SEAL Team Six: Hunt the Fox

First of all I would like to thank Net Galley and Mulholland Books for making a review copy of this book available to me in exchange for an honest review.

In this ongoing series of books about Seal Team Six and their missions we find the team facing a highly classified as well as a highly dangerous mission, well, what else is new for Seal Team Six.

Chief Warrant Officer Crocker and his team will be tasked with enter Syria in the height of the civil war there to infiltrate a Syrian Air Force Base and retrieve eight cans of Sarin Gas that if released could kill thousands of innocent people.

Not only will they face dangerous odds while traveling through Syria, but they will also face the danger of being betrayed by those tasked to help them and those that they believe have their best interest at heart.

Some of the betrayal may even be from their own government which doesn’t appear to always understand the operational hazards that they face and the split second decisions and changes that they need to make.

Crocker also will be faced with some medical challenges during the course of the operation that will push his medic skills to the edge. But like a true Navy Seal he will perform flawlessly and with great patience and kindness as well as with great warrior skills.

All of this on top of having lost a good friend and team member just a few short months ago. Also on top of having his wife threatening to leave him because she can’t take the pressure anymore of being married to a Navy Seal. She feels that he cares more about his team and the thrill of the action than he cares about her.

Don Mann does a great job of building the character traits of Crocker as well as helping us to understand his thinking and decision making processes. He will also give us a good tour of the mind set of a heroic warrior who does his best despite the odds and knowing that he will never receive any recognition for a job well done.

The action is good, the details of the operations are good, the threat is realistic to our world today and thus all of this adds up to a good read.

Enjoy!

As the story focuses on action (sans Crocker's memories of his wife) I found myself not catching my breath as Crocker and his team operate with precision and cunning improvisation in doing their jobs. This is my introduction into the series and I truly enjoyed the book despite missing the first four.

The series continues with this traditional military thriller, with the Seal Team combating an ISIS leader's plot for mass murder. A CIA source in Istanbul is murdered during an attempted meeting (these things never end well, do they?) and when the blood and dust settles, it's apparent that something is up.

The operation details seem authentic to real-world actions, at least as far as I can tell, since I am not a veteran, nor truly qualified to evaluate covert activities...except for having read many such books. I do like the characters in this book series.

I received a free download of this book from Net Gallery.

Hunt the Fox is the fifth installment in the Seal Team Six series by Don Mann and Ralph Pezzullo. I find each volume in this series to be exciting and well written. Definitely a great book to keep with you so you can read any time you get a chance. The only problem is putting it down!

In this book Chief Warrant Officer Thomas Crocker and most of his unit head to the Middle East. There's trouble between the al-Assad led government of Syria and multiple rebel groups, including ISIS. Seal Team Six needs to nail down rumors of sarin gas being in play and if it exists, recover it and escape to safety in Turkey. Of course a few things go wrong and mayhem ensues.

One of the great things about this series is that the men in Seal Team Six seem real. Mann is an ex-seal, so that insight probably helps, but it's the great collaboration between Mann and Pezzullo that truly pays off. The characters have emotions and can get hurt which places this series above most combat oriented fiction. You care what happens to the people in these books. The high level of technical and political acumen is another big plus. I can't wait until the next volume is written!

Each new ST6 book is as fresh and thrilling as the first. CWO Crocker is torn between the need for love and family and his duty to lead black operations wherever necessary. This time the job is in Syria, where alliances are shifting and friends are hard to tell from enemies. The action is non-stop, and the story builds to a gut-wrenching climax. The narrative is clear and direct, and never gets in front of the action. Even after knowing the ending, I read it a second time and was just as emotionally involved.

I am a fan of Seal Team Six. The stories are good, the endings are great. The middle is grueling and requires you to keep turning the pages. For someone who likes action and heroes, this series is for you!