DANNY BLACK

Full Name:	Danny Black
Nationality:	British
Organization:	SAS
Occupation	Agent

Creator:	Chris Ryan
Time Span:	2013 - 2019

ABOUT THE SERIES

       Danny Black is a member of the SAS.
       He is not a spy. He is a soldier. More specifically he is, at the time we first meet him, a new member to one of the most elite special operations organization ever, the British Special Air Squadron. He is proud as he can be to wear the patch of the SAS and he would have not been amused if one were to think of him as a spook. He was a soldier. He was SAS.
       Black is 23 years old when the first recorded adventure begins. We learn early on that his father, a member of the Parachute Regiment had been severely wounded and his mother killed just a few minutes after his birth by an IRA member. We learn that his older brother has major issues with drugs and is just out of prison as a result. These things might have proven a dangerous distraction to young Black but it seemed to help him focus on his missions, perhaps to block other things.
       When he focuses, though, he is a force all on his own and it is for that reason he is in the compendium. MI-6 learns just as the Army had that Black is extremely sharp, highly intelligent, and steadfastly determined. Since he has proven several times before we meet him and will continue to do so over the several adventures we have that he can and does work well with a team but he also can operate all by himself just as well. This means that when the Intelligence community needs a trained killer able to do so in the toughest of conditions all on his own and be able to find his way home again, they just need to look to Danny Black.

BOOKS

Number of Books:	9
First Appearance:	2013
Last Appearance:	2019


1			Masters At War Written by Chris Ryan Copyright: 2013 Danny Black is finishing up what he thinks is a tour of duty with the SAS in North Africa when an MI-6 agent needs someone to head into Syria on a secret mission and Black is his choice. Black will learn that in such missions, finding someone to trust is often impossible.

2			Hunter-Killer Written by Chris Ryan Copyright: 2014 When a suicide bomber strikes in London, Danny Black is on the team assigned to track down and eliminate those behing it. It is only after tracing the clues to Yemen that Black, taking the fight to that training camp, finds out the real source is back home.

3			Hellfire Written by Chris Ryan Copyright: 2015 The British High Commissioner in Nigeria and his aide are kidnapped. Danny Black is one of the four-man SAS team assigned to get them back. It is while doing this that they find other prisoners being infected with the plague as a new weapon.

4			Bad Soldier Written by Chris Ryan Copyright: 2016 The migrant boats bringing Middle Eastern refugees into Europe is also smuggling in a few militants planning to stage attacks, SAS operative Danny Black is asked to go undercover in ISIL territory to learn their identities and targets.

5			Warlord Written by Chris Ryan Copyright: 2017 Neither the U.S. nor Mexico seem to have any success going up against the drug cartel of Los Zetas. The CIA appears to the British government for help and Danny Black is chosen to lead the small team to head to Mexico to find the gang's leader, the elusive Z1.

6			Head Hunters Written by Chris Ryan Copyright: 2018 The SAS team assigned to assassinate Taliban leaders has a new member, Danny Black, but he soon realizes that it is not just the Taliban who are his dangers; it is also some in the British Army who would like to see the SAS squad put away for good.

7			Black Ops Written by Chris Ryan Copyright: 2019 Several members of the SAS have been killed recently but they were each in a different part of the world. The one thing that linked them together in recent times is they were involved in training a young Muslim soldier, Ibrahim Khan. That man is now working undercover in ISIL territory. Danny Black is sent into that area to find if Khan has turned traitor.

NOVELLAS AND SHORT STORIES

Number of Stories:	1
First Appearance:	2015
Last Appearance:	2015


1			Murder Team Written by Chris Ryan Copyright: 2015 "Danny Black is a lone wolf on an unofficial mission. He is in the deserts of East Africa looking for his old comrade in arms Spud, wounded in their last mission and now missing. A wounded British solder is a commodity in these parts.. Danny recruits a grizzled ex-Blade to help him, encounters an ex-Mossad mercenary, who is part of the supply chain, and heads for a showdown with a small Somali army, led by most-wanted Islamist militant Abu Bakr."

MY COMMENTS

This excellent series is mostly a military man's adventure and I do not think anyone would argue with that. In fact, many might insist that Danny Black, as good a character as he is, does not really fit in this compendium. I would normally agree but I chose to bring him in because he is asked to work on his own like many an MI-6 agent and since it is often that Intelligence organization that does the asking, he deserves an entry.
Chris Ryan does military action better than just about anybody. He has walked the walk so he can easily talk the talk and what talking he does. I do not pretend to understand much of what the technology is about but boy does he make it sound exciting and interesting.

GRADE

My Grade: B+

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