Top positive review
5.0 out of 5 starsPeter Nealen's Best Work Yet
Reviewed in the United States on October 4, 2021
I can't think of many authors whose work continues to improve over a long span. Many find their niche and their stride and stay there, which isn't inherently bad. Others (whom shall remain unnamed) start off mediocre at best and double down on their current level. It's rare to find the author who is consistently pushing to improve their craft, knowing they can do better than the book before.
Former Reconnaissance Marine Peter Nealen is one of the rare ones. In some aspect or another, each of his books improves upon the last in some way, shape, or form, even after his 26th book (excluding anthologies, non-fiction works, and books announced but not yet published).
Thus far, I can say that Area Denial is hands down the best book that he has written to date.
Picking up where Fortress Doctrine left off, Hank Foss and his Triarii infantry section has been deployed to the Philippines as part of a privateer flotilla. Their objective: ply the same tactics on the Chinese that Beijing has plied against its enemies. It is maritime guerilla warfare, and the Triarii are having to elevate their skill set in order to complete the mission.
The action is as crisp and kinetic as ever, which has always been one of Nealen's strong fronts. It's clear that he has done his research on the PRC and their tactics, and has come up with a feasible plan of action in the scenario where world affairs have deteriorated to the level that they have in the Maelstrom Rising canon.
Additional kudos are merited for Nealen's depiction of set-piece naval battles. Unlike the late Tom Clancy, who would get into immense detail that would appeal to those who train for those fights at the strategic level and not much else, Nealen summarizes those battles in a way where the casual reader gets the picture. He makes it well known that he is aware that his average reader came to read about gun battles and not large battles from a strategic perspective.
Where Nealen has improved the most is his characterization. Certainly, he has come a long way from his American Praetorian days (where characterization was spare at first), and has demonstrated with both his Maelstrom Rising and Brannigan's Blackhearts series that he has grown as a writer with regards to characterization.
In Area Denial, it's taken to another level. We're seeing banter that will be readily recognized by grunts and operators worldwide. We're seeing post-traumatic stress that anyone with an intimate knowledge of war will immediately feel and relate to, and everyone else will be able to understand and empathize, if not fully understand.
In short, Area Denial has the gun and battle porn to appeal to the average reader of this genre, the foreign policy research targeting the research nerds, and the soul to make the characters human and appeal to readers looking for character stories.
Nealen has outdone himself here and I look forward to seeing what more he brings to the table.
