Review by Booklist Review
Here's the fiction debut of Coughlin, the Marine sniper whose memoir, Shooter (2005), took readers inside the mind of a military assassin. Kill Zone does the same thing in fiction. The hero is Kyle Swanson, a Marine sniper who is assigned to rescue an American general held hostage in the Middle East. Swanson soon realizes this is no ordinary situation: the people who abducted the general appear to be Americans, mercenaries who, incredible as it sounds, may be part of a White House plot to topple the American military. Fans of Stephen Hunter's novels about sniper Bob Lee Swagger will see some similarities in theme and tone, but make no mistake: this is not a retread or imitation. Coughlin, ably assisted by coauthor Davis, tells a tight, suspenseful story, and Kyle's philosophical arc, from cool, detached professional to disillusioned, embittered loner, is well developed, with a substantial emotional payoff at the end. Here's hoping this is the first of many Swanson novels.--Pitt, David Copyright 2007 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Coughlin wrote with Davis on Shooter, a memoir of Coughlin's career as a Marine Corps sniper. In the team's debut novel, the two pit Gunnery Sgt. Kyle Swanson, the corps's best sniper, against a secret alliance of government and business bigwigs. A triumvirate of National Security Adviser Gerald Buchanan, Senate Armed Services Committee chair Ruth Reed and megarich businessman Gordon Gates IV are using Gates Global (the world's preeminent private security company) to implement a plan to take over the military, rewrite the Constitution and usher in the creation of a "New America." In Saudi Arabia, Marine Brig. Gen. Bradley Middleton is kidnapped by two mercenaries working for Gates Global. After Swanson is chosen to be part of a rescue team, helicopters carrying the rescuers crash on landing, and Swanson is left with only his exceptional combat skills and his high-tech rifle, Excalibur ("a sniper's wet dream"). The action reaches such a furious pitch that readers will hardly notice an overly romantic subplot or the clumsy machinations of the evil trio. (Nov.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by Library Journal Review
A marine sniper stymied in his efforts to rescue a U.S. general from (who else?) Islamic extremists comes to the uncomfortable conclusion that he's actually facing a bunch of American mercenaries. From the author of the best-selling nonfiction title Shooter. (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
