This Present Darkness collides with Clear and Present Danger in this military style novel with deep layers of spiritual warfare. Lovers of Ronie Kendig's military books will love this one. Richly detailed with intense action. Thoroughly enjoyed the book.

This book has sat in my TBR pile for a couple of months. Several of my friends had read it and enjoyed it but I just wasn't sure it was my cup of tea. But I eventually took a chance on it and I'm glad I did.

My hesitation didn't change right away. The prologue and first couple of chapters were very military focused and I almost set the book aside. But then a different aspect was introduced and the roller coaster ride began. And what a ride it was.

The book description says it is a military thriller with a supernatural twist. That's exactly what it is in all the exciting ways. The supernatural twist usually gives me pause but this was just fascinating. I don't like books with that 'woo-woo' factor. This story did a good job of not crossing into that territory.

I just noticed that there are two more books scheduled in this series and I'm looking forward to reading them both.

I received a copy of this book to facilitate my review.

Nonstop, super-intense action characterizes this book right from the first page. I highly recommend listening to the audio version, as the narrator, MacLeod Andrews, does a stellar job of conveying fear, and building suspense, and overall, sucking the listener into the story. The story is so intense, I found myself having to take breaks. I'm not sure what genre to place it in, but I think it would qualify as a thriller with a high suspense quotient.

The battle between Good and Evil has been raging for hundreds of years but only certain people are able to "see" the evil they fight. Dark Intercept introduces The Shepherds, The Watchers, and The Keepers - those who unflinchingly stand on their faith to keep evil at bay.

Former Navy Seal Jedidiah Johnson gets a frantic call during his retirement party from his high school best friend. David's daughter, Sarah Beth, was kidnapped off the streets of Nashville, and the police have no leads. As Jed reluctantly agrees to help, he is drawn more deeply into a world he has never acknowledged exists. Finding Sarah Beth and keeping her safe becomes a fight against the devil himself (Victor), and the devil is determined to keep Sarah's gifts for his purposes. Just when readers finally think she's safe, he orchestrates an attempt to recapture her.

I don't usually like books that scare me, but this one really emphasized the message that, "satan may fight but GOD wins - ALWAYS!" I was struck by the fact that every time one of the characters called out to God, either their pathway was cleared, or they were able to overcome whatever they were fighting at the time. I'm going to wait a bit to decompress before starting Dark Angel. (Maybe by then the audio version will be on LIbby.) If you like thrillers with a religious theme, this one's for you! I highly recommend!

Dark Intercept
Shepherds #1
By Brian Andrews and Jeffrey Wilson

Jedidiah Johnson has been running from his past, from a moment in his teen years in which he felt God had let him down. But when the past demands that he return home he has no choice but to do what he can to save an innocent young life. What he didn't expect was a spiritual battle in which souls and lives will depend on the choices he makes.

He abandoned his faith, his friends, and his dreams years ago. He saw something he has spent years denying and now he is about to be confronted by it all when he gets a desperate plea for help.
Dark Intercept takes the reader on a journey into the world that lies beyond the human eye. A world in which the spiritual realm battles for the human soul and world dominance. This book clearly falls into the Speculative Fiction genre and it does it well.

I enjoyed this book in both the paperback and the Audio version. The audio version was narrated by MacLeod Andrews and the narration was good - I did speed it up to 1.4x to get it in line with my normal reading speed. Both versions are excellent and well worth adding to your home library.

I was provided a complimentary copy of the text version of the book with no expectations but that I provide my honest ~ all thoughts expressed are my own.

Jedidiah receives a call from his estranged childhood friend that his daughter was kidnapped and now David is calling on Jedidiah to help find her as he is a Navy Seal and feels if anyone can find her, it's him. The book is mostly the battle between good and evil but an interesting take that brings a lot of talk about religion into it. I am not religious so it wasn't fully for me. The mystery elements were great but when it talked about God I will be honest I skimmed those parts, but for me it didn't take away from my understanding of what was happening

I love the premise of the book and with the ending I feel the author can write more with the same characters but even if there is not second book it had a good ending.

Dark Intercept is a fast-paced, highly suspenseful book. The main characters are well-developed and take the reader along for quite the ride with their emotions. The plot has twists and turns that kept my interest level high throughout the book. There is a big one in the Epilogue!
Brian Andrews and Jeffrey Wilson are both new authors to me. I would definitely read more of their work. I have no idea how two authors work together to write a seamless story, but these two have it down to a fine art.
I would recommend this book to my family and friends and to readers of Christian suspense.
I received a complimentary copy of this book through NetGalley.

