Kill Zone-Battle Drills (Raconteur Press)
by Shane Gries
Ah, Space Marines. And space mercenaries. If you like battle-ready novels, this one is for you. There’s plenty of action and a really good plot.
Terran Marine Dave Hernandez starts out in a pointless battle where he is the only survivor of his unit. He calls it quits with the marines and takes a job as a maintenance guy on a freighter. But the freighter gets attacked by pirates and despite there being hired mercenaries to protect the ship onboard, and despite his antipathy with their protectors, Dave pulls their chestnuts out of the fire and saves the ship (if not the cargo). They invite him to join their mercenary outfit: the Jacks.
After some consideration he accepts, not realizing the Jacks are about to become patsies for a shady shipping company that is intentionally letting its older ships be raided and destroyed. The plot is intricate, ruthless and deadly, and Dave and the Jacks get good intelligence as to who is pulling the strings. Can they stop the plot before they are either killed, jailed, or dead? And who is, ultimately, providing the intelligence?
It’s a page turner.