In the tradition of “The Expendables” and “The Dirty Dozen”, Hank Brown delivers rock solid military action with just a hint of techno-thriller. Brown paints Rocco’s Retreads with a sold brush that emphasizes gritty, realistic action instead of a troop of invincible soldiers. The fighting is brutal and intense; the characters are recognizable and empathetic. The language of the book is noticeably less crude than one might expect from this type of military fiction, which makes the book that much more enjoyable. The plot is straightforward, and complications derive from perfectly natural mission-creep rather than complexly contrived circumstance. Brown stays on target and develops his characters and story without resorting to vulgarity, graphic violence, or gratuitous sex. This is a book about experienced soldiers on a dirty covert op; the writing is well-rounded and professional.
Henry “Hank” Brown came to my attention because we both posted in the (now defunct) Mack Bolan action-adventure forums. I bought his book simply because he came on the forums, mentioned the novel and asked people to buy it. Marketing at its most basic. When I eventually got around to reading it, I shot him an email half-way through the book and he was kind enough to do respond. Hank is a former soldier who’s put that experience to good use in his stories.
Hell and Gone tells the story of Rocco Cavarra and a group of retired special operators assembled by the CIA for a dirty op. Islamic terrorists have possession of an atomic weapon, and it’s up to Rocco’s Retreads to get it back at all costs and without implicating the U.S. Mission creep sets in fairly early, and before they can even fire a shot, these old soldiers are in it up to their necks. As a military thriller catering to the same crowd that reads Tom Clancy and Mack Bolan, Hell and Gone delivers hard core action grounded in the kind of realism that comes from experience.
The biggest threats in the military thriller genre usually come from convenient circumstances that work for or against the characters, and from characters that are thinly disguised supermen. Brown falls into neither of these traps. Far from being a straightforward slugfest, mission creep lets the tension escalate nearly continuously without devolving into cliché and circumstance. The action comes thick and fast early on and never lets up. This is top notch military storytelling.
Writers develop strong connections to their characters, and there is a tendency to turn them into supermen. Brown sidesteps this temptation and delivers a cast of soldiers drawn by portions from men of his acquaintance. The result is a squad of hotheads, goldbrickers, professionals, and roughnecks that you believe could well be operating in the black. These guys go in guns blazing, and not everybody comes out alive.
Military thrillers tend to follow a regular formula, and Brown stays true to the course. His pacing switches fluidly from action scene to character development, and never leaves the reader hanging. Brown writes in a natural manner with an easy rhythm.
Thrillers of this sort don’t tend to lend themselves to deep discussions on the meaning of life. Brown doesn’t depart from the norm, and the story spends all of its opportunities for deep thought on character development. It’s not a waste; it’s part of what makes the characters so appealing. It also means that reader investment depends on plot and character development rather than on personal reflection. I've read through this book several times now, and it's become one of my favorite examples of the genre. Rocco's Retreads return in Tier Zero, and False Flag.
Hank Brown’s a great guy and a talented writer. His blog pulls no punches when it comes to hard hitting action stories, and he’s made an effort to collect some very good stuff under his Virtual Pulp banner. Hank has done a variety of other fiction, including forays into sci-fi, fantasy, historical fiction, and even a boxing story. All of his work can be found at Virtual Pulp.
