Strike Hard
by Kevin Grover

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Book Reviews of Strike Hard

Book Review: A DIAMOND IN THE ROUGH
Summary: 2 Stars

The plot line is very straightforward. this is supposedly an account of an attempt by a group of neo-Naxi's to steal gold bullion from Fort Knox to finance their political activities. The author was actually based there during two tours of duty while in the US Army, and thus utilized his knowledge to provide the background for the storyline and create a credible operation logistically. His feel for military routine and procedure provides an authentic feel to the military elements of the story; however, on occasion he assumes reader familiarity with military terminology (especially acronyms and abbreviations) which need explanation. The central character is Sgt. Tony Wilson, a drill instuctor about to leave the Army and taking classes in criminology. The first few chapters introduce us to Tony and supply Sgt. Karen Harris, who has become a good friend (in a platonic relationship) while also stationed at Fort Knox. Meanwhile, weapons have been disappearing from several military posts and armories in the region; Tony brings fresh eyes to the investigation while temporarily assigned to assist Lieutenant Colonel Nathan Hooks. Several promising leads turn into dead ends when the suspects are murdered but the investigation gradually uncovers evidence of neo-Nazi involvement. Finally, as you might gues Tony and Karen become increasing attracted to each other but afraid to reveal their true feelings. If it sounds like a plot with a lot of potential, it is.

Unfortunately, the development of the story in this book seems more like an outline or an early draft. The characters need a lot more development; only Tony is fleshed out in much detail, including such interesting angles as his interest in cooking. The story proceeds in too linear a fashion, there should be more misdirection and intrigue to hold the reader's interest. Also, as is true of most books from small publishing houses the proofreading and editing appear non-existent; there are a lot of typos and grammatical errors.

The author clearly has potential, on a few occasions there are flashes of brillance and in a few instances he creates real tension regarding the outcome of violent events. My final criticism is the opposite of my usual complaint regarding this genre, this story should be longer. There is a middle ground between the brevity of STRIKE HARD and the mind numbing detail of Tom Clancy's RED RABBIT .... Kevin Grover has a very long way to go before the comparisons with Clancy are apt, but his subject matter is similar and if he continues to write about subjects of which he has this much in depth knowledge he will move in that direction . However, the story's brevity doesn't allow enough time to provide the necessary detail and color in his stories to maintain the reader's interest in the action and the characters. More detail would paradoxically make a somewhat longer book more cohesive and therefore fast moving by involving the reader (as Clancy and Ludlum do) rather than leaving him (or her) only an outside observer.

I do plan to read the sequel, STRIKE SWIFTLY, which involves many of the same characters and hopefully will benefit from the feedback which he received from readers of this novel. The subject matter of that appears quite interesting, and it is worth encouraging new literary voices with the determination and thought provoking plots of Kevin Grover.

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