It will come as no surprise to anyone who has even a passing familiarity with Brad Taylor’s work that his new Pike Logan thriller is a blistering, explosive read. Taylor is approaching the end of his first decade as an author, and over the course of the previous 10 years, he has given the world 14 novels and several short stories chronicling missions of Pike and the Taskforce, a highly illegal team of counter-terrorists who blessedly function without Congressional oversight or media scrutiny. Formed in the aftermath of 9/11, their job is to decimate without apology or regret those who would harm the United States either at home or abroad.

HUNTER KILLER is one of the best in the series to date, taking Pike and Jennifer Cahill, his partner in work and in life, into South America on a mission of revenge where the professional bleeds over to the personal.

"...an intriguing tale, full of twists, turns, explosions and fisticuffs. By the book’s conclusion, you will be wondering why all thrillers can’t be this good."

The book gets off to a roaring start when an attempt made on Pike’s life at his home in Charleston, South Carolina, fails. However, it results in the fiery death of one of his closest friends. The incident is ruled an accident by local law enforcement, but Pike knows better. It comes just as he and Jennifer were preparing to join the Taskforce, which is already in place in anticipation of launching a counter-terrorist mission that is planned on the triple frontier in South America, where the borders of Argentina, Brazil and Paraguay meet. When Pike loses contact with the team following the attempt on his life, he is even more convinced that he and the Taskforce are under assault by their targets, who seem determined to get their retaliation in early.

Pike and Jennifer respond by heading down to Brazil, where they run into a vicious and dangerous crew of Russian assassins who are engaged in a scheme to hijack the Brazilian presidential elections and disrupt the country’s offshore oil fields in the process, hoping to sow seeds of discord in the resulting chaos. The Russians are as capable a team as any that the Taskforce has encountered. However, Pike and his men are able to even the odds a bit with the assistance of a pair of steel-nerved Israeli killers who are every bit as dangerous as the other players involved.

Pike will need all the help he can get as the Taskforce races against the Russians, who have a meticulously planned, multi-pronged attack that they intend to execute quickly and flawlessly. It’s an intriguing tale, full of twists, turns, explosions and fisticuffs. By the book’s conclusion, you will be wondering why all thrillers can’t be this good.

Taylor spent over two decades in the U.S. Army and in Special Forces, including almost 10 years in Delta Force. To put it simply, he knows of what he speaks. As with the other installments in the series, HUNTER KILLER is full to the brim with tradecraft, including a number of tips on conducting and avoiding surveillance, which are worth the price of admission to the party all by themselves. You will want to read every word, though, to get your full ride.