Dark Rising

In this book, the Iranians varied from standard bad guys to evil incarnate.
That was pretty annoying. The super soldier part was unexpected.
So overall, didn't really like it and won't read any others

We learned in the first Alex Hunter book that Hunter's physical abilities and senses were mysteriously enhanced when he survived a Russian agent's bullet to the brain, the bullet's location making it too dangerous to be removed. Hunter then became part of the Arcadian project in which his abilities were studied and scientifically enhanced even further. He is a type of super-hero berserker soldier, like a cross between Captain America, The Hulk and Dr. Strange. He and his HAWC team are reserved for the most dangerous covert American military missions, and so far their missions have brought them up against Lovecraftian monstrous entities as well as human enemies.

In this story, an Iranian scientist has stumbled upon a way to open a black hole in a covert underground facility. The first time this happens, in a nanosecond the laboratory is destroyed, personnel disappear and a huge burst of gamma radiation is released. Horribly mutilated bodies of some of the irradiated personnel appear in various parts of the world and the burst of gamma radiation has alerted detectors in the United States and Israel.

Hunter, men from his HAWC team, members of Mossad, led by a tough and beautiful female Mossad officer, and a nerdy Israeli scientist are tasked with the mission to either capture or destroy the technology that created the strange gamma burst in Iran. Unbeknownst to both sides is that the black hole, while open, has sucked into the Iranian desert a monstrous creature from some other place and this creature finds humans very appetizing.

The story is action packed and bloody. My biggest complaint about such stories comes from my personal standing on current world geopolitics. The Iranian leaders have to be portrayed as radical religious fanatics. The United States and Israel must be the good guys stopping the Iranian fanatics from destroying the world, and so it is just okay to drop into a sovereign country and create havoc. In such two dimensional writing the story must be written in a way to present the current propaganda narrative without any nuance. I can only give this three stars for the action, especially with the creature.

I read the first book in the series several years ago and always meant to get back to see what happened next. It took me longer than it should have, but I'm glad I finally picked the series back up. I recall enjoying book #1. Dark Rising was outstanding with strong character development and a great plot. In a way I'm glad I lollygagged on this series because it means there are now more books to catch up on.

Dark Rising makes you feel like the author was rushed into finishing it to cache in on the success of the first book. Any attempt at character building is left to the winds and all we get is a Alien/timewarp scenario that hold some interest in the way its presented. Overall a very disappointing read and I will get off this train right here thank you very much