Garrett Sinclair, a third generation Army General, is in a Military Prison where he has been held for a year. After being informed that he is pending release and will be honorably retired with full pension and on his way back to his cell he is assaulted resulting in his being placed in a solitary medical unit from where he is freed by members of his team. He learns that his family is endangered and he and the team set out to learn why and to put a stop to it. This is only the start of an action packed military thriller filled with characters who lie, cheat and steel at an Academy Award level. It is action packed and filled with twists and turns. Thanks to Net Galley and St. Martin’s Press for an ARC for an honest review.

This is the third book that I have read in Tata's Garrett Sinclair series. As in the other two books that I have read in this series, Tata's combat scenes are realistic and tightly drawn. His descriptions of the nuances of combat are as good as anyone's, and his action scenes are crisp and exciting. Tata knows how to write combat. The plot has a number of clever twists, but the high point of the book for me was the very clever and well-written ending that Tata writes using changing points of view. The ending had me on the edge of my seat, and I was glad that I completed the book, as the strong ending was the best part and made the book worth reading.

A significant weakness of The Phalanx Code is the complexity of the plot, which involves a few too many twists and turns for my liking. I found the plot twists a little too complex for me, and not as believable as the plots in Tata's other books in his Garrett Sinclair series. The family twists and backstory were a little too much for me. On the positive side, I did find the writing and the emotion in the last few chapters to be really topnotch.

If you are looking for a military thriller with a very complex plot surrounded by lots of well-written action, this book is for you. Tata is a great action writer, and I will continue to seek out more of his work in the future.

I would like to thank NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for providing an advance copy.

Review of Uncorrected Digital Galley

General Garrett Sinclair, imprisoned for unstated reasons in the Disciplinary Barracks of Fort Leavenworth, is surprised when Jake Mahegan blasts his way into Sinclair’s cell and leads the general out of the prison. They meet up with the rest of the Dagger Team. They make their way to the Wyoming mountains where Sinclair meets the man behind his breakout/rescue.

Technology mogul Mitch Drewson needs the Dagger Team to protect Project Optimus, a project designed to allow citizens to protect their personal data and financial information. Drewson’s competitor, Aurelius Blanc, runs Phalanx Corporation; their data collection applications create a worldwide security threat by allowing the monitoring of all activities on any web-connected device.

Now a Phalanx assassination team has attacked Blair Campbell, one of Drewson’s coders . . . and the president's daughter.

Can Sinclair and the Dagger Team rescue Blair and save Drewson’s Project Optimus? Will the Optimus team find a way to decipher the Phalanx Code and save the coders on its hit list?

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Readers who have not read the previous books in the series [“Chasing the Lion” and “Total Empire”] may find it beneficial to read the earlier stories, but there is sufficient backstory here for the book, the third in the series, to work as a standalone.

Picking up where “Total Empire” left off, the narrative is compelling, fast-paced, and full of unexpected twists. With all the expected characters in place, this tale of big-tech machinations is both believable and terrifying.

With a strong sense of place and well-developed characters, readers who enjoy military intrigue and action-packed tales will find much to appreciate here.

Highly recommended.

I received a free copy of this book from St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley and am voluntarily leaving an honest review.
#ThePhalanxCode #NetGalley

I always have enjoyed A.J. Tata’s adventures with General Garrett Sinclair and this book is another winner. An all too believable plot where two tech billionaires fight for supremacy with only General Sinclair and Dagger Team to thwart the takeover attempt. Assassination squads, the President’s daughter kidnapped, and a scorecard to keep track of the double crosses this is non stop excitement from the first page. The best Sinclair yet.

Thank you NetGalley for the opportunity to read this. Uncorrected digital galley.

Book 3 in the Gen. Garrett Sinclair series. Sinclair is more Jason Bourne, who leads from the front, than he is a 3-star suit in the rear with the gear. While we all need more like him, this story line seemed a touch far-fetched.

