I've read several books by Brad Taylor and have enjoyed them all. His books are easy to follow and very fast paced. Many times I had to stop reading and didn't want to. I highly recommend this book and anything else that he's written.

I was very disappointed in Operation Down by Brad Tayler. I thught the plot was complicated and disoraniozed. There was to much violence ini it and none of the maincharacters seemed like real poeple

Every Brad Taylor book gets better and better. This was no exception. His best yet! I have been reading his books since they first hit the scene, and his character development is the best there is.

I'd give this book 10 stars if it were possible.

This will be one of the top thrillers of 2018. From character, conflict, plot and suspense, it has all the necessary ingredients of a blockbuster. I'd characterize it as a steak well done. Something to sink your teeth into.

Brad Taylor writes a well crafted thriller. Though Operator Down is book 12 in a series, I have not read the series and I didn't feel at a loss. The premise was strong and the novel carried out the story well. I found it a little strange at times, the characters all had code names so I had some difficulty matching them up, but that was more of a personal problem I believe. The story, though well plotted, started out a little too slowly for my taste, I would have liked a little faster pace throughout. I did, however, find the character of Pike Logan intriguing enough to seek out more from the series. I have read reviews that suggest reading the books in order for best effect as they tend to build upon each other.

3 stars

I received a free copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This is a very fast-paced, action intensive book. Pike Logan and his team are tracking an illegal arms dealer in Tel Aviv. They stumble upon an attempt to kill one of their friends, ex-Israeli agent Shoshana. After thwarting the attempt, they discover that her husband Aaron is missing after conducting an operation looking into a scheme in the Israeli Diamond Exchange. This leads them to uncover a conspiracy to overthrow a democratic government in Africa.

The story crosses continents, agencies and agendas. The story is fairly complicated, with plenty of frantic firefights and military operations.

Published by Dutton on January 9, 2018

I think this series took a wrong turn when Brad Taylor introduced Shoshana, the “supernatural predator” who kills by instinct but has a childlike view of the world. She isn’t a credible character but, even worse, she’s become little more than a caricature. She’s supposed to be the female version of Pike Logan (he was Soshana before the love of a good woman civilized him) but even without Jennifer’s civilizing influence, Pike would be capable of subtlety, nuance, and a reasonable degree of self-control, while Soshana is a one-note character who seems desperately in need of anti-psychotic medication to contain her mindless rage. Her self-perception as a “monster that shouldn’t walk the earth” has been overplayed. Unfortunately, the series has continually gravitated toward Aaron (a former Mossad agent) and his partner Shoshana, when it was sailing along just fine with the Taskforce characters at center stage. Alas.

My Shoshana rant notwithstanding, the story delivers the action and tension that is typical of a Brad Taylor novel. Mossad has hired Aaron to track the employee of a diamond broker in Soweto to learn whether he is doing anything that might embarrass Israel. Aaron stumbles onto something bigger (although he has no idea what) and gets captured. The thugs who capture him fear that he has communicated with Shoshana, so they travel to Israel to take her out. By happy coincidence, Pike Logan has been tasked with following a shady arms merchant who also happens to be a diamond merchant. Pike follows the dealer to Israel, accompanied by Jennifer and Blood, encounters Shoshana, then makes his way to South Africa while trying to understand how his mission has intersected with Aaron’s disappearance. Somewhere along the way, Knuckles adds his presence to the team, after being assigned to make goo-goo eyes at the new Secretary of State so that she'll support whatever actions the Taskforce wants to take.

The frequent stare-down confrontations between Pike and the impetuous Shoshana become tedious, but other aspects of the story are worthwhile, nothwithstanding the silliness of Knuckles' seductive glances at a cabinet official. Despite its length, Operator Down isn’t as meaty as some other entries in the series, but I always appreciate Taylor’s efforts to avoid standard terrorist villains in standard terrorist locations. Most of this story takes place in South Africa, and a detour (which soon becomes the main plot) involves a coup in Lesotho and Pike’s decision to take sides. Taylor’s formula has Pike doing things he’s not supposed to do (as opposed to taking illegal actions that the Taskforce sanctions), and the formula works well here. There’s a bit of character development involving Pike and Jennifer (she wants him to commit, he’s a guy) but the story is mostly about action, and the action is solid.

