Threat Warning: Jonathan Grave Series, Book 3 [Kindle Edition]

"Threat Warning" is the third and latest entry in veteran bestselling thriller author John Gilstrap's series featuring tough-guy hero Jonathan "Digger" Grave. Fans of Gilstrap and Grave will be hard-pressed to put this exhilarating book down before finishing it in a single sitting, as will thriller fans just discovering the author and/or the character. Gilstrap rivets attention from the novel's electrifying first chapter, and from there the action barrels full tilt right up to the story's taut climax.

The opening scene explodes with a firefight on the Wilson Bridge during a typical rush hour on a cold November evening in Washington, D.C. The Wilson Bridge onslaught was preceded by one at a shopping mall in Kansas City, and is followed quickly by a bombing at a Detroit middle school as terrorists wage war against the United States on American soil. Meanwhile, before the gun smoke clears from the combat on the bridge, one of the terrorist shooters escapes by carjacking a military wife's minivan and kidnapping the woman and her teen-aged son, soon delivering them to captivity at the terrorists' remote compound in rural West Virginia. The price of sparing the hostages' lives is the immediate withdrawal of all U.S. forces in Afghanistan and the Middle East. Gilstrap keeps the tension mounting relentlessly as the formidable Grave and his small but resourceful team battle to thwart a terrorist sniper plot that threatens to demolish the government and obliterate America's financial system.

Gilstrap writes well, in a style that's smart, crisp and engaging. He sets scenes with sufficient detail to put the readers right alongside his characters as heroes and villains clash in both urban and rural settings. He crafts realistic and believable dialogue. Though some of Gilstrap's characters are a little flat, he earns kudos for avoiding the tendency of many modern thriller writers to sacrifice depth and complexity in even principal characters on the altar of propelling plots. The overall effect is an addictive and satisfying read, and a chilling story that feels disturbingly close to one that might erupt in America at any moment.

The latest in the Jonathan Grave series, following HOSTAGE ZERO, is a wake-up call for anyone who thinks terrorism cannot strike in the States, aside from hijacked jets crashing into tall buildings. Look no further than recent attacks in Norway, where more than 90 were killed. But that's fact. This is a novel, fiction. It is, however, a true threat warning in the perfect marriage of dialogue and narrative, with seamless point-of-view character representations. Conceptual brilliance.

This installment opens with the Army of Allah lodging warfare reminiscent of the Beltway Sniper's weeks of terror condensed into one massive shootout. That evil army then blows up Muslim children in Michigan, the "Islamic capital of the U.S."

Grave questions, "What's the Army of Allah's real end game?" A member of that regime says that it is "a quest to reeducate the Users." Users are "people who take all of God's gifts for their own and give nothing back. They live for money and not for goodness."

But Allah's name is used as a ruse to rile anti-Arab sentiment in the United States. Where the Jonestown-like group is cloistered in rural West Virginia, locals say, "The Army of God. It's a nutso group of paramilitary types." However, the Army of God has its sights set on a target far larger than mere mortals and small town residents. Grave engages the Bad Guys' leader in psych warfare---after the conventional kind.

An integral part of Grave's rescue team is Venice Alexander. Those who mispronounce Ven-EE-chay twice never make that mistake thrice. Al Gore may have invented the Internet but Venice says, "I own the Internet." Venice is like a one-person squad at NCIS's MTAC.

Grave's group is "a hostage recovery team with a perfect record." He, Boxers and newbie Gail "Gunslinger" Bonneville are there to rescue Christyne Nasbe and her son Ryan, age 16. The Nasbes have been taken hostage in D.C., after a shoot 'em up where dozens are killed. Ryan's father, "Boomer", is deployed in the Middle East and had served with Jonathan "Digger" Grave and Boxers in the past.

Having served as an FBI agent, Bonneville questions violation of certain laws. Grave says that "some laws are ridiculous. Like the ones that respect terrorists' rights over those of people they terrorize." After a wake-up call---no snooze button with Jonathan Grave---Bonneville is no longer sure that she's suited to be on Grave's team.

The classic struggle between good and bad for a greater cause is at play, here. "Ask Pablo Escobar's family if it makes a difference that the guy who pulled the trigger on him was operating with permission from Uncle Sam. Dead is dead." The foundation on which Bonneville has built her house of law enforcement ethics shakes like the Kobe earthquake.

This is a terrifying and real warning presented in an entertaining format that causes readers to question strict adherence to laws that protect the rights of those who would destroy a government that protects those who would commit genocide.

Threat Warning
---Reviewed by L. Dean Murphy

Jonathan Grave owns a security firm whose mission is the rescue of hostages around the globe. In rush hour on the Woodrow Wilson Bridge two predators open fire killing many people on the bridge. Jonathan kills one of these mass murderers and is about to take down the second when an over zealous secret service agent arrests him. The FBI gets Jonathan released.

On that bridge Good Samaritan Christyne Nasbe, ignoring her son Ryan's advice, allows a woman into her car to help her get away from the violence. The woman abducts the pair taking them to the Army of God. They keep the mother and son as hostages and place on the ne pictures of them with Ryan injured. The victims are the wife and son of Jonathan's friend Boomer from when he served in the Unit. His former Commander asks him to rescue the family. Jon and his crew trace the terrorists to an isolated compound in West Virginia where the killers plan to execute their captives. The Grave team prevents the murders but is trapped by the cult members inside the compound. Jon also knows if they escape alive his mission is not over as he must stop an assassination of a prominent person.

John Gilstrap demonstrates why he is one of the best thriller writers with this action packed tale that soars from the opening bridge scene and never slows down to allow the hero a respite except overnight in a DC prison holding cell. Although Jonathan is on the surface a standard implausible thriller hero, readers will enjoy his actions as he rejects the law being in cement especially by those who conveniently flaunt it as killers or officials. With a late twist involving his partner setting up the next conflict, readers will relish Threat warning and look forward to more Digger Grave tales (see No Mercy and Hostage Zero).

Harriet Klausner