War Hawk by James Rollins and Grant Blackwood

First Line: Few in the Abwehr's military intelligence knew his true name or even his intent here on British soil.

When a former army colleague asks Tucker Wayne for help, he cannot refuse, even if it means dredging up things from his past that he'd rather leave buried. His friend and her son are on the run from assassins, and the only way Wayne can keep them safe is to discover who killed a brilliant computer programmer... and why.

The crime leads back to powerful figures in the U.S. government and will have Wayne and his war dog Kane on the move from the Deep South to Trinidad and places further afield. The two are trying to track a mystery that dates back to World War II, and to do this they will have to put everything they've got on the line.

The remarkable bond between Tucker Wayne and Kane completely won me over in The Kill Switch, and I couldn't possibly miss the second installment of their adventures.The action wasn't as predictable as it was in the first, which made the book even more enjoyable.

The focus in this book is information warfare, and it is terrifying. Those who control information are those who will be in control of the world. As always, Rollins includes  an "Author's Note to Readers: Truth or Fiction" at the back of the book, and it's a good idea to read it. He doesn't make up most of what he writes about. Part of the mystery of War Hawk revolves around some work Alan Turing did at Bletchley Park during World War II. Were his papers really lost in a fire, or were they stolen? They just may contain the key to winning this information war.

Tucker's PTSD and the way he relates to others figures highly in this book, and these things are a key to his character. So is his relationship with the war dog, Kane. When Rollins first wrote about Kane, he asked people in the military who actually worked with war dogs if what he'd written was realistic. All of them told him that the dogs were actually capable of doing much more than he'd written. Keep that in mind when you read about Kane. His relationship with Tucker will fill you with a bit of awe, a lot of admiration... and you might even get a bit emotional, too. 

James Rollins and Grant Blackwood have written the kind of thriller I enjoy the most: an intriguing plot, plenty of fast-paced action, and complex characters. Just the combination that will keep me coming back for more.
  

War Hawk by James Rollins and Grant Blackwood

ISBN: 9780062135278 

William Morrow © 2016

Hardcover, 384 pages

Thriller, #2 Tucker Wayne & Kane

Rating: A

Source: Purchased at The Poisoned Pen. 

   

The Kill Switch by James Rollins and Grant Blackwood

First Line: Doctor Paulos de Klerk packed the last of the medical supplies into the wooden trunk and locked the three brass clasps, mumbling under his breath with each snap.

Sigma Force is given a vital mission that must be carried out immediately, and Tucker Wayne and his partner, the retired war dog Kane, are the only ones close enough to get in quickly and get it done. Escorting the pharmaceutical magnate out of Russia and into the United States isn't easy from the first second Tucker and Kane set foot in Siberia. Someone knew he was coming, and now Tucker has to try to outfox the group that wants to keep Abram Bukolov in Russia. Bukolov holds the secret to a deadly bioweapon that's going to take them on to South Africa and Namibia before the billionaire ever has a chance to see America.

James Rollins knows how to take interesting tidbits from history and science and turn them into an adrenaline-fueled thriller. In the case of The Kill Switch, the history is the Boer War and the science involves something that could very well be the stem cells of the plant world. Add to the history and science the intriguing duo of Tucker Wayne and Kane, and the enjoyment factor increases tenfold.

Having already read a bit about this man and his dog, I was looking forward to a little background on the two of them, and I was not disappointed. Tucker's childhood and his service in the military have led him to make rules for himself that can cause problems. One of those rules is that he won't kill a dog. Dogs have given him the love, the friendship, and the loyalty that humans never have, and although his "rule" makes sense to him, it is something that does put him and the others at risk. Kane, the Belgian shepherd, is just as devoted to Tucker as Tucker is to him. He is intelligent, extremely well-trained, and I can see some readers turning the pages of The Kill Switch and thinking that Kane is Super Dog, a fantasy of Rollins' imagination. Truth is, anyone who knows what these war dogs are capable of doing says that Rollins downplays their abilities.

I enjoyed this book for increasing my knowledge about Tucker and Kane, and I found the tie-in to the Boer War and the science fascinating. The action is almost non-stop, but if there is a weakness in this book it is the fact that too much of that action is predictable. However, I look forward to seeing what's in store for these two.

The Kill Switch by James Rollins and Grant Blackwood

ISBN: 9780062135254

William Morrow © 2014

Hardcover, 388 pages

Thriller, #1 Tucker Wayne

Rating: B+

Source: Amazon Vine