Eric L. Haney

A fairly well written thriller with not quite enough action that has a plot with an odd twist/ending.

Tanner is a Delta vet who is hired by the US government to find the little grandson of an emir whose son and family were killed by terrorists and who is being held hostage somewhere in north Africa. He's given virtually unlimited resources to do this. One of the things that was strange for me right off the bat was that the location of the terrorist army was easily pinpointed and known by all involved. Okay, how did that happen? Then, Tanner and his crew go to a group of Bedouin-type tribesmen who have a bone to pick with this army and align themselves to attack their fort together. During all of this, everything goes right for Tanner. In fact, during the whole book, everything goes right for Tanner. He finds the boy and the boy's nurse and rescues them, the militia exact their revenge, he sends his crew away and he's off to Italy, where he actually encounters his first difficulty, only to escape it almost immediately. And that's why this book gets three stars instead of five. It's not remotely realistic. Nothing happens so easily to a thriller hero. Something always goes wrong. In Alistair MacLain's work, numerous things go wrong all the time. Makes it more exciting. This? Just not believable. I doubt I'll pick up another Tanner novel. It was too disappointing. Not recommended.… (more)