RECOMMENDED

Pike and Jennifer Thwart an International Incident and Rescue Aaron

Aaron and Shoshana, now married, are freelancing for Mossad. Aaron is tracking a group of suspicious men who Mossad worries are involved with the Israeli Diamond Exchange. Shoshana has been left behind, because Aaron takes Alexandra, a novice who works at the Diamond Exchange, as his partner. Shoshana is not happy.

Coincidentally, Pike and Jennifer are tracking a US arms dealer, Tyler Malloy. The Task Force, believes he may be engaged in subversive activities. The trail leads Pike and Jennifer to Israel where they try to meet up with Aaron and Shoshana. Shoshana puts them off. She hasn’t heard from Aaron and fears the worst.

The two threads come together for an exciting ending. As the all Pike Logan books, the action is non-stop. Also as usual, Pike moves beyond his assignment and has to convince the boss, Kurt, to let him go ahead.

I love the Pike Logan series; this is the 12th book. There’s a good blend of action and interplay between the characters. This book has particularly good character development. Shoshana, who is one of my favorite characters, grows significantly. Her love for Aaron turning her from a killing machine into a more vulnerable human.

At the end of the book, Taylor has a description of how he got interested in the plot and researched it. I highly recommend reading this section, but not until you’ve finished the book to avoid spoilers. It’s almost as exciting as the book itself.

I received this book from Dutton for this review.

There is a plot against the US by a US citizen. Pike Logan and his team are working the case. They discover their case is much more complicated than they originally thought and involves multiple intelligence communities.

This book refers to the characters by both their code names and their real names which was confusing sometimes. This is part of a series but could be read on its own. It is a typical Pike Logan novel filled with suspense, action and political intrigue. Thank you to net galley for an advanced readers copy.

What's not to love about Pike Logan and friends? This series has all the action of Jack Reach, Gabriel Allon, Jonathan Graves and more. Plus, strong friendships bromance and a little romance. This adventure crosses Africa, Israel and South Africa in pursuit of diamonds and their good friend Aaron, who's disappeared on his honeymoon with new wife, the volatile and unpredictable Shoshanna. this novel moves along at a frenetic page, with twists and turns across the international stage. Friendships and relationships are tested and forged, politics are played and the good guys still win.

Former Delta Force Officer Brad Taylor returns with another novel involving Pike Logan, his wife Jennifer Cahill and the rest of the mission impossible group known as the Taskforce. Col Taylor's formula for success is quite simple. Pike and company are tasked with completing a job assigned to them by their controllers; a top secret group at the apex of the U.S. government which includes the president. Their task is always to be outside of the United States per their charter. (as it happens not always per Pike).
This time the job is a simple one merely to determine whether or not a merchant in the Israeli Diamond Exchange is involved in a scheme that could potentially embarrass the state of Israel. As we know from being drawn into Col. Taylor's novels centering on the Taskforce nothing is ever simple and the plots always delineate Pike's ability to think and act outside of the box. An American arms dealer may or may not be attempting to sell
components of nuclear weapons to the highest bidder which is up to Pike and Company to determine. At the same time characters from a previous Taskforce novel appear and alter the Taskforce's mission to include aiding them. These are former mosad members Shoshana and Aaron now husband and wife and working as independent contractors. Aaron gets himself captured by the people he is tracking for his current assignment and Shosana goes after him to get him away from their enemies. She is by nature a killing machine with I'd hate to have her coming after me personality. The Israeli's are drawn into Pike's assignment due to the probability of their goals overlapping. And, guess what they overlap.
As in all the Pike Logan books action is mercurial and combat situations described by a long time veteran of such actions vivid. Scenes shift from Israel to south Africa. A planned coup in a small African nation becomes a real factor in the plot and the place of the Taskforce of importance to the group fitting in neatly to the story.
Action, action and more action is the keynote to the plot and will be in future novels featuring Pike and Company. The stories are always interesting, even though similiar, and do draw in a faithful following.