When times get tough, some readers find catharsis in reading thrillers. Military thrillers are always popular, especially during times when brush fire wars threaten. Andrews and Wilson, capitalizing on their military background established themselves through series such as the Tier One and the Sons of Valor. Long removed from military life, I was not interested in a realistic plot. When the team developed the Shepherds series, one that places issues of belief ahead of the more cliched themes of wartime, I was sold.

Faith in the Shepherd series is told from the Christian point of view. Using the Bible as a foundation for the values and for the questions concerning good and evil, our hero Jedidiah Johnson travels an action packed road towards a new and life changing duty.

The book opens with Jedidiah very reluctantly retiring from the SEALS. Injuries plus age prevent him from continuing his career. Within a heartbeat the book turns to a race to recover a kidnapped child. A child that should have been his. Andrews and Wilson know their stuff when it comes both to describing strategy and showing action. While questions of faith and doubt are always there, the
theme never slows the pace of the story. The climatic ending leaves a reader eager for the next
installment. I am happy there is more to come from the Shepherds.

Highly recommended. A good candidate for book clubs and suitable for YA audiences.

Full disclosure: I received this ARC from netgalley and Tyndale House in exchange for an unbiased review. Thank you for this opportunity.

The authors present a four-star plot with a two-star theme. The story is good and would make a great faith-based book except it attempts to embody spiritual warfare into real armies, both good and bad. The plot would work very well without the addition of the fictionalized creation of spiritual beings that can read people’s minds while also attempting to coerce them to act in ways that are against their best interest and the best interest of humanity. I felt like these “spiritual” elements were sometimes added because the authors did not know how to make the necessary transitions without their additions to the story.

The underlying plot - a young girl being kidnapped, and a former Navy Seal being asked to find and rescue her, would make a great thriller. But with addition of spiritual warfare, the story lost its thrill. Spiritual warfare is real, but not as personified in this book.

If written as a fantasy, rather than a faith-based story, it may have been more acceptable. I will look forward to reading more of these "fantasies"; however, as it is, I have to give the book three-stars.
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This review is based on a free electronic copy provided by the publisher for the purpose of creating this review. The opinions expressed are mine alone.

Turned off by the weirdness. Too much paranormal! For a Christian novel I was surprised by the language. I liked the SEAL team aspect and working together for good. A special school for people like Sara Beth was just too far out there.

Retired Navy SEAL Jedidiah Johnson gets a phone call from his former childhood best friend stating his daughter is missing. Against his desire to keep a distance from this former friend, Jed returns to Nashville, his childhood hometown to help David find his daughter.

What follows is a story stepped in the spiritual. Through special giftings or abilities to tangibly hear and see the spiritual warfare taking place around them, Jed, David and David’s wife Rachel are able to discover where the little girl has been taken..

In some ways, this story reminded me of the Murphy Shepherd series by Charles Martin as the main character sets off to find someone missing and is in a very clear battle against good and evil. However, Dark Intercept focuses more on spiritual warfare that is happening all around us.

I enjoyed reading this story by Andrews and Wilson. The pacing was fast and steady. The story engaging and enjoyed learning about the characters and the battles they were facing! I’m excited to read book two in this series!

This book is different from what I’m usually drawn to, but I’m so glad I decided to read it! Dark Intercept is suspense with a supernatural twist that highlights the reality of the spiritual warfare that is raging around us. It’s easy to forget about what we can’t see, but this gripping thriller helps bring it to the forefront. This book is full of nail-biting suspense, nonstop action, compelling characters, and authentic faith. I think fans of Ronie Kendig’s Book of the Wars series will enjoy this one!

I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

I have read Tier One and Sons of Valor by the authors and thought this book would be along the same track. It was and it wasn't. In this book, the authors have a lot of the same great action and suspense but this time it's paired with spiritual warfare. The battle is more good vs evil even though there are definitely human villains. In this book, some are gifted with special abilities that give them a unique ability to see the battle while others use their gifts to take the battle to the enemy. I think it could make some uncomfortable. I thought it was fascinating and it was interesting watching people learn how to use their special gifts.

This is a great start to the Shepherds series. It was fast-paced. It was hard to put down. I enjoyed the marriage of faith and firepower.
I liked Jed and Sara Beth a lot. I look forward to seeing what happens with them in the next book.

