Into the Fire

         (From July 7th, 2008: Black Sea Affair . . . A military thriller!)                       

Sound the alarm! Man battle stations! Wow. Don Brown’s Black Sea Affair would make a great movie!

Don Brown, a former JAG officer who now operates his own law firm, is an amazing in-your-face brawn and bluster contemporary military novelist of the highest order. When you read his work, you sense he’s definitely been there, done that. His plots speak out loud of the current radical Islamic threats without apology or lack of courage. He creates mounting tension after laying the groundwork that escalates with each new military, diplomatic, and terror-laced conflict. You might be shaking your head at this point thinking you’re tired of reading about the same old terrorism-threat plots, and I can understand that, but Don Brown takes you inside the politics, the strategies, the opinions of different departments in government — and not just our own — and you can almost feel the perspiration accumulating on the brow of the president as he’s driven to make decisions which could potentially launch an all out nuclear war.

Within the bowels of a submarine, you sense the close quarters, smell the sweat of the most skilled group of submariners ever assembled, understand the potential threat of death and the valor of those who volunteered to give their all if necessary to thwart a nuclear threat. When the deed is done, it is learned there was a previous exchange of the supposed cargo the US submarine was seeking to destroy, and the stakes are anted up to an unacceptable level, leaving Captain Pete Miranda no choice but to execute a partial surrender of the Los Angeles-class sub in the waters of the Black Sea.

If you’ve read Don’s previous three novels (Treason, Hostage, Defiance), a series about the JAG attorney Zack Brewer, you’ll be pleased to know Zack makes an appearance in the last few chapters of this novel. I was grateful to see him back in action, his cool confidence and brilliant skills sharper than ever, but I couldn’t help but wonder where Diane Colcernian was now located.

In this day and age when we are forced to listen to the liberal politics of our day deriding the [former Bush] president and this country, Don Brown gives you a novel which celebrates the United States of America and its armed forces. His characters are real men and women who must make decisions most of us will never have to face. The responsibilities and actions required by a few result in the gut-wrenching calls these people are forced to make with little time to be positive about their decisions or orders.

This novel should be a movie—the tension and plot are edge-of-your-seat intense and would be riveting on the big screen.

Father, you have gifted Don in many areas, and I ask, Lord, that you would continue to give him meaningful stories which depict the military at its finest. Thank you, Lord, for his faithfulness to you, for his writing for your glory. Please watch over him and direct his steps as he practices law as your representative. In the Name of Jesus, Amen.