Rocco’s Retreads

hell-and-goneHenry “Hank” Brown came to my attention because we both participate in the action-adventure forums over at mackbolan.com. I bought his book simply because he came on the forums, mentioned the novel and asked people to buy it. Marketing at its most basic. When I eventually got around to reading it, I shot him an email half-way through the book and he was kind enough to do a podcast interview with me. Hank is a former soldier who’s put that experience to good use in his stories.

“Hell and Gone” tells the story of Rocco Cavarra and a group of retired special operators assembled by the CIA for a dirty op. Islamic terrorists have possession of an atomic weapon, and it’s up to Rocco’s Retreads to get it back at all costs and without implicating the U.S. Mission creep sets in fairly early, and before they can even fire a shot, these old soldiers are in it up to their necks. As a military thriller catering to the same crowd that reads Tom Clancy and Mack Bolan, “Hell and Gone” delivers hard core action grounded in the kind of realism that comes from experience. read more

Only War

Click here to get it from Amazon!

“In the grim darkness of the far future, there is only war.”

Warhammer 40K brought the mythology of the wildly successful Warhammer Fantasy world into space, extending the mythos to embrace sci-fi tropes and aliens. The property started as a tabletop miniatures game, and has gone through many iterations through the years. When Fantasy Flight successfully licensed Warhammer 40K for a role playing game line in 2008, they sold out of their first print run in a matter of months. Along the way, the property has forayed into computer games, music, and fiction. Several attempts to animate a film have finally resulted in the video release of “Ultramarines”, the first official feature-length video project from Games Workshop. read more

Battleship Down

The trailers for Battleship give everything away, if anything can be said to be secret about a movie based on Hasbro’s popular board game. There are naval vessels. There are aliens. They fight. Without any related IP baggage of any kind, Battleship had the freedom to make a great naval warfare movie; I’m even willing to give them the aliens just because the sci-fi geek in me screams at the thought of World War II class 16 inch guns firing 2000 pound shells at E.T. I’ve seen Midway, Victory at Sea, and In Harm’s Way. I knew what to expect from a movie about naval warfare. I expected carnage. I expected explosions. I expected fleets of ships in classic naval maneuvers that pushed through deep water and came home bloody but unbroken. I hoped for David Weber’s Honor Harrington on the ocean. As it is, this film barely made it out of the harbor, let alone onto the roll of honored dead. read more

Spartan vs Ninja

Watching the Deadliest Warrior is like watching a train wreck. You know exactly what’s happening, and what to expect – you just can’t look away. I still can’t understand why these guys are surprised that a given weapon will inflict lethal damage on the human body….

Predictably, the kids walk in and trump both warriors with their own guile and craft!

Now taking bets … Spartan vs Ninja!

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Stony Man Teamwork

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Since I can’t seem to gain access to the top secret installation of Stony Man Farm near Shenandoah National Park, I find it every bit as cool to spend a half-hour in the company of Phil Elmore. For the past several years, Elmore has ghost written Executioner novels for Gold Eagle publishing, including the Stony Man series, his second entry of which hits the shelves in February.

Elmore is a professional writer, offering a variety of services through his website, philelmore.com. He also publishes the Martialist, an online magazine concerned with self-defense as “the inalienable right of every human being”. Elmore writes a variety of columns on a variety of subjects for a variety of publishers, some of which are detailed on the front page of his website. read more

Ghost Writer

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As cool as it would be to interview the Spirit of Vengeance from behind the safety of a cell phone, I find it every bit as cool to spend a half-hour in the company of Phil Elmore.  For the past several years, Elmore has ghost written Executioner novels for Gold Eagle publishing; his latest novel Dangerous Tides prompted me to contact him and ask for the interview.

Elmore is a professional writer, offering a variety of services through his website, philelmore.com. He also publishes the Martialist, an online magazine concerned with self-defense as “the inalienable right of every human being”. Elmore writes a variety of columns on a variety of subjects for a variety of publishers, some of which are detailed on the front page of his website. read more

The Rise of Cobra

snakePerspective: This ain’t your daddy’s G.I. Joe.  For that matter, this probably ain’t your G.I. Joe.  Come to think of it, I’m not sure whose G.I. Joe this is, exactly.  I am an avid G.I. Joe fan; I followed the comics and played with the toys all through the 80’s, never missed an episode of the cartoon, and jumped feet first into the nostalgic revival in 2001.

I’ve been waiting for this movie a long time.

Background: The Hasbro property enjoyed the bulk of its popularity in the 80’s, beginning as a highly successful and still wildly collectible toy line.  The Marvel comic book series soon followed, mostly under the pen of Larry Hama; a half-hour tv series little more than an extended toy advertisement eventually produced an animated film that only fueled the Joe-mania sweeping the country at that time.  After that particular version of the franchise petered out in the early 90’s, Hasbro attempted to revive the property several times with varying degrees of success. read more

Communist Honduras

Global politics doesn’t often enter into my thinking.  I leave the political scene to people like Derek and Sharon Gilbert who are more prepared and better informed than I.  Every now and then, something hits close to home and reminds me that our world is shrinking faster and faster each day.  In the Reaction Chamber with me today is my brother David, Sgt Crutchfield of the US Army.  He gives us the lowdown of what’s going on in Honduras, and why we should be concerned.  Heed the call to action by contacting your federal representatives and expressing your concern, and the desire for specific action.  Check the feed in a day or so for a suitable form letter concerning the communist takeover of Honduras by Venezuala. read more