Red Metal

Starred review from May 20, 2019
Bestseller Greaney (the Gray Man series) and Rawlings, a Marine lieutenant colonel, closely follow more than a score of characters in this outstanding near-future military action thriller. Several years after the Russians lose control of a rare earth mine in Kenya, Col. Yuri Borbikov, the Russian special forces commander who was in charge of the mine, draws up a plan, Operation Red Metal. Borbikov proposes a Russian raid into Europe to destroy America’s Africa Command in Stuttgart, Germany, and a simultaneous attack to retake the mine. The Russian president approves, and Red Metal is on. The various battles—fought on land, sea, and in the air—are exciting, realistic, and technically detailed, complete with the high emotions experienced by the combatants. As in the best of this genre, there are no cartoon villains, just dedicated warriors who are given a mission and are determined to carry it out. This is powerful material, required reading for anyone interested in modern warfare. Author tour. Agent: Scott Miller, Trident Media.

May 15, 2019
Russia launches war in Europe and Africa in this military thriller reminiscent of the late Tom Clancy. A small group of Chinese communist special forces sneaks into Taiwan to assassinate a politician and provoke a war. This attracts intense U.S. attention--perfect timing for Russia to launch Operation Red Metal and "retain its proper place in the world." The Russians' ultimate goal is to keep control of a rare-earth mine in Kenya, for which they need to wield "a scalpel through the heart of Europe" to destroy AFRICOM, the U.S. Africa Command headquartered in Germany. They kill Western satellites to take out GPS and make Europe deaf, mute, and blind. On Christmas Day, Russian trains disguised as civilian transport deliver offensive forces into Europe, unloading troops and tanks. They also attack in Kenya, where battles rage. NATO hasn't detected this military buildup and is taken completely by surprise. A Russian general opines that the U.S. can't fight a conventional force anymore, embroiled as it's been in Afghanistan. Ha! Tell it to the Marines, like Lt. Col. Dan Connolly, who knows "this world's a damn dangerous place" and figures out what the enemy is up to. The war lasts about a week, plenty of time for intense battle scenes and the distinct possibility of tactical nukes. Having produced well over 600 pages, Greaney and Rawlings, his Marine co-author, had a bout of logorrhea, but the collaboration has yielded plenty of realism. There are some good lines, as when an A-10 pilot strafes the ground while screaming "Die, Commie, die!" (He apparently didn't get the memo about the USSR.) But the best line: "And as long as we get to pop a bunch of those Russkies, death ain't but a thing." Readers will be humming "The Marines' Hymn" after finishing this paean to the U.S. Marines. Hoorah! As with all of Greaney's work, this is a fun read. If only all our wars were fiction.

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June 1, 2019
Greaney teams with marine commander Rawlings to deliver a novel that strongly evokes the work of Tom Clancy. The story jumps all over the globe as China and Taiwan are on the verge of hostilities, and the Russians use the Asian conflict to implement a plan called Red Metal, designed to take over sections of Europe and Africa. The narrative follows various soldiers involved in the conflict?a U.S. Marine lieutenant colonel in Africa, a female partisan in Poland, among several others?jumping from one personal story to another and, thus, bringing the human element into play in what might otherwise have descended into a detailing of what high-tech machinery did what damage. Readers expecting the fast pace and action of Greaney's Gray Man series may be a bit disappointed, but the novel offers a bold take on the direction that modern warfare could take, especially in the event of WWIII. A must, naturally, for Clancy fans.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2019, American Library Association.)

February 1, 2019

Russia is attacking the West, with tanks crushing their way across Poland and heading toward Germany. Among those opposing: a U.S. Marine lieutenant colonel, a French Special Forces captain, a female Polish Resistance fighter, and a German sergeant. From Gay Man mega-best seller Greaney and veteran Rawlings, getting the fight details right.

Copyright 2019 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.