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A review by donnek
Ambush by Barbara Nickless
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
We were the Marines the other Marines avoided. The pariahs, the bad luck charms. The ones no one wanted to risk being near. As if we didn’t just process death. As if we brought it.
Sydney Parnell
Personal Journal
In this third installment, former Marines and current Denver Railway cops, Sydney and Clyde (K9 partner) are back and as fierce as ever. Syd is still getting therapy for her PTSD, but she’s still seeing ghost/manifestations (that she has full on conversations with) of Marine friends and colleagues that were KIA. She’s making some small strides in her battles with drugs and alcohol by slowly weaning herself off of them. Her relationship with Denver PD Det, Cohen, still seems as shaky as ever. However, she is still determined as ever in finding Malik, an Iraqi boy she left behind during the war. She finally does locate him down in Mexico where he is being hidden and taken care of by a Muslim security guard (supposedly). This is not a spoiler since it’s basically how the story starts.
Most of us – maybe all of us – are broken in some way. Depending on who we are, those cracks can either let in the darkness or the light.
Sydney Parnell
Personal Journal
The book summary introduces the primary storyline of finding out who the Alpha is and what the Alpha wants with this particular team of former Marines. There is another storyline of an ambush in Iraq that Syd and a bunch of other Marines were in (revealed in previous installments) that led to why they believe the Alpha has been searching for them for a couple of years now. Then, of course, there is the storyline around Syd’s and Cohen’s fragile relationship.
There are good and bad people on both sides of a conflict. The trick is in figuring out which is which. And who is working for whom.
Sydney Parnell
Personal Journal
Most of the story revolves around finding out who the Alpha is, where the Alpha is now and how to end the Alpha’s reign of terror, once and for all. Syd and Clyde and the surviving members of the team from the ambush in Iraq team up to hunt down the Alpha. Deep into the second half, it’s shock and awe and a death-defying attack of military proportions that the Alpha is revealed.
Sooner or later, we all come to the ultimate contest, when it’s just us and the devil. And the devil hates to lose.
Sydney Parnell
Personal Journal
This was a Kindle Unlimited book. The nice thing about a lot of KU books is that you can flip back and forth between the ebook and the audiobook, which I love. This third installment was another fast-paced, action-packed, intense story that seemed to be the end of the Malik arc. It will be interesting to see what direction Nickless takes Syd and Clyde and Cohen too. I look forward to the next installment to see what kind of chaos and mayhem they all get themselves into.
War was the longest period of my life. I was twenty when I enlisted. But by the time I mustered out three years later, I felt ninety.
Sydney Parnell
ENGL 0208
Psychology of Combat
Sydney Parnell
Personal Journal
In this third installment, former Marines and current Denver Railway cops, Sydney and Clyde (K9 partner) are back and as fierce as ever. Syd is still getting therapy for her PTSD, but she’s still seeing ghost/manifestations (that she has full on conversations with) of Marine friends and colleagues that were KIA. She’s making some small strides in her battles with drugs and alcohol by slowly weaning herself off of them. Her relationship with Denver PD Det, Cohen, still seems as shaky as ever. However, she is still determined as ever in finding Malik, an Iraqi boy she left behind during the war. She finally does locate him down in Mexico where he is being hidden and taken care of by a Muslim security guard (supposedly). This is not a spoiler since it’s basically how the story starts.
Most of us – maybe all of us – are broken in some way. Depending on who we are, those cracks can either let in the darkness or the light.
Sydney Parnell
Personal Journal
The book summary introduces the primary storyline of finding out who the Alpha is and what the Alpha wants with this particular team of former Marines. There is another storyline of an ambush in Iraq that Syd and a bunch of other Marines were in (revealed in previous installments) that led to why they believe the Alpha has been searching for them for a couple of years now. Then, of course, there is the storyline around Syd’s and Cohen’s fragile relationship.
There are good and bad people on both sides of a conflict. The trick is in figuring out which is which. And who is working for whom.
Sydney Parnell
Personal Journal
Most of the story revolves around finding out who the Alpha is, where the Alpha is now and how to end the Alpha’s reign of terror, once and for all. Syd and Clyde and the surviving members of the team from the ambush in Iraq team up to hunt down the Alpha. Deep into the second half, it’s shock and awe and a death-defying attack of military proportions that the Alpha is revealed.
Sooner or later, we all come to the ultimate contest, when it’s just us and the devil. And the devil hates to lose.
Sydney Parnell
Personal Journal
This was a Kindle Unlimited book. The nice thing about a lot of KU books is that you can flip back and forth between the ebook and the audiobook, which I love. This third installment was another fast-paced, action-packed, intense story that seemed to be the end of the Malik arc. It will be interesting to see what direction Nickless takes Syd and Clyde and Cohen too. I look forward to the next installment to see what kind of chaos and mayhem they all get themselves into.
War was the longest period of my life. I was twenty when I enlisted. But by the time I mustered out three years later, I felt ninety.
Sydney Parnell
ENGL 0208
Psychology of Combat
Content Warnings
The MC is a former Marine with PTSD and hallucinations of the war and those she knew who were KIA.
She is also struggling to get clean and sober.