Over the last few years, I’ve become a fan of Jonathan Maberry, specifically of his Joe Ledger series. It’s a blend of action, horror and sci-fi which pits Joe Ledger and his motley crew of nerds, spooks, and soldiers against mad scientists, aliens, genetically engineered monsters and cyber threats, usually with the fate of the country and the world at stake. The series reads like a summer blockbuster movie: fun, loud, with plenty of cool spots and moments that go BOOM. With his ninth entry in the series, Dogs of War, Maberry sticks to his tried-and-true formula—super action hero versus a nefarious and just this side of plausible threat. It’s a straight-up popcorn novel and doesn’t pretend to be anything else.

Shortly after the events of the previous book, Kill Switch, Joe, his team, and the organization he works for, the Department of Military Sciences, are a step off their game—and the world’s counterintelligence and counter-terrorism communities know it. Their ranks are thinned, resources are failing, and their nerves are shot. As such, they find themselves on the outside looking in on many cases that they used to handle. But when a new and baffling bioterrorist threat rears its head and bears frightening similarities to a case they handled before. Echo Team snaps into (tentative) action. This threat, however, hits closer to home than most—Ledger’s home in particular—and the DMS finds themselves outgunned, out-planned, and in over their heads with the stark realization that this case is the culmination of everything that Joe and Echo Team have faced before.

If you’re a fan of this series, all of its hallmarks are on display: gruff, badass hero; cutting edge science; the world on the brink; and a mustache-twirling super villain. With all the overt and passing reference to previous entries in the series, this book is almost entirely fan service and is one of the better entries in the series. However, if you haven’t read any of the previous books, this isn’t as easy to follow. If the names Sebastian Gault, Hugo Vox, Mother Night, or Seif al Din mean nothing to you, the first third of this novel makes very little sense as Maberry doesn’t slow down to explain. Despite that, Dogs of War is a fun read that speeds by quickly.

Pros: Easy-to-read, fast paced, solid story

Cons: Self-referential, not easily accessible

Rating: 3 of 5 stars. Read if you’re a fan.

#2017 #bookreview #scifi #JonathanMaberry #DogsofWar #fiction