The action never stopsRecon Team Angel, a group of teens trained for espionage and surgically altered to resemble the invader alien race (The Assault, 2012), are back for their next mission…going deep into alien territory.
The Great Bzadian War is well under way, and the humans are losing. It will be only a matter of months before the Bering Strait freezes over sufficiently to allow the aliens to transport their heavy equipment over from Russia to invade the last bastion of freedom, the United States. In a last-ditch effort to delay the attack they know is coming, the Allied Combined Operations Group has deployed the titular task force deep into Bzadian territory (formerly Australia) to take out the factory that produces the power cells that keep the alien forces moving, hopefully buying time for the humans to launch their own attack and build up defenses. Lt. Ryan “Lucky” Chisnall must once again take his team deep into enemy territory, risking his and their lives to save the human race from extinction. Short sentences, clipped dialogue and a bounty of initialisms and technical language make this a winner for kids who love military-style adventures. The clear battle lines drawn between humans and Bzadians facilitate easy, total immersion.
The action never stops, keeping readers engrossed in a rapid-paced tale that doesn’t hesitate to deal with the realities of a war of survival. (Science fiction. 12 & up)
Kirkus Reviews
September 2013
