The concept of this story evolves from the politically incorrect cowboy attitude that is the direct cause of most of America's problems at home and abroad. The country has set up so many security organizations and law-enforcement agencies that the left hand has no idea what the right foot is doing, because it's busy tripping over the right knee. So the only way to get anything done in this complex SNAFU is for some independent Rambo-type character to go wild and take care of it himself.

This gives the author scope to start and end the story with two wonderful action sequences, with bullets and blood flying in all directions. The middle of the book is taken up with the procedures of a trial big enough to attract national media attention. This in turn creates a problem for the author with size of trial and the excess of detail needed to understand it all. This is dealt with pretty well, considering, because Mumford has done his research, and can give us enough fascinating detail to keep us interested.

He also does a good job of revealing the bottom-to-top implications of the difficulty of stopping the drug trade, from single agents dealing with individual criminals all the way up to top-level government officials and elected politicians.

The fantasy gets even more fantastical when the heroes create an assault team of ex-CIA and mercenaries and go on a rescue mission with the help of the US Navy. Then the happily-ever-after ending solves the War on Drugs with a definitely creative solution.

Unfortunately, the manuscript contains a bunch of those little writing glitches that create bumps in a smooth flow of reading that new authors often need edited out: quick switches of point of view without warning, misused words and a secondary plotline that is completely undeveloped, then suddenly thrust into the foreground for a dramatic conclusion.

Recommended for people who like their action simple and their world-view unrealistic.

I received a complimentary copy with no requirement for a review. - Gordon A. Long

Well written. A criminal enforcement novel with spy issues. Great characters including organized crime, the military, court room scenarios. Lots of action. Compares well with Michael Connelly. Tarantino might come out of retirement to direct this. Known Ron since we both had more hair. Good to see him put out some very nice literature. - David Freedman