Joe Ledger: Special Ops

NOTE: I was sent an electronic ARC of this book and asked to write a review once I had finished it.

Joe Ledger: Special Ops is a collection of short stories that sit within the existing DMS universe, the stories in the book are a combination of completely standalone stories and those that fill in gaps around the other books in the series, so some of them do contain spoilers. These “spoiler” stories are all clearly marked, just in case a reader hasn't worked through the main stories by the time they pick up Special Ops.

If you're an existing fan of the DMS series, than Special Ops is a great addition to the canon, it adds some back story to the characters of Joe and Church while providing some a good dose of the out and out action that Maberry provides throughout the rest of the series. Joe continues to be something of a one man killing machine, at one point provoking fear in a room of bad guys by just saying his name.

The ‘horror' elements are abound, with plenty of bio-science to keep Echo team on its toes - there's even an out and out ghost story in there too, just to help mix it up a bit.

One downside to the approach taken with each of the short stories is that you are re-introduced to characters time and again, as they reappear in each new story you get nearly the same bit of description repeated. This would be fine in standalone stories, but the chances are that you'll just plow straight through the book and probably not need to be told that Mr Church is Joe's boss every time he gets mentioned for the first time in any given story.

This repetition is just in the nature of the collection, but some further editing to refine it and remove some of the really unnecessary repetition would have been appreciated and it would not have had any impact at all on the stories themselves.

All in all, Special Ops is an enjoyable jaunt back into the world of the DMS, it helps tidy up some loose ends from the other books in the series and provides some fresh stories about what else Joe Ledger has gotten up to. A worthwhile read for fans (even with the repetitive bits), but not a great starting point for those new to the series.