Six Minutes Early

A political thriller that fair gallops along. Nuclear weapons are stolen although they are not really supposed to exist. An ex special-forces officer is the perpetrator and has a wide range of potential buyers - ISIS, drug cartels, Hezbollah - as well as his own agenda for their use - essentially to throw all of officialdom against each other and cause as much damage to the USA as possible. His 'good' counterpart, also former special ops, aligns with FBI, Mossad, Homeland Security. and a variety of other acronyms. The story is taut, the action strong, and both sides intelligent and skilled. It does rather feel that everyone and his dog are involved and that the author wants to include all of the modern world's social issues. It is complex. Nonetheless a good exciting read. Thanks to NetGalley and BooksGoSocial for an advance copy in exchange for my honest review.

I enjoyed reading this book. It had a good story to it. I liked the variety of characters in it. It was my first book read by this author. I hope to read more books by this author.

This is a political thriller. Four man held nuke devices have been stolen from a secret facility in Panama. Max Kenworth is heading the investigation. How do you keep something like this quiet? Not easy but with help Max works at finding the nukes and getting them back. Bart Madison is helping the enemy and he is ex-military so knows how to evade Max and his crew. The trouble is those working with him do not have the commitment. Can they find all of the nukes in time?

On the surface, the NASA weather facility in Panama looks harmless enough, if you discount the heavier than probably necessary force of locals on guard. A couple of the locals have been turned by Bart Madison, a former spec ops soldier who has gone rogue and now hires himself out to the highest bidder. Right now, ISIS has the deepest pockets.

What is really housed down there are four man-portable nukes. Madison recruits elements of various cartels to enter the facility, steal the four nukes, and transport them out. Two take a circuitous route to the coast for transit to the Middle East. The other two are destined for the US. If they can get across the border.

The presence of the nukes in Panama is a sore topic for the current appeaser-in-chief in the White House. When he learns of the theft, he makes every attempt to keep it quiet. Any attempt at getting the nukes has to be entirely off the books. If they get returned, no one must know anything. Nothing. No press, no awards, no commendations. Nothing.

The SoCom command overseas Panama. To lead the hunt for the stolen nukes, the recently retired Max Kenworth is put on point along with Gail Summers (FBI) and Danya Mayer (Mossad). Their job is to find out what happened at the NASA facility, where the nukes have gone, get them back and avoid any detonation, and find out who is responsible. SoCom has pledged every possible resource (fully off the books) to accomplish their task.

The chase begins in the Panamanian jungle to Colombia, to an Atlantic freighter transported two nukes to ISIS. The chase also heads up Central America where a number of false flags show up at border crossings allowing the other two nukes to cross, headed for unknown destinations. Homeland Security is convinced the bombs are headed for NYC and has convinced the President. Max, Gail, and Danya think otherwise and track a possibility in the western US where a detonation might not lead to a massive loss of life, but surely would devastate all aspects fo the SW US economy.

Parker lays out every American’s worst nightmare. A turncoat who knows the inner workings of the US security forces, works for ISIS, captures a nuclear weapon, and plans on a homeland detonation. Elements of the theft, the chase, and the confrontations have an air of authenticity that should send shivers down the spine of most readers. This could easily be a 1-sitting read or, if you read at night, keep you up far later than planned.

If I had to quibble, there are a couple character development points with some holes. For one, there's only a taste of what caused Bart to go over to the dark side; would've liked more. Apparently, Max and Bart have a history, but the details are not fleshed out that much. Looks like Max and Danya also have a history, but I guess I missed it. Not to mention that the team shuttles between DC, Panama, various military installations, US-MEX border crossings, Las Vegas, and LA area at NCC-1701 transporter speeds. But, as Johnny Carson used to say (when a comedy piece was dying), “Buy the premise, buy the bit.” For most, I suspect that those details won’t detract from this high-stakes cat and mouse game played by Bart and Max. As Samuel L. Jackson said in Jurassic Park: ‘Hold on to your butts.”

Parker is retired Army with 15 more years in the Defense industry. Helps keep the plot authentic. He has two earlier thrillers and all three are self published, so your hard earned $$ go to him and him alone.

ECD

Intense and captivating this political thriller - Six Minutes Early - was quite enjoyable. The first I have read by this author I was intrigued and glued to my seat until the very end.