Thank you to Tyndale House for providing me with a free e-copy of this book. All opinions are my own.

Dark Intercept
Brian Andrews
Jeffrey Wilson

The Special Forces in the military are well trained, then sent out to accept working dangerous and confidential projects that few citizens would think about let alone attempt. Jedidiah Johnston was a Navy Seal. His code: Tactical Superiority, Courage under fire and Unbreakable brotherhood. Each and every one of them lived by the code, while activated and in retirement. He was not happy that he had to retire but he knew that due to injuries suffered in a mission he would not be able to complete and protect his brotherhood. He missed working with them, needed his brother's contact and support but he was alone now. A phone call changed his world. It was from an old friend he hadn't spoken to for 16 years. David needed his help and although he wasn't on good terms with him, he knew he had to listen to what the man had to say. David had married Jedś girlfriend Rachel. The anger still brewed within him. He could tell the man was in tears, overwhelmed with fear. His help was not for David or Rachel; their daughter, Sarah Beth had been kidnapped. They wanted his help for her rescue. As a Seal he felt compelled to come to her aide.
This incredible suspense novel is a journey into a world I didn't know existed. True, I knew our talents as humans are given in many forms. Yes, many SciFi books or movies create stories that are unreal but exciting and mysterious. This one had a touch of realty. It was intriguing, very well written by Andrews and Wilson. This is the first book in The Shepherds series. I received a promo for it, so I decided to read more. This novel gives us a Christian base into the compelling journey that Johnston took while trying to rescue Sarah Beth Yarnell.
Dark Intercept was published on September 7, 2021 by Tyndale House Publishers. It is written by Brian Andrews and Jeffery Wilson. I appreciate Tyndale allowing me to read and review Dark Intercept via NetGalley. This novel gives us a tribe of wicked men and women who attempt to rid the world of peace, serenity, and brotherhood. It is an outstanding read, not one to be missed. Enjoy.

I absolutely loved this book! I loved the intertwining of spiritual warfare with the military spec ops. Jed, the main character, was struggling with not just his retirement from the SEALs but also with his faith. I feel like I could completely relate with some of his faith-based struggles and that made this story more personal. I was extremely appreciative of the portrayal of the twelve-year-old girl in this story. The writers made her believeable for her age and made her voice come across as perfect for her age in her situation. As the mother of a twelve-year-old girl, I thoroughly appreciate that they didn't make her sound five or twenty five. I have stopped reading books in the past because the author grossly misrepresented the child they are writing. The action and flow of this story made the pages fly by with out even realizing it. I was so caught up in the story, I was done and now waiting (impatiently) for the next one!!

Thank you to Tyndale Publishers and NetGalley for this advanced digital ARC.

Dark Intercept contains great action that I’ve come to expect in an Andrews & Wilson novel. So they surprised me when it went deeper, addressing faith, spirituality, and the supernatural.

The authors expertly balanced those elements to deliver a page-turning action-packed thriller featuring Navy SEAL Jedidiah Johnson, who has been forced to retire on a medical because of injuries he sustained in his last SEAL mission. But on the eve of his medical retirement, he receives a desperate call from an estranged childhood friend whose daughter has been kidnapped. The former friend begs Jed to help. He’s reluctant at first, he’s a Navy SEAL operator, an expert at kicking down doors during intricately planned missions. He’s not an investigator or law enforcement. And there is a lot of baggage between the former friends, not the least that the friend’s wife, Rachel, was Jed’s first love.

Jed agrees to help, and that puts him on a path where he clashes with the police, opens old wounds with Rachel, and finds himself in a conspiracy with supernatural elements as he tracks down the kidnapped girl.

Although I’m not a huge reader of books that are supernatural or faith-based, I enjoyed DARK INTERCEPT. The authors don’t beat you over the head with the spiritual stuff and it really adds an interesting bent to an action-packed thriller that won’t disappoint fans of their more straight military thriller series like TIER ONE.

I’ve read a review that called DARK INTERCEPT as TAKEN meets STRANGER THINGS and that is a perfect and succinct description to this great new series from Andrews and Wilson.

An absolute hit and fantastic start to a new series by a powerhouse team of Brian Andrews and Jeffrey Wilson! You do not want to miss this one!

