First Strike: A Thriller

This fiction book puts people and events to illustrate the nonfiction of Gorka's Defeating Jihad. Gorka defines the jihad, caliphate, place, violence, and power. Coes shows what this looks like and what the defeat of jihad terrorism looks like. Both show the philosophical bases for the ISIS and IS evil. Both offer means for America to win. I read this in a day...in the day before the horrific terror in Nice, France (July 14, 2016). I believe Coes and Gorka portray the big picture which includes the bloodiest of mayhem in the name of evil...evil who want a caliphate, a place, and total control of believers only. The ending of First Strike surprised me. I needed to return to the first 10 percent of the kindle version to recall how Dewey and Daisy entered the story line as friends. In a way, the domestic simplicity of family and friends offered a balance to the horrible violence of the IS evil. Also surprising was Dewey's survival, given his multiple injuries in multiple time zones. To fight the jihad evil, good guys will get hurt or die.

A great plot - plenty of twists and surprises. I read the eighth book in this series by Ben Coes first. I was impressed and went back, bought the other seven books and have been reading them in order of publication. That is the order in which these books should be read, as the characters and story line link together as the series progresses.When one is reading one of the Dewey Andreas series the reader must always remember that Dewey is for all intents and purposes indestructible. He can be shot, stabbed, and thrown from tall buildings, and he will get up and still perform at the highest levels possible for a human. Just accept that, put your brain on hold in that regard, and you will find the books enjoyable.In this case Dewey takes on ISIS - so, there is plenty of Middle East action, as well as action that ends up in New York City.As in prior books in this series, the author has Arab terrorists using UZI sub-machine guns. They would never use the UZI, an Israeli weapon. Also, as in prior books, the author needs to learn that a hijab is only worn by women, and that Dewey would not be wearing one as he ran from the firefight. The author does not know weapons, but, in this book he has avoided many of the errors he had in prior books in the series - however, at one point he has Dewey move the fire selector on his weapon to "auto-hail". There is no such setting on any full auto firearm. It may not sound as dramatic, but the normal settings would be "semi", "burst" and "full".As to grammar, page 90 the author ends a sentence with a preposition, and on page 341, he again shows that he does not understand the difference between the words "bring" and "take" - he seems to most always use the word "bring" when he should be using "take". In another case, page 380, he has Dewey say "What do you got?" - Just bad grammar.To me these things are annoying as I read, as I am sure they are to other readers. But, not enough to take away from the overall enjoyment of the book.

Ben Coes' First Strike is the sixth installment in the Dewey Andreas franchise. What beings as a routine mission for Dewey to bring some critical intel out of Syria, builds to a edge of the seat, nonstop thriller. The basic premise is that ISIS is an unfortunate result that has gotten out of hand by a naive Defense official trying to support moderate Middle East elements with the deal to leave the US alone. Naturally, all this has gone south by the time Dewey enters the picture. After initially being a one man wrecking crew in Syria, Dewey must deal with a college dormitory hostage situation that just happens to include Hector's daughter.Dewey's tradecraft gets a full work out this time out. The action scenes are frequent and well detailed. In addition, Dewey offers several creative responses to extracting himself from tough situations. At the same time, there is also plenty of involvement by supporting players to avoid the one man show syndrome so common with many pseudo-thrillers. Finally, Coes continues to provide Dewey with fresh scenarios that avoid staleness and repetition.

Wow! What a roller coaster ride of a book. Intense with non-stop action. The book is very timely as the creation of ISIS starts the wild ride. Dewey Andreas and his close friends are once again called to save the US from losing its way of life. The first half of the book centers on Dewey getting information on arms sent to ISIS by the US government. Dewey is captured, but because his captors didn't kill him, he escapes.The second half of the book focuses on hostage rescue with Dewey leading the effort. There are several other surprises which I won't divulge, but they add to the already intense action.I have read read all of Mr. COES books and this was by far the best. Too bad it takes him a year to write. Great book! Couldn't put it down. Enjoy.

First of all, congratulations, Ben Coes, and curse you for two major interruptions of my sleep patterns on two consecutive nights. For this is a fantastic story, and Coes kept me on the edge of my seat in anticipation chapter after chapter! This book was tremendously realistic, timely, yet fun. I hesitate to say too much, but suffice to say, this book has two distinct halves. First, there is the set up, with multiple plot lines and an interesting storyline. Then there is the second half with a hostage scenario that seems impossible to solve, with all the inherent tension and danger. Afterwards, the epilogue treats us to yet another side of Dewey, which while unexpected, leaves you feeling great. Mr. Coes, thanks for one of the best reads I've had in some time. I greatly anticipate your next book.

First Strike – Ben Coes.When deputy of defence Mark Radiz started a multimillion dollar arms for influence programme, to get American forces out of the middle east once and for all, he had little idea that the charismatic and brutal leader Tristan Nazir would double cross Radiz and Washington to use the weapons to create ISIS and grab large chunks of Syria and Iraq.When the Milan station chief Mallory gets a phone call from someone in Nazir’s inner circle claiming to have explosive evidence about the origins of ISIS, Dewey Andreas is despatched to help Mallory retrieve the information from a café in Damascus Syria. After ISIS terrorists kill both Mallory and the source he was meeting, Dewey escapes long enough to send via mobile phone the proof that ISIS’s original munitions were provided by a black ops programme run by a person deep within the pentagon.With ISIS running low on munitions as they scorch earth across Iraq and Syria, Tristan Nazir needing one more shipment of arms has, one major last card to play kidnapping Radiz’s ex wife and daughter to create enough leverage for Radiz to send another shipment of arms to Syria.When CIA director Hector Calibrisi, finds Radiz who was trying to flee from Mexico City, and under interrogation gives up the fact another shipment of munitions is on its way to ISIS, he unravels the programme just in time for Navy Seals to stop the shipment in the Mediterranean before it reaches its destination. Nazir phones President Dellenbaugh to threaten that if the shipment isn’t allowed to continue to Syria something will happen to make him change his mind.Nazir sends ISIS operatives to takeover a student dormitory at Columbia university capturing almost 500 students and parents as hostages, unknown to him CIA director Hector Calibrisi’s daughter Daisy is one of them, pushing a hostage out of a window for every hour the ship is delayed in reaching its destination. An assault on the dorm would result in an unknown number of dead hostages, but allowing the shipment to proceed will give Nazir and his ISIS thugs enough munitions to capture Iraq and Syria their resources, creating a terrorist nation and strengthening the caliphate.With the dormitory wired with enough improvised IED’s to level it, President Dellenbaugh in a situation with no easy solutions turns to Dewey Andreas to kill the terrorists, free the hostages so that Navy Seals can go after Tristan Nazir when the ship docks in Syria.

i found the beginning of this book rather complicated at the beginning but it's well,worth persevering. From an operation in Damascus that nearly gets him killed Andreas recovers enough to save a dorm full,of students in New York. Fast paced and exciting action. The way Andreas recovers from wounds is beyond belief, but hey... It's a story, and a good one at that.

Absolutely brilliant. Just loved this book. At one point I thought I was going to hyperventilate, when I found myself stuck inside a tunnel with Dewey. Great storyline. If you're looking for something gripping, then this is it.

Nothing wrong with this book or the writing, but it's not for the squeamish. I'm afraid I had to abandon it because it was giving me nightmares! You may think that makes it a good book, and you could be right, but not for me.

Lee Child may not be for me I found it a bit confusing & slow.