Customer Reviews

Prometheus's Child: Harold Coyle's Strategic Solutions, Inc.

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

Private contractors are much in the news, but despite all the attention (most of it negative) these days, I found that Harold Coyle sheds interesting, informative light on PMCs. While some contractors seem to cross the line on occasion, Coyle's team plays it straight, even when it's dangerous to do so. In that regard, his characters are typical of the security firms I know of. They're well trained, well paid pros in a very dangerous game. (Last I heard, about 1,000 have been killed in the war on terror.)

Another thing I like about this series is Coyle's description of how the operators get hired. After so-called "right sizing" in the 1990s, the US military was caught short handed on 9/11, and private contractors were needed as never before. That's part of the plot in this book, and Coyle and Tillman deserve credit for showing that aspect of the business as nobody else has done, to my knowledge.

Surprisingly banal and plodding, there was very little combat in this offering by Coyle and Tillman. Much of the novel focuses on the administrative minutiae of running a mercenary organization -- do we need ex-SEALs or - Rangers? Should we trust the Dept. of State or the NSA? Can we afford to do this or that? These conversations drag on, page after page. A new genre is born: Administrative Military Fiction.

The release of the second book in this series is well timed. As the world looks to question the rolls of Private Military Contractors for world governments, this novel gives us a second look at the men and women of Strategic Solutions, Inc and the jobs they under take to protect and serve the interest of the United States when politics and Armies can't make do.This fictional look at a real subject may give you insight into the truth of the real world of the PMC. It is not James Bond, or the Bourne spy series but it is not trying to be. It is a look at a very real way of solving problems through the eyes of fictional PMC's.

Harold Coyle's early novels were some of the best military fiction out there. How he could put his name on this embarrassment is beyond me. Thinly drawn characters that you could scarcely care about, and more board meetings than any masochistic MBA could desire. A special operator who planned the mission against the mining compound would be court martialed. A 2LT fresh out of OCS would have planned and executed better. W.E.B. Griffin and Tom Clancy should be fined for allowing their back cover blurbs to help entice poor suckers like me.

Minor quibble: Page 306 - character asks for 7.62 miniguns -- highest priority, op-immediate. Is delighted to receive M60 machine guns. Wee bit of difference! Disgust would be the appropriate reaction. But that gaffe pales to someone else's book where the sniper had a 50mm sniper rifle. What would it use for a suppressor? A truck muffler?

I purchased the first book in this series based on Coyle's past work. I didnt make past page 40. Shame on you Coyle for publishing this dreck.

The book is boring and hard to get into. It rambles on and on. I expect more from Coyle. This should be on the romance shelf because there is very little if any action and what action it has is laid out poorly. Don't waste your money.

This book went on and on with such a slow pace and lack of direction that only sheer willpower and the hope that it would get better let me finish. Mr. Coyle's normal fast pace, strong plot and memorable character development are missing in a big way; so much so that I finished it more because I refuse to quit than out of anything resembling enjoyment.

Mr. C needs to pause, take a deep breath, find an editor that will have the guts to tell him "this stinks" and not lend his name to any more carp written by others, and if he was actively engaged in writing this book perhaps he has finally burnt out.

And as always:
Would I look at any other books by this author in the future? Maybe
Would I spend list price on it again? No.. in fact if I could return it I would.

This is one of three books so far dealing with a fictional Private Company that undertakes missions in the middle east for our government to thwart terrorist activities. The book is well done in its plot and you find it hard to put down once you start reading it. I am eagerly awaiting volume 4 in the series.

This book is not up to Harold Coyle's standard. It reads like a comic book. It is doubtful he had much to do with writing it. My best guess is that he simply sold his name.