There are lots of problems with this book. The storytelling is naive with little and stilted dialogue, the tactics and action are stupid, there's a lack of knowledge about guns, measuring units and other facts. But the characters are OK, the pace is fast and the book is surprisingly entertaining despite my frustrations.

The Emerald Cross is an action adventure story with a Mexican theme.
The story opens with a journalist who hoped to expose Mexican politicians who were in the pay of drugs cartels.
The story then jumps forward a couple of decades. The journalist’s wife and son Jaime now live in America where the son joins the specialist Green Beret soldiers. Returning home, injured from active service, he hopes to lead a peaceful civilian life. However, when a priceless artefact with connections to the Mexican drugs cartel surfaces, Jaimie is drawn into a dangerous mission with shocking outcomes.
I liked the premise of this story with the complexities of fighting a cartel of dangerous characters. Hints of Jaime’s pursuit of justice into the dark edgy world of central America appealed to me and I settled down to enjoy a high tension thriller. Unfortunately, in the edition that I read, the choice of writing style fell heavily on ‘telling’ rather than ‘showing’ the storyline and I was left disappointed.
Since reading this version, I believe that the author has made considerable changes to his work.

Ken Cruikshank has written a great novel / thriller in the tradition of Cussler and Flynn. I can see the hero of this tale, Jamie Morales, taking the lead in future novels. It would be a great series. The story line takes us through the life of Jamie, whose reporter father dies at the hand of a Mexican Cartel leader, to the US and his military career. The main part of this story picks up on his release for active duty and the loss of his wife, mother and others as the cartel leader returns into his life. I don't like to give away the story, so I'll just say it was a captivating read that left me wanting to read more adventures of Morales and Cruikshank.. I really did enjoy this novel!

Green Beret hero Jamie Morales returns home from the middle East. He eventually learns his mom might have knowledge about a necklace. His sister-in-law selfishly tries to sell The Emerald Cross back to Mexican cartel leader, her plan backfires in which this story takes place.