COAST: AN ACT OF BURIAL By Xander Richards

Review by Diane Rapp

 

James Bond Move Over For the COAST Team

 

When I think of the character James Bond, Sean Connery immediately comes to mind.  Then my brain flickers through other actors until it stops at Pierce Brosnan (sigh) and finally lands on the current actor, Daniel Craig.  (I’m still getting used to him.)  Why should readers settle for one secret agent when we can have three?  That’s what I thought as I read this exciting action/adventure novel.

 

COAST (Covert Operation and Surveillance Team) is a secret British military organization filled with fifteen teams of gutsy secret agents.  Each three man team of the TDR (Tactical Deployment and Response) 1 thru 15 is a highly trained group of specialists who perform covert operations.  This story follows the exploits of the TDR.12 team consisting of Ian McKinley, Chris Carter, and Martin Brook—flawed men filled with courage, intelligence, and deadly skills.

 

Testosterone nearly drips off the page as these men perform breathtaking acts of bravery.  True to the genre, readers are treated to submarine wreck diving, car, plane, and helicopter chases, plus organized military attacks.  The TDR.12 team must track down stolen British nuclear warheads before a group bent on world domination destroys life as we know it.  They face bombings, murders, kidnapping, and a traitor within the COAST organization.  The intelligent, well-financed enemy keeps one step ahead whenever they discover a lead.  Unpredictability is the team’s secret asset but usually lands them in trouble.

 

The author peppers the entertaining narrative with military language, British slang, and an “alphabet soup” of organizations.  He explains a few immediately but also provides an interesting glossary at the end of the book.  I don’t know much about weaponry, but the characters describe their favorite weapons with enough detail to make a military aficionado swoon.  The author’s research on mining, high-tech gadgets, and military protocol brings reality to the storyline, and he explores the minds of his characters to make them believable.  Readers who enjoy military suspense, gutsy heroes, and action-packed adventures should buy this book.  There are heroes like these men protecting us every day, and this novel helps us appreciate their sacrifice.