Navy SEAL Jedidiah Johnson wants to retire and leave the hectic and dangerous life of the SEALS behind him. On the night of his retirement, he gets a call from a childhood friend who desperately needs his help. Even though they have been estranged for years, Jed goes back to Nashville to help David and his wife Rachel, Jed’s first love. David and Rachel’s daughter has been kidnapped and the police have no leads. The history between Jed, David, and Rachel almost keeps him from coming to help, but the thought of an innocent little girl being hurt because of something he can’t get past is not something he wants on his conscious. As soon as he arrives, he finds himself in danger and mysterious forces work against his presence there to help. Soon he finds himself in a hard place, a place he never wanted to be again, a place with the voices back in his head. All things he believed he left behind when he joined the Navy come back to the surface. To save the missing girl, he must go to a place of faith he abandoned long ago to win a fight against good and evil.

This was my first book by this writing pair and I am kicking myself for having gone this long without discovering their writing. This story sucked me in from the first page and held on to me tighter than any story has done in a long time. I have been on a streak of reading several mediocre books and have been aching for something that really touched me and kept the adrenaline pumping. This was that story! I am so glad I picked this one up and gave it a chance. Not only is Jed a great main character, but every other character in the book also plays their roll to perfection. I knew without a doubt before I was even halfway through that this was going to be a series I would want to stick with. There is so much more to unpack with these characters; I want to know more about the history with Jed, David, and Rachel. The little it was touched on was just not enough to satisfy my thirst for their history. Give me more of Ben and his team, how they came together, and their backstories. The possibilities feel endless; I just hope Andrews and Wilson feel the same and keep the stories coming for the Shepard’s. I recommend this book to anyone that loves a good, fast-paced military thriller with a spiritual aspect that gets dark but keeps the light.

I received a complimentary copy of this title from the publisher. The views and opinions expressed within are my own.

Authors Brian Andrews and Jeffrey Wilson have had a bang-up couple of years.

In addition to thrilling readers with installments of their popular Tier One and Sons of Valor series, the authors were tapped to continue W. E. B. Griffin’s legacy, and this month they kick off another new series—already optioned for television adaptation!—with a page-turning first book, DARK INTERCEPT.

The novel introduces us to Navy SEAL Jedidiah Johnson, who is forced to bid farewell to arms after a terrorist bullet cuts his career short. But when his high school buddy, David Yarnell, begs for help, he takes on a “last mission” to find David’s 12-year-old abducted daughter, Sarah Beth. At first, Jed is reluctant; he’s the kind of special operator more suited for search and destroy missions, not investigative work. But on a more personal level, his estranged friend David is married to Jed’s first love, Rachel.

You can read the rest of the feature article in the September edition of The Big Thrill

Dark Intercept is a well written inspirational thriller. Great edge of your seat plot. My thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for my advance ebook. This is my unbiased review.

I really enjoyed the storyline and can’t wait to read the next one! The spiritual warfare angle was done well and thought provoking.

** “The Bible is full of stories where God used flawed, seemingly unworthy people to fulfill His purpose. He doesn’t call the perfect to His service, or there would be no servants at all. He calls the ordinary, the damaged, and the uncertain to faith.” **

“Dark Intercept” by Brian Andrews and Jeffrey Wilson takes on good versus evil in an action-packed story filled with spiritual warfare and a reign of terror.

When Navy SEAL Jed Johnson is contacted by his estranged high school best friend, David Yarnell, that his daughter has been kidnapped, Jed begrudgingly returns to his hometown to help find 12-year-old Sarah Beth.

But Jed quickly learns there is more to the story, as Sarah Beth has special gifts that Jed just might have too — gifts the Dark Ones want to use for evil. Can Jed, along with a secret protective group, find Sarah Beth and stop the Dark Ones from completing their horrific mission in time?

“Dark Intercept” is a fast-paced, heart-thumping story with a supernatural influence that keeps the readers on the edge of their seat, following incredible twists and turns. Andrews and Wilson also do a great job of developing both truly good and delectably evil characters.

They also fill the book with some great themes, like we must walk in the light; “Be not afraid; I (God) walk with you”; God equips us for the path we choose; the importance of wearing the full armor of God; good will come from surrendering for God; and Jeremiah 29:11, that God has a hope, plan and future for us.

One warning: this book does contain a lot of violence; some alcohol use; and curse words.

Fans of Mike Dellosso, Craig Parshall, Mike Nappa, James R. Hannibal and the Delusion series by Laura Gallier will enjoy “Dark Intercept.”

Five stars out of five.

Tyndale House Publishers provided this complimentary copy through NetGalley for my honest, unbiased review.