Silent Enemy

This kind of book usually ain't my cup of meat, but I'm trying to read outside my confort zone now and then. In a nutshell:

Everything that can go wrong does go horribly wrong in this incredibly fast-paced thriller about a military transport plane with a terrorist’s bomb aboard. This is the sequel to The Mullah’s Storm, and continues Major Michael Parson and Sergeant Major Sophia Gold’s heroic attempts to bring peace and stability to the Afghan region.

And it was pretty good!

When a novel starts with a bomb exploding in the Afghan National Police training center, you expect either a bad book which relies on shocking events or a good one that can use the shock and devastation to tell a good story. Fortunately, this one is from the second type.

Just when you believe that everything bad is behind everyone and people will get saved with the evacuation planes comes the second blow - the whole initial explosion was just a ruse to get everyone on planes bound to other places... and the planes are rigged with explosives. On top of all we meet Major Michael Parson and Sergeant Major Sophia Gold, a few years older but not necessarily wiser (Note to anyone in their world - if you see these two on the same plane, you show more better get out of their way -- they most likely will crash or worse...). Once the people on the ground realize what is going on, they redirect the flight to an island in the middle of nowhere where it can make as little damage as possible. And the race with time is on.

The premise is not all that original but what makes it sound different from anything similar is the author - an ex military flight engineer. He knows about planes more than anyone else. And he knows how to give all the technical details without making them sound boring or forced in the story. Using two different narrators (Gold and Parson) help as well - he knows all that is to know about planes; she does not. Somehow the author manages to make both voices believable.

If there is a problem with the book, it is mostly in the substories and secondary characters - sometimes it feels like the technical part of the story is taking the lead and leaving anything out of it in shadows. But then the narrators are on the board of that flight and any narration from the name of the protagonists will be centered on them and what they deem important.

A note of warning though - if you plan to read Mullah's Storm and you don't like knowing what happens in the book, read it before you even start this one. The author reveals pretty much anything that happened there - mainly because this was needed to understand some parts of the book. But if you do not mind knowing what will happen or not plan on reading the first book, you can follow this one with no issues -- everything needed is in the story itself, without being too repetitive for the people that read the first one.

4 stars out of 5 and I am waiting to see what the author will write next. show less

First of all, generally I do not like war stories, as it seems to me they too often fall into either super patriotic hero epics or anti-government/politician tracts. However, I really liked this book; it offers a compelling story in a believable manner. It was hard to put down, events cascading toward chaos and multiplying in intensity, just as they would in the real world, grabs your attention and keeps it. I now want to read “The Mullah’s Storm,” his first book; just to see if Mr. Young is really is as accomplished story teller as this book has made me believe. Admittedly having former Galaxy aircraft pilots in my family was a hook for me, but even without that connection, it would have been a great read. I was pleased that the show more author presented the characters as people doing their jobs, rather than falling into what I regard as the war story trap that snares so many authors of the genre. show less

This review is of the uncorrected proof and - as such - may not reflect the final published material.

Thomas W. Young has followed up his debut novel "Mullah's Storm" with a strong sophomore effort in "Silent Enemy". Silent Enemy takes place four years after Mullah's Storm and reunites Major Parson and Sgt. Major Gold as they transport wounded Americans and Afghans in a USAF C-5 Galaxy. Unbeknownst to the crew, the C-5 has had a bomb stowed aboard by Afghan terrorists set to detonate once the plane drops below 10,000 feet.

Although the basic premise isn't all that original, Young's insight into the workings of the air casualty mission along with the operations of the C-5 add an element of immersion that serves his readers well. show more Additionally, his continued development of the two main characters contributes to the tightly written and well-paced plot.

There are several components of Young's writing which I find not only refreshing, but intriguing within this genre. First, his "heroes" aren't super-humans. They don't make every right decision and don't come out of every adventure unscathed. They are human and Young highlights those human frailties well...including indecision, injuries, self-doubt, and confusion. That being said, Parson and Gold also demonstrate enough of the human traits of courage, morality, and compassion (for ally and enemy) to have the reader engrossed and rooting for them.

Second, Young obviously knows his subject matter. Although the vast majority of the novel takes place in a single C-5 in flight, his story telling ability keeps the reader engaged with enough technical knowledge to satisfy the hard-core techno reader yet not overwhelm a novice to the genre.

