Book: A Deeper Blue by John Ringo


Improbable but fun military thriller

John Ringo
A Deeper Blue
Baen, 2007
ISBN 10: 1-4165-2128-3
ISBN 13: 978-1-4165-2128-0
349 pages
$26.00

A Deeper Blue by John Ringo is the author's fifth (and thus far last) book in his somewhat hokily-named "Paladin of Shadows" series of military thrillers. I've said of the previous books in the series (1, 2, 3, 4) that their plots are somewhat improbable even by the rather relaxed standards of the genre, but that they're enough fun that I don't mind that. The same is true of this book.

Significant spoilers follow for earlier books in the series. Probably the best place to start the series is with the second book.


The main character is Mike Harmon, formerly a navy SEAL and now the benevolent feudal baron of a mountain valley in the Eastern European country of Georgia. His feudal retainers, the Keldara, are of an unusual ethnicity for the region and he has molded them into a small but very potent fighting force. As the book begins, he has been on a bender since the end of the last mission which, though successful, resulted in the death of someone close to him. Some of his subordinates begin a mission, but an attack meant for him injures some of them. At that point he pulls himself together and takes over the leadership of the mission. The mission is to keep a shipment of VX nerve gas from being smuggled into Florida via the Bahamas. There should be enough adventure and feats of derring-do here for anyone.

All of the books in the series include violent sex to one degree or another. Here, it's committed by bad guys against a woman they don't realize is enjoying it. That's not, especially, what I look for in military thrillers, but it doesn't particularly bother me here. Other people may have different opinions.

Posted: Wed - July 23, 2008 at 07:21 PM   Main   Category: 

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