Tier Zero - Henry Brown

Tommy Scarred Wolf thought he had smelled the powder for the last time ten years ago. Then somebody messed with his family.

With no government willing or able to help out, it's up to Tommy and his detective brother, Vince, to find Vince's kidnapped daughter halfway around the world. But rescuing her is going to take funding, firepower, and friends. Fortunately, Tommy knows some shooters just crazy enough to tag along--including some survivors from his last suicide mission: retired SEAL team commander Rocco Cavarra; former Delta Force operator Jake McCallum; and the unflappable sniper Leon Campbell.

On the ocean, in the jungle, and an urban purgatory, Tommy Scarred Wolf and his warrior brothers will face human traffickers, modern-day pirates, a typhoon, and an ultra-secret black ops team so dangerous even the CIA can’t touch them. There's something far more sinister than just "white slavery" going on here, and it's about to ram these men through a crucible which may never end...except in death.

Yesterday Henry Brown posted about the origins of this novel and some of the characters who star in it. Today I want to offer a few comments about it, the first and most important of which is that it's very, very good.

I thoroughly enjoyed the first book in this series, HELL AND GONE. As good as it was, TIER ZERO is better in every way. The characterizations are deeper, the plot has more twists, and hard as it may be to believe, it has even more of the gritty, well-written action scenes at which Brown excels. I thought I knew where the story was going, but it takes a nice hard turn about halfway through that powers it on to the end of the book.

And even though Tommy Scarred Wolf is the protagonist in this book, Rocco Cavarra is back in a strong supporting role. He's one of my favorite current characters and I fully expect we'll be seeing him again in future books.

So if you're a fan of novels that mix military action and international intrigue -- and if you like books that move along at a rapid pace and don't get bogged down in a lot of unnecessary padding (yes, I'm talking to you, 90% of contemporary thrillers), TIER ZERO gets a high recommendation from me. It's available in both print and e-book editions.

And don't forget to drop by Hank's blog to check out the promotion and giveaway he's doing to mark the launch of this book.