Conversely, as with "Mullah's Storm", I felt Silent Enemy ended rather abruptly with issues and plot lines left unresolved. The reader is left to make assumptions as to the resolution of several aspects of the story. In the case of each novel, it seemed an additional chapter (or two) would have rounded out the tale to a greater satisfaction.

Silent Enemy is a well-paced action thriller highlighting the technical, human, and moral struggles of US Servicemen and women as well as those they with overseas. I look forward to Parson and Gold's next adventures.

Four stars out of five. show less

Major Parson and Sergeant Gold are back for another chilling adventure

1) Great initial story - It allowed me to get excited about the book

2) Airlifting the wounded - Second "hook" was even better as I now had a problem that would take the entire book to solve. At this point I knew this book was going to be good, so I settled deeper into my armchair

3) Problems along the way - Nice job with the timing of the problems. One was presented, then solved, then another presented etc. It keep things tense for me for the last 75% of the book

4) Main characters were developed nicely through flashbacks. Secondary characters were well done. Just enough information to flesh them out but not an overwhelming amount.

5) About 50 pages into the book show more something started lighting up in the back of my head. It seemed that I had heard a story before, kind of like the way this one started. As I continued to read it snapped into focus. I had read the authors first book, "The Mullah's Storm".

6) Vince Flynn was right, this author has some skills. I look forward to his next book. show less

This book is a fitting tribute to the men and woman of our armed services, who face danger throughout the world in an effort to bring peace and stability to people here and abroad. Told from the viewpoint of one who knows. No this isn't the first book about a bomb on an airplane. The uniqueness lies in the fact that the aircraft is a U.S. military aircraft. Terrorist bombs have supposedly been placed on this and other aircraft while they were at a secure base in Afghanistan. If you can get past this and allow the story to unfold, you will get a real thrill ride. The main characters are Air Force Major Michael Parson and Army Sergeant Major Sophia Gold, who met in Young's first novel, The Mullah's Storm, while transporting a terrorist show more for interrogation. This time they are trapped on a C-5, the U.S. Air Force's largest transport aircraft, with a load of critically wounded victims of an Afghan terrorist's attack. Major Parson doesn't know until after takeoff that terrorists have possibly planted bombs on many of the aircraft from his base of departure. When his worst fears are confirmed, he finds himself, his crew, and passengers trapped miles above the earth unable to land for fear the aircraft's descent will trigger the bomb. Add to this the mechanical failures of an aircraft built before any of it's crew were even born, as well as the creeping fear that any of the wounded on board may be another terrorist and you have a volatile situation ready to explode at any time. I would have liked to see a bit more character development in the secondary characters. show less

Silent Enemy begins with a bang, literally. The Afghan National Police training center is attacked with a bomb. The survivors, many of them injured, are evacuated by transport planes. Once the planes are airborne, it is discovered that bombs have also been placed aboard several of the planes.

The story is told from alternating viewpoints through the eyes of the pilot, Major Michael Parson, and one of the teachers from the school, Sergeant Major Sophia Gold. The plane can’t descend without triggering the bomb and no country wants to let them land.

Almost the entirety of the story takes place in the air. The plane is on autopilot most of that time, and unfortunately, so is the storytelling. The two main characters are supposed to be show more engaging, I suspect, but I didn’t feel much for either of them. There’s an odd romantic angle, as Parson has romantic feelings for Gold; she seems unaware and doesn’t really reciprocate. They never talk about their feelings and that element of the plot sort of remains limp and unresolved.

Thin characterization in a thriller can be forgiven if the story or the threat they are facing is itself exciting, but that falls flat here as well. There are a few action sequences scattered throughout, but the intensity isn’t quite there. The thrill of a mid-air refueling is not terribly exciting when all is said and done. There are exchanges with Major Gold’s Afghani students, reminiscences from both Gold and Parson about past trials they faced together, and several passages describing clouds and water as viewed from 30,000 feet.

There are a couple of obvious “what are they thinking” moments, but I wasn’t invested enough by that point to really be upset. There are a few mildly exciting moments, but not enough to make this a recommended read. The premise seems like it had potential, and I was looking forward to it on that basis, but instead the book misses it’s mark. show less