In Stealth Attack, Book 13 of John Gilstrap's hugely popular Jonathan Grave Thrillers (Pinnacle Books 2021), the kidnapping Grave's covert rescue company is called on to solve hits closer to home than usual when the group's cyber door kicker's son, Roman, is kidnapped with his girlfriend as part of a scheme to force the girl's father to do something he doesn't want to. Jonathan and his cadre of supremely qualified agents will stop at nothing to rescue the boy and bring him home. In doing so, he finds himself involved in a complicated and fasr-reaching human trafficking network. He can't stop at saving Roman and his girlfriend. He must stop the network from the horror they inflict on children.

As with all of Gilstrap's novels, this one is fast moving, the characters well drawn, and the pacing so fast it's impossible to put down. It will make you furious at times and want to cry almost always that there is so much truth in this fiction. 5/5 with no reservations.

This is an author who knows what he's doing, and the result is a very well written and entertaining book. The characters are great, the plot is logical, and I'm always happy to see an author who gets technical and tactical stuff correct.

Excellent, as I fully expected. This is one of my favorite authors and series to read. I am thankful for the opportunity to read this next book early; the only downside is a longer wait until the next one!

This time it’s personal. If you think the team gets busy when any kid is in trouble, just wait till it’s one of their own. When Venice’s son is the target, no holds are barred, and the action level is ratcheted up several notches.

3.75 stars 🌟

I am a big fan of the Jonathan Grave series and was thrilled to be able to read this ARC. I actually took a day after finishing the book to try to figure out what it was about this book in particular that just didn't resonate with me. Overall, was it a good book? Yes, it was. Was there a lot of action? Yes. So...what was the problem?

I don't think I would actually call it a problem, but there were several things that pulled me out of the story. As I mentioned before, I really love this series, so I'm already pre-disposed to love Scorpion and Big Guy. In this book, Mother Hen's son - Roman - is kidnapped with a girl classmate from a school field trip in El Paso, Texas and taken to Mexico. Things really get going after that. First of all, I was born in El Paso and while it is not the greatest city in the world, I felt like the depiction of the city was fairly harsh. There was a comment that someone made that a mixed race couple - he is black and she is not - would garner really bad attention. That is not the case. In fact, the city probably has more minorities, between the Hispanic and Black population, than most Texas cities. It is not a big thing, but it did kind of bother me while I was reading and that actually surprised me.

So, without going into spoilers, I think that there were a couple of things that really pushed the envelope of believability. And with that, some things just honestly defied common sense. I think it goes without saying that we, as the reader, already know that we are going to extend the levels of reality and of believability a bit just based on this genre. That's okay. But, with that comes the expectation that the story is going to follow certain parameters. Big Guy and Jonathan going into Mexico and doing the things they did, and NOT expecting it to get back to certain people just didn't make sense. Also, a certain other character was given a task that made absolutely NO sense. If the person did not succeed at this task (which was almost a given that it would end in some type of failure) then the agent and agency would then be on notice that someone was after them. Also, it was never addressed that at the end of this, people were aware of who Jonathan was. They had his full name, his REAL name. Wasn't anyone worried about that?

What really did work was the emotion that our gang had with the fact that Roman was kidnapped. Venice did a wonderful job of trying to keep her wits and throw all of her fear for Roman into doing what she does best and helping our dynamic duo as they were in Mexico trying to find the kids. There is a "mission" that she goes on with Gunslinger that had me cracking up. Seriously. Too funny...... We also got to see Mama Alexander on a roll and she had grown men shaking in their boots.. The team really came together to do what they do best and I think it became apparent to them that while this was what they normally DO, it was a whole different ballgame when the PC was one of THEIRS.

All in all I enjoyed this latest book. While it wasn't my favorite, the series itself is. I love stepping back into a world that is already established, with characters that I adore and knowing that I am going to be holding my breath as our guys put themselves right smack in the middle of an outright crazy situation. And I was holding my breath.

So now it's time to wait for book 14. Thank you to NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read this ARC. All of these opinions are mine, and mine alone.

I received this book free from the publishers via Netgalley for a review. A fast paced action thriller. I've read this authors work since Nathan's Run. Top author on top of his game.

I read this series normally, love the characters and storylines, that being said, this isn't my favorite but is required reading for the series" future.

When Venice"s son, Roman, becomes a PC there is no more important mission than his safe return.

I received this ARC in exchange for an honest review.