Target Deck picks up perhaps two months after the events of Reflexive Fire. Deckard and what is left of his mercenary battalion are cooling their heels in Kazakhstan and expecting some kind of retaliation for the stunt they pulled at the conclusion of Reflexive Fire. That retaliation never happens as high level members of the defense and intelligence community know they dropped the ball and are secretly thankful for what Deckard did.
Receiving a desperate call for help, Deckard leads a small element to Mexico. A local police chief asks him to conduct some recon and prepare for follow on operations directed against the drug cartels that have taken over his jurisdiction. In short order, the chief is murdered and his daughter (who has inherited his title) is kidnapped by one of the cartels. With his employer dead, Deckard doesn’t feel he can leave the girl in the lurch and launches a rescue operation. This is the first scene of Target Deck.
Who This Book is For
I write these books for modern audiences and those who are ready for this genre to grow up beyond superficial political messages and platitudes.
Today’s readers are smarter, and more informed, than readers were even just a decade ago. People know the difference between the Marines Corp and the 82nd Airborne. They know the difference between an M16 and an AK-47, so I don’t write down to the reader or insult their intelligence. Those who really don’t know can look simple things like this up on Wikipedia, they don’t need me to wax poetic about it for ten pages and waste their time.
However, Reflexive Fire and Target Deck are not elitist books. Everyone from SOF veterans to housewives has been able to read and enjoy them. I did write the book for intelligent readers in general, not just for military vets.
In the 1980’s the “men’s adventure” genre really exploded into the literary scene. Vietnam veterans were interested in reading these types of books and the reading public was interested in hearing about these experiences. Furthermore, the world was still facing off against the communist menace and books where the good guys win (as opposed to Vietnam or early Counter-Terrorist operations such as Desert One) were extremely popular.
I’m excited to be a part of the re-emergence of this genre as many US military veterans are returning home and sitting down to write. Like veteran writers of the past, they are writing novels that reflect their experiences and the unique aspects of the conflicts that they fought in.
I think of it as the second wave of the military fiction genre, and although I was one of the earlier members of it, I wasn’t the first and certainly will not be the last! Look for more on this topic when SOFREP releases our book blog…
I hope everyone enjoys reading Target Deck as much as I did writing it, as I really pushed myself to take this book several steps beyond what readers are familiar with. While most novels would end when the protagonist defeats the drug lord, that is where this book starts to get really interesting as Deckard begins to question why the cartel has access to large stockpiles of US military weapons.
The Fast and Furious scandal broke while I was writing this book, effecting the direction I took it in. As I developed some contacts I found that “Fast and Furious” is really just a drop in the bucket compared to some of the other shady stuff going on.
Please let me know what you think of the book, your feedback is always welcome!
Deckard will return for the third novel in this series titled Direct Action but I’ll discuss that some other time.
Get Target Deck today for the Amazon Kindle or in Paperback.
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