Rogue Warrior: Curse of the Infidel

A diffuse plot and the lack of a strong villain make Marcinko’s 16th Rogue Warrior novel, his seventh with DeFelice (after 2012’s Blood Lies), a lesser effort. Series hero Dick Marcinko goes to Saudi Arabia to rescue Garrett Taylor, the grown son of an old SEAL buddy, but his main mission is to investigate possible ties between a terrorist organization, Allah’s Rule, and the American International Bank, where Dick’s contact, Jason “Veep” Redlands, is suspected of embezzlement. Dick stumbles into a CIA operation run by an officer who turns out to be the usual government pain in the ass, and the members of his company, Red Cell International, stage their usual running battles around the world, but the disparate elements, including an illegal Viagra-dealing scheme, never cohere. Fans will cut the Rogue Warrior some slack and wait for the next installment to reboot this fine military action series. Agent: (for Marcinko) Kim Witherspoon, Inkwell Management; (for DeFelice) Jake Elwell, Harold Ober Associates. (Jan.)