Ghost Soldier

An American flyer is captured and sent to a notorious Japanese biological research facility. Decades later, a notorious gun merchant known only as "The Vendor" is busy facilitating arms sales from the Taliban using abandoned American weapons to wreak havoc around the world. The Vendor is not only a weapons dealer, but he is also a brilliant weapons designer. Using AI, he has created some of the deadliest weapons ever to exist.
An old friend from the CIA contacts Juan Cabrillo and asks him to find out who The Vendor is and how he is moving these weapons undetected. Cabrillo and the ship he commands, The Oregon, agree to take on the mission. The chase leads him from Afghanistan to Kuala Lumpur, and beyond. Along the way, the matter show more becomes highly personal. Cabrillo is determined to find and stop The Vendor, who is equally determined to put an end to Cabrillo. The Oregon and all her crew will be tested to their limits. Thousands of lives and a shift in the balance of power in East Asia hang in the balance.

Ghost Soldier has a villain worthy of James Bond and a group of protagonists worthy of Mission Impossible. Mike Maden is firmly in control of these characters. In the best Clive Cussler tradition, you start with an event in the past whose shockwaves are felt in the future. You have a strong group of characters, led by Juan Cabrillo, who are dogged in their pursuit of the villain and will do anything to prevent his devastating plans. The ship Cabrillo commands is a technological marvel. The action soars around the world in the air, on land, and at sea. The fight and combat scenes are edge-of-the-seat thrill rides and there are plenty of them. If you like thrillers with high stakes, colorful characters, and lots of action, this book is just what you want. One of my favorite reads of the year.

I was provided a copy of this book by the publisher. show less

Juan Cabrillo and his crew (corporation, really) in this book are fighting against a mysterious technological warlord called the Vendor. We meet the Vendor at the beginning of the book through early chapters about several countries (Niger, North Korea) whose fighters are completely wiped out in brutal attacks. In Niger, there is even mention of Blackhawk helicopters flying towards the group, making the leader think the Americans were coming to help out. They were Blackhawks, but their aim was not to help.

As these strange attacks continue, his "boss," Overton, calls him in to solve them. Juan dons a superb disguise and the persona of a Russian general and makes his way to a village leader in Afghanistan. This "general" wants to see more show more of the American arms, ammunition, and gear that was left behind in August of 2021 when the American forces pulled out. He finds not just huge warehouses full of this equipment, but also himself on board an aircraft with pallets of these armaments heading who knows where.

Juan is (of course) able to escape, the plane crashes into the sea, and the Vendor realizes someone is onto him. And the story keeps building and events occur, including a mole at the CIA who is pretty darn upset that no one is recognizing her talents and work expertise. The action takes place mainly at sea for the crew of the Oregon, while a Pacific island called the Island of Sorrows becomes the location of a cunning set-up from the Vendor. Seems the Vendor wants to sell armaments to the highest bidder, and he recruits a group of skilled mercenaries, presumably to play a relatively harmless war game that will make them all rich men. Instead, the Vendor has set them up as examples of what his technological firepower can do to the human body. While his buyers look on with interest.

I found this to be a not great read for the series. There was page after page of similes, describing everything from the crew of the Oregon, to the tech they used, to munitions, that it ceased to serve a purpose. Simple explanations still work. And the over-reliance on technological wizardry grew stale after a while. I get that tech is fascinating, but when tech puts itself as the point of the story, instead of Juan and Linda and Max and all the characters, then it's time to create a story. show less

A deadly war game. An adversary as hard to find as he is to kill. Weapons so sophisticated, none have seen the like before. Juan Cabrillo and the crew of the Oregon have finally met their match
An American flyer is captured and sent to a notorious Japanese biological research facility. Decades later, a notorious gun merchant known only as "The Vendor" is busy facilitating arms sales from the Taliban using abandoned American weapons to wreak havoc around the world. The Vendor is not only a weapons dealer, but he is also a brilliant weapons designer. Using AI, he has created some of the deadliest weapons ever to exist.
An old friend from the CIA contacts Juan Cabrillo and asks him to find out who The Vendor is and how he is moving these show more weapons undetected. Cabrillo and the ship that he commands, The Oregon, agree to take on the mission. The chase leads him from Afghanistan to Kuala Lumpur, and beyond. Along the way, the matter becomes highly personal. Cabrillo is determined to find and stop The Vendor, who is equally determined to put an end to Cabrillo. The Oregon and all her crew will be tested to their limits. Thousands of lives and a shift in the balance of power in East Asia hang in the balance.

Ghost Soldier has a villain worthy of James Bond and a group of protagonists that are worthy of "Mission Impossible". Mike Maden is firmly in control of these characters. In the best tradition of Clive Cussler. You start with an event in the past whose shockwaves are felt right up into the future. There is a strong group of characters, led by Juan Cabrillo, who are determined in their pursuit of this villain and will do anything to prevent his devastating plans.

I was first, years ago, attracted to this series because of "The Oregon", The ship that Juan Cabrillo commands. It is a technological wonder. The stories take the reader around the world both in the air, land, and sea. The fight and combat scenes are thrill rides and there are lots of them. If you like thrillers with high stakes, colorful characters, and loads of action, this entire series is just waiting for you. The books don't necessarily need to be read in order. show less

Ghost Soldier was only given three stars as it is a difficult book to listen to while watching our current president tear apart the United States. This book represents what is good about the United States.

Juan and the Oregon are up against second generation evil using tech even they have issues keeping up with. A good continuation to an interesting and fun to read series.