MIKE THORPE

Mike Thorpe is a officer in the elite Delta Force.

Having risen to the rank of Captain by the start of the series through courageous, gutsy action in several hotspots around the world, Thorpe is no stranger to danger and his rugged though still handsome face reflects it clearly. Standing 6'2 and solid muscle, Thorpe has learned the hard way that hesitation can get one killed faster than most things when action happens and he never hesitates. His actions in the first of the two recorded adventures would get him promoted to Major but also make him more than his share of enemies including one high up the food chain. Luckily, it also earned him the respect of many others.

Thorpe had intentions of making the military his career and his successes with the Special Forces, especially connected to SO/NEST department hunting down nuclear problems that have nothing to do with science but with those who want to use them. Married with a son, however, he knew that his constant absence was destroying the best thing he would likely ever have so at the end of the first book, he would say goodbye to that life. Two years later as the second book starts, he is called back to active duty suffering from a tragedy he has no desire to discuss.

While in Delta, Thorpe worked very closely with other departments and agencies, including the CIA where the work done for them is so classified his immediate supervisor is not permitted to know. It helped make him friends with highly placed officials in friendly nations and gave him a big black mark on his dossier with those not so friendly.

Sharing the stage with Thorpe in this short series is Major Parker, a beautiful and highly intelligent missile specialist who gets involved in the Omega Missile incident from a different direction than Thorpe but soon learns that the two need and complement each other. Her actions in the first adventure also get her promoted to Lieutenant Colonel but leaves her with several powerful people at the Pentagon who would like to see her gone. Luckily, she has even more powerful connections elsewhere, including Congress and the CIA. Moreover, her attitude is decidedly hard-core about such things.

She does not get involved with the action like Thorpe does but without her help on several occasions, Thorpse knows he would be a statistic.

I hesitated reading these two books because I felt they were military adventures and not spy books but at a prompting, I took a chance and learned Mike Thorpe definitely belongs. Though he is military and sometimes works closely with his fellow soldiers, he also is forced to go it alone on several occasions and must deal with agents from several different intelligence agencies from different countries.

The action is also not standard military in feel but more like an action spy novel with car chases and late night rendezvouses and power hungry people willing to kill thousands to further their causes. Thorpe remains very taciturn and almost calm throughout most of it but when he gets angry, he lets people know.

The second book was especially good, in my opinion, as Thorpe must deal with personal tragedy while helping a friend avoid his own and still stay one step ahead of a couple of sadistic killers. Parker is good in both and fun to watch as she does not suffer any fool anything.