Our Gifts for Our Nation

Breach Zone is the conclusion of Myke Cole’s Special Ops trilogy and it is fantastic.  I enjoyed the first book, Control Point, and really liked the second, Fortress Frontier. Each book in the series marked a dramatic improvement in character development, plot progression, and overall narrative. All in all, they got better, much better, and Breach Zone shines as the pinnacle of the series.
Breach Zone begins a few months after the conclusion of Fortress Frontier. There is a great deal of civil and political unrest; the president was impeached between novels but replaced by an equally fervent opponent of Latency. MAJ Jan “Harlequin” Thorsson is now LTC Thorsson and COL Bookbinder is BG Bookbinder. Despite their promotions, both men are now pariahs within the military. The public loves Harlequin but the military views him as a traitor. He inspires fear and distrust among everyone in uniform. BG Bookbinder is shuffled off with a handler but Harlequin, a strikingly handsome man, is thrust into the public spotlight as the face of SOC. Oscar Britton remains in the shadows as a hero to some and threat to others; his life parallels Edward Snowden on many accounts.
Havoc ensues when Scylla returns by opening a rift between the two worlds in downtown Manhattan. Massive battles rage throughout the island and LTC Thorsson is assigned command of the AO (Area of Operations) but is not provided the resources to stop Scylla and her legions of Goblin warriors.  The book frequently flashes back in time to Lieutenant Thorsson and his early days within SOC. It turns out that Harlequin has a history with Scylla and the backstory really blurs the line between right/wrong and good/evil. There are definitely connections to the modern military complex, especially in terms of contracting.  The storyline involving the lambic dampener is superb as well.
Scylla becomes a much bigger character too. She is no longer just the blindly evil being as Cole gives her purpose. I feel confident that much of Scylla is Cole’s dream woman. He writes her very well. She is strong and ideological, to a fault.
Breach Zone is a fun, fantastic read that gets the details correct. The whole series is great but BZ stands out.