Blog Tour Book Review: Dangerous Alliance (Silver Dagger Book Tours)
–Gunfire echoes around me as I sprint down the hall, lights flickering. I come upon the panic room, opening and closing the door as a hail of bullets ding the metal door.
Phew, that was a close one! I check on the precious cargo I brought with me. Oh thank goodness, it’s not damaged.
After straightening up my disheveled appearance, I take a seat and check the mic.
“Is this thing on?”
A metallic screech answers me, and I grit my teeth. Good enough, I suppose. —
Howdy Folks, and welcome to the second book review for author Randall Krzak’s Bedlam series, courtesy of Silver Dagger Book Tours.
Dangerous Alliance is the second book in Randy’s Bedlam series, and I just finished it last night. I can’t take the anticipation any longer, so let’s get into things!
Randall Krzak has been a good friend of mine for years, originating from Scribophile. We exchanged critiques on each other’s work and quickly became great friends. I’m happy to be a part of this blog tour and will be reviewing his third book in the Bedlam series next month, so keep your eyes peeled!
Author Blurb
I’m a U.S. Army veteran and retired senior civil servant, spending thirty years in Europe, Africa, Central America, and the Middle East. My residency abroad qualifies me to build rich worlds in my action-adventure novels and short stories. Familiar with customs, laws, and social norms, I promote these to create authentic characters and scenery.
My first novel, The Kurdish Connection, was published in 2017, and the sequel, Dangerous Alliance, was released in November 2018. Both placed in the 2018 Global Thriller Book Awards sponsored by Chanticleer International Book Awards, with The Kurdish Connection finishing as a semi-finalist and Dangerous Alliance being selected as one of seven first in category winners. I recently signed a contract for the third novel in the series, Carnage in Singapore. Work on my fourth novel in the series, Ultimate Escalation, is underway, as is the first book in a new series, A Cartel’s Revenge.
I also penned A Dangerous Occupation, a winning entry in the August 2016 Wild Sound Writing and Film Festival Review short story category. I hold a general Master in Business Administration (MBA) and a MBA with an emphasis in Strategic Focus, both from Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh, Scotland. My wife, Sylvia, six cats, and I currently reside in Dunfermline, Scotland. I’m originally from Michigan, while Sylvia is a proud Scot. In addition to writing, I enjoy hiking, reading, candle making, pyrography, and sightseeing.
Book Review
I gave this book four pirate-thwarting stars !
Dangerous Alliance is the second novel in Randall Krzak’s Bedlam series, and like the first book, this novel was a roller coaster ride of secrets, betrayal, and thrills.
The Bedlam program has decided to create another special ops group after the success of the initial team’s success from the first book. But it isn’t long before a new threat develops. Pirates are taking valuable ships from all around Africa, and it looks like there may be ties to a terrorist group named Al-Shabab.
Is the Bedlam Bravo team up for the challenge? Can they prove the ties to Al-Shabab? And most of all, can they stop the carnage before more innocent blood is spilled?
A fan of Krzak for quite some time, I found this novel extremely consistent with the first one. This novel is written in several great POVs, from the views of the Bedlam Bravo team, the Ambassador of North Korea, Soo, and even the pirates themselves. I really enjoy reading a book with multiple points of view, and this aspect worked well for me.
I also feel that the main characters presented were well developed. I think my favorite character and POV was Soo. I felt that I could relate to his dilemma pretty much immediately. The man he works for is a terrible dictator, yet he’s stuck in this role and being forced to do the impossible, even if it means doing something unspeakable.
If you follow my reviews, you know that I have a thing for chills and thrills. This book definitely had both in spades! The Bedlam Bravo team is running against the clock to figure things out, and Soo is running out of time to please his commander. Desperate times call for desperate measures, and I really felt the sense of urgency for all parties involved, which definitely got me to turn those pages.
Alright, so I did find some cons, but overall I don’t believe that they should keep someone from trying out this book and giving it a chance.
While reading, the biggest con I could think of was the number of characters and locations. At times I found myself a tad confused as to who was who throughout my journey. More specifically, from the POVs of the Bedlam Bravo team and the POVs from the pirates/terrorist group. Bedlam Bravo has five plus people in it, and the pirates/terrorist group has many more than that.
When either POV group would split up on missions, I sometimes had trouble remembering who exactly was being referenced.
The number of locations didn’t bother me, nor did the fact that I have never been to these places. I think that the combination of keeping track of who was who on top of them going from location to location did tend to slow up my reading pace from time to time.
Now, this wasn’t too serious. I would simply take a moment, and think “Oh right, this is that character that just did ___”. Then I would move on.
Lastly, I’m not in complete agreement of the ending (obviously I can’t say much about that here because I don’t believe in spoiling reads) with the pirate/terrorist group. Again, I can’t really explain this in detail, but I didn’t quite agree with what happened ultimately. That’s just my opinion though.
When it comes down to it, Dangerous Alliance is a great international thriller and continuation of the Bedlam series with plenty of chills, thrills, and plot twists to keep you wondering what happens next. I’ve got the next book on my queue and can’t wait to continue this series.
Interested in seeing more of Randall’s work?
Check out his work at the links below! Happy Reading Everyone!