Reaper: Drone Strike

Bestseller Irving and Tata’s assured sequel to Reaper: Ghost Target finds Ranger sniper Vick Harwood (aka the Reaper) and his spotter, Cpl. Ian “Clutch” Nolte, on a mission in Syria just across the northern Israeli border. While collecting intelligence on logistics convoys between Lebanon and Syria, Vick and Clutch come under attack from drones, and Clutch is wounded. Vick loads him into a U.S. cargo drone, which later is shot down over Lebanon’s Beqaa Valley. Meanwhile, Sassi Cavezza, a UN worker at a base in Syria near the Turkish border, takes pictures of an unusual map in an ISIS hideout while seeking to reunite a young Syrian girl with her family. The map proves to hold clues to a planned poison gas attack on a major U.S. target. When terrorists later kidnap Sassi, Vick ends up having to rescue her as well as Clutch. The combined expertise of the authors, both military veterans, more than compensates for the overly familiar plot and characterizations. Fans of military action thrillers will settle back and enjoy the almost nonstop action. Agent: Scott Miller, Trident Media Group. (July)