The Warlord: A Jackson Monroe Novel [Hardcover]

Richard H. Dickinson (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 14, 2004

A fictional answer to Black Hawk Down, The Warlord is a pulsating military thriller set against today’s special ops war in Afghanistan.
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Meet three-star general, Jackson Monroe, a character very much based on four-star general, Colin Powell.

What would happen if a polished middle-aged man like Powell found himself shot down in the mountains of Afghanistan and surrounded by the enemy?

Can a “soft” political general who has spent decades inside the corridors of Washington now become a hardened survivor, killer, and commander inside a war zone?

Loosely based on Xenophon’s The Persian Expedition, The Warlord tells the story of former sniper Jackson Monroe (The Silent Men) a man who must follow and then lead a ragtag unit against adversary after adversary as they try to make their way across hundreds of miles of hostile territory.

Evading, feinting, fighting, and then avenging, Monroe finally finds the commando he once was and the commander he always wanted to be.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Any thriller that's advertised as "a fictional answer to Black Hawk Down," claims to be "loosely based on Xenophon's The Persian Expedition" and says that its lead character is "very much" modeled on Colin Powell would appear to be asking for trouble. But Dickinson manages to satisfy with a smoothly written and painstakingly researched story about an overage warrior suddenly plunked down into the middle of the war in Afghanistan. Jackson Monroe, the Vietnam sniper hero of The Silent Men, is now a four-star general and political insider. He is forced into real action when a diplomatic trip is interrupted by the assassination of a leading Afghan warlord, and Monroe has to take control of his team's only remaining helicopter. Long unused, his 30-year-old survival skills click into place, but are they enough to keep the general and his men alive over—and in—enemy territory? The Special Forces troops with him doubt it—as the lone civilian along puts it, "You're a fancy pants general who doesn't know shit"—but a brutal kill wins their trust. Powell might not approve or recognize himself, but if no copies of Xenophon are handy, this timely and imaginative military thriller makes a good option.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From the Inside Flap

A fictional answer to Black Hawk Down, The Warlord is a pulsating military thriller set against today's special ops war in Afghanistan.
---------------
Meet three-star general, Jackson Monroe, a character very much based on four-star general, Colin Powell.

What would happen if a polished middle-aged man like Powell found himself shot down in the mountains of Afghanistan and surrounded by the enemy?

Can a "soft" political general who has spent decades inside the corridors of Washington now become a hardened survivor, killer, and commander inside a war zone?

Loosely based on Xenophon's The Persian Expedition, The Warlord tells the story of former sniper Jackson Monroe (The Silent Men) a man who must follow and then lead a ragtag unit against adversary after adversary as they try to make their way across hundreds of miles of hostile territory.

Evading, feinting, fighting, and then avenging, Monroe finally finds the commando he once was and the commander he always wanted to be.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 320 pages
• Publisher: Rugged Land; 1St Edition edition (September 14, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1590710177
• ISBN-13: 978-1590710173
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.2 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,097,101 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Two Stars for the Two-Star General, February 13, 2006

By 

zorba (Bala Cynwyd, Pa USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Warlord: A Jackson Monroe Novel (Hardcover)

Not a very compelling read. The plot moves in a strictly linear direction with a bunch of green berets and an insufferable two-star general miraculously escaping from one close call after another. The story is so predictible that it lacks any excitement. The characters are stereotypical. This is not a "timely and imaginative military thriller" as one back cover blurb would have you believe. It's a wannabe screenplay in search of a producer. It might make a good movie, but as a book it's AWOL.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Overage, Desk Flying General Shot Down, Marching Out., October 20, 2004

By 

John Matlock "Gunny" (Winnemucca, NV) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Warlord: A Jackson Monroe Novel (Hardcover)

A delightful story, especially now that I'm older than I once was. What happens when sauve, sophisticated general Jackson Monroe, who's been flying a desk for a bunch of years is shot down in the mountains of Afghanistan, surrounded by the enemy.

On the fly leaf it says that this book is loosely based on Zenophon's The Persian Expedition, perhaps, but Zenophon was in the company of ten thousand Greek mercenaries, and here there are a lot fewer. I'd say it compares better with the march/retreat led by General 'Vinegar Joe' Stillwell at the start of World War II.

At any case, the story is well written, the situations, the people interesting. The author is a West Point graduate, ex-Air Force, and his military situations are well described. This is his second book. His first, also featuring Jackson Monroe, is The Silent Men.

I'd suggest that you go to Amazon or your favorite supplier and get both books. Winter's coming, and when there's a big storm settle down in front of the fire for a delight.

4.0 out of 5 stars Insightful, December 31, 2011

By 

T. Mackin (Bloomington, MN) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Warlord: A Jackson Monroe Novel (Hardcover)

I read this book with my perspective of a Vietnam veteran. I thought the byplay about the role of a senior pentagon leader with a special forces team was more interesting than the more negative reviews have acknowledged. While the reporter Brie was portrayed in a shallow manner, Jane the photographer had a lot more moxie. The wind, grit, boulders and the shifting alliances of the Northern Alliance were well described. Enough things went wrong that the storyline wasn't predictable. There was more going on than just bullets and bodies, although there were plenty of those. I found the book riveting, and followed the transformation of Gen Jackson Monroe over the six weeks of the story.

I picked up the book at a used bookstore, and checked Amazon to see what else the author had written. I would read more by this author.