-to-hand combat. Submarine warfare. Helicopter dogfights. Surprising twists. Heroic warriors and ordinary people drawn into combat to defend their country.

Yes, in the best Clancy tradition, it is a big book. Plan on spending the weekend with it. Truly. I started on a work-week night and I had to force myself to put the book down.

In the interest of full disclosure: Rip Rawlings is my son. And, I've got to tell you, I am pleased and relieved that--after 22+ years in the Marine Corps, including multiple deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan--he has chosen what promises to be a less dangerous career.

Red Metal will make you think. Mark Greaney lays out a very believable scenario given the current political and technological climate. The action starts early and doesnt decrease. This novel purports to be World War III, and there are multiple battle fronts. That is what I would expect, so it made sense to me. The characters are a bit two dimensional, and the balance of the book is tilted toward action. I have to say that I was entertained and challenged by this complicated read. 3.5
I received my copy through NetGalley under no obligation.

This is not your typical Mark Greaney story following a spy of former military sniper. This is a world encompassing conspiracy by the Russians with the help of the Chinese. Starting with a feign against Taiwan by the Chi-Coms, the US sends almost all of its' rapid reactionary force to the Pacific. With the US looking the other way, the Russians invade Europe after taking out most of the communication satellites that handled intra-European and European-American contacts.

Meanwhile, the Russian special forces (Spetznaz), create chaos between the Nato countries by blowing up internal communications and attacking local military commands. The Russians zero in on every major military base by the use of paratroopers and air-to-ground missiles making all of the air power of Nato unusable. Of course not everything goes the Russians way, but without any ability to counter-attack, Nato agrees to allow the Russians to withdraw, just as the US military has begun to recover.

All of this is a blind for the capture of the largest Rare-Earth mine in the world in Kenya. This mine will allow the Russians along with the Chinese to control the material needed to make cell phone and computers. The Russians had previously tried to control this mine, but were force to back off by Nato/US coalition.

Just in time some of the US military analysts realize that there is a task force heading towards Kenya. Luckily there is an attack submarine in the Persian Gulf and a military presence in the India Ocean. So it becomes a race to see who can capture or hold the mine.

What becomes a great side story is the war that breaks out in Poland, when the Poles decide that they can't just let the Russians pass through their country without paying the price for damaging so much on the way through to Western Europe. They determine to make the Russians pay, along with some US military that had been following the withdrawing troops. (This part of the book is on par with the writings of Harry Turtledove, Len Deighton, Eric Flint and SM Stirling.)

All in all a very worthwhile book to read for those who love this genre.

This novel is a war story to match the best of them. Fast-moving, deliciously detailed, with a character cast that is original and complex, it will keep you reading long into the night.

I'm a big fan of Mark Greaney's Gray Man series and was excited to dive into this WWIII-like scenario that turned out to be quite entertaining. Fans of e.g. Brad Taylor will love the massive focus on various weapons, while fans of e.g. Vince Flynn and Brad Thor will be excited about the mix between high-level politics and on-the-ground operators.
Greaney shifts point of view in every chapter which adds a dynamic to the plot, and there are quite a few believable twists and turns along the way, which add to the reading experience.

Mark Greaney (author of the Gray Man series) has teamed up with the Marine Corps’ Lt.Col. Rip Rawlings to create a nightmare scenario of modern warfare.

The Russians are on the move. While America and her allies are concentrated in Asia, countering a Chinese threat, Russian troops and armament are racing through Poland on their way to the heart of Germany. Determined to win back Russia’s dominance on the geopolitical stage. This audacious strategy has every chance for success, and if they win, the world will be changed forever.
The team of Greaney and Rawlings may just be the Tom Clancy of the 21st century. Highly recommended.

This was a very well done take on a potential U.S. Russia limited war. It is a real gripper. The authors are to be congratulated on creating a scenario (conflict over rare earth minerals) that has entered today's headlines, is very plausible, and complex enough to be very interesting. The authors examined this conflict from the point of views of army, navy, marines, air force, allies, both professional and paramilitary, and enemy forces and their allies. There are several very strong female characters. I have a feeling a great deal of research supplemented the authors' extensive personal experience with military operations at both the strategic and tactical levels. It was very readable and held the interest of this non-technical reader. I highly recommend this book.

I awarded Red Metal a rating of 4.0/5.0. This book was by the Mark Greaney who wrote the "Gray Man" series. I REALLY like the "Gray Man", and this was not the "Gray Man", and was never intended to be the "Gray Man". Hence my disappointment. Some aspects of the ending were telegraphed a little too obviously for me. Red Metal also ended with a lead-in to the next book at the end. This marketing technique cheapened an excellent, well-written, intellectually challenging, military thriller. These guys don't need to do this to sell their next book.

Being a huge fan of Mark Greaney and the Grey Man series he has been publishing for many years, I was excited to pick up Red Metal. However, this is a very different book from what he normally writes but not necessarily in a bad way. More along the lines of old school Tom Clancy or Dale Brown, Red Metal goes on the ground into battles when Russia launches a cunning plan to take over a rare mineral mine in Kenya by invading Europe at the same time under the cover of tensions between China and Taiwan. The only downside to the book is that it is full of military jargon which can slow down the pace of the novel quite considerably and leave the reader a little clueless.