cover image Red Metal

Red Metal

Mark Greany and H. Ripley Rawlings IV. Berkley, $27 (656p) ISBN 978-0-451-49041-4

Bestseller Greaney (the Gray Man series) and Rawlings, a Marine lieutenant colonel, closely follow more than a score of characters in this outstanding near-future military action thriller. Several years after the Russians lose control of a rare earth mine in Kenya, Col. Yuri Borbikov, the Russian special forces commander who was in charge of the mine, draws up a plan, Operation Red Metal. Borbikov proposes a Russian raid into Europe to destroy America’s Africa Command in Stuttgart, Germany, and a simultaneous attack to retake the mine. The Russian president approves, and Red Metal is on. The various battles—fought on land, sea, and in the air—are exciting, realistic, and technically detailed, complete with the high emotions experienced by the combatants. As in the best of this genre, there are no cartoon villains, just dedicated warriors who are given a mission and are determined to carry it out. This is powerful material, required reading for anyone interested in modern warfare. Author tour. Agent: Scott Miller, Trident Media. (July)