At the end of Total Empire, General Sinclair was sent to the ‘Disciplinary Barracks’ (prison) somewhat for punishment, somewhat for his own protection. After a year of enduring harsh prison life, he ends up getting sent to solitary for his role in a dining hall rumble. Gets roughed up by a guard and told to stay on the mattress for the next half hour. Given the video surveillance everywhere, Sinclair does as he’s told. Maybe 20’ later, the outside wall of his cell explodes inward by a heavily armored vehicle. One of his former Dagger team at the wheel speeds Sinclair off into the farmland surrounding Leavenworth.

Once out, he’s taken to a waiting plane to be flown into the Wyoming mountains where his benefactor awaits. Multi-billionaire tech developer name of Drewson weaves a tale of his evil competitor, another multi-billionaire Frenchman Blanc. Drewson is preparing to roll out Web 3.0 that’s supposed to be protective of its users. Blanc’s latest and greatest involves The Phalanx Code, a universal surveillance system. Each team is littered with coding/decoding geniuses and security teams better equipped than most armies.

The story follows Sinclair as he tries to take down Blanc. Much of what ensues from Sinclair’s grandfather, an Army Ranger who climbed Point-du-Hoc on D-Day and helped take St. Mere Eglise. After that, the storyline sort of goes off the rails (at least in my mind. Hard core adrenaline junkie readers will probably salivate with each turn of the page). Allegiances crisscross so much it’s hard to keep straight who is/isn’t on Garrett’s team. Attacks and escapes have convenient contingencies that help/hinder Sinclair’s hunt for the truth.

At the core, thrillers need to be somewhat believable. There were simply too convenient situations to be believable that almost resulted in me putting the book down. But I trudged on mostly to see what unfolded in the next outlandish scene. Tata is a former army General so his description of battle are probably realistic, but I have a hard time believing someone like General Garrett Sinclair could actually exist. But the action, body count, and changes in the mission will appeal to an audience. Just don’t think that audience includes me.

Thanks Netgalley for allowing me to read this book. Mitch feels that they are getting closer in solving a puzzle. He will do anything to reach his goal, but there are roadblocks in his way. A book that makes you think.

The Plalanx Code: A Garrett Sinclair Novel by AJ Tata

352 Pages
Publisher: St. Martin’s Press
Release Date: February 27, 2024

Fiction (Adult), General Fiction (Adult), Mystery, Thriller, Military, Action, Adventure

Two technologically gifted men, one American (Drewson) and one French (Blanc), are at odds with each other. Garrett Sinclair had been in Leavenworth prison for the past year. Now he is told he is being released and honorably discharged from the army in the morning. At mealtime, a fight breaks out and Garrett is put into solitary confinement. An explosion during the night, rocks the prison, and Garrett is a free man. Drewson is behind Garrett’s release. He wants him to find and stop Blanc from taking over the internet and with that, the world.

The story is fast paced, the characters are developed, and it is written in the first person point of view. There are so many twists I still am not sure if I could tell you the good from the bad. This is the latest installment in the series and is best read in order. If you enjoy action stories, you will like this book.

Tata gets General Sinclair out of prison to take on evil tech genius, with help of another one. Lots of action, and interesting twists on companies modeled on Meta and Google. In an increasingly vulnerable surveillance state, how can special forces operate effectively? In this novel, they can and do, with some surprising twists showing that the enemy may be big tech, and not foreign powers. It's a real page turner, with action, both physical and intellectual in every chapter, and the characters remain compelling. A wonderful read.

Early on I was not sure I would like this book as much as the previous books in the series. However, I think I might like it more. Two tech billionaires battling it out, the risk of technofascism, and efforts by foreign governments to steal US military secrets made for a great plot. I also liked the way that Sinclair's grandfather, "Coop", was integrated into the story. The book has numerous good surprises/twists that will leave the reader guessing, including as to which tech billionaire is the "good" or more trustworthy one.