I reviewed Book 1 of this trilogy and thought the book was useless - too late as I had already ordered Book 3 as part of the Amazon Vine process. So here's that review as posted. Two stars this time, so twice as good as the first volume :-).
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My review of Book 1 of this trilogy noted that "none of the characters are remotely interesting as individuals: they are casual, disposable personae from the stereotype handbook," and observed "childlike motivations on the part of the 'characters'; a simplistic storyline which etches boredom into the reader's soul; contrived, painting-by-numbers plotting as holed as a sieve."
Volume three is not much of an improvement. Despite his "master's thesis at Los Alamos National Laboratory" the author's shallow understanding of the science behind the Large Hadron Collider, quantum theory and relativity lends a cut-and-paste feel to a not-unimportant part of his storyline. Similarly, I doubt that ex-Ranger Mr Phillips has ever attended a meeting between senior executives of a Government or corporate organisation and I can assure him such meetings do not progress as he imagines.
However, anyone who has stuck with Volumes 1 and 2 and is contemplating buying Volume 3 has already discounted all of this. So let me add some positive points: when writing about what he knows (special ops) Richard Phillips writes with conviction and genuine excitement; and this volume is faster paced than the first volume and has a raw excitement if you manage to suspend your disbelief in the characters and plotting. The author won't care about my advice, but if he sticks with down-the-line military SF in future, his stuff might work better.
