Steel Fear – Book Review

In Steel Fear, combat-decorated Navy SEAL Brandon Web and award-winning author John David Mann come together to share a high-octane thriller about murder on an aircraft carrier.

The moment Navy SEAL sniper Finn sets foot on the USS Abraham Lincoln to hitch a ride back to the States from the Persian Gulf, it’s clear something is amiss. When crew members disappear one by one, what at first seems like a random string of suicides soon reveals something sinister: there’s a serial killer onboard.

Suspicion falls on Finn, the newcomer to the ship who is being sent home in disgrace, after a failed mission in Yemen—the details of which he doesn’t remember. He has a sense that something he missed contributed to civilian deaths. Finding the killer offers a chance at redemption… if he can stay alive long enough to prove it isn’t him.

Steel Fear was unputdownable, an electrifying ride that had me glued to the pages long after my lights should have been off. Full of fast-paced action, this nail-biter really had me guessing… exactly what a thriller should do. Because one author was a Navy SEAL, the story was authentic. It wasn’t a novel written by someone who simply researched what happens on an aircraft carrier. I could have never lived on one—the idea of sleeping in a coffin-sized berth was a deal breaker. Talk about claustrophobia! Besides the well-drawn protagonist, Finn, there was a great cast of supporting characters with weighty backstories. This would have been a 5-star read, but the cursing was over the top. The f-bomb was dropped 73 times, but that’s not what bothered me. If Christian swearing (using the Lord’s name in vain) is offensive, this book isn’t for you. 4 stars.

Published Date: July 2021
Genre: Thriller, military thriller, techno-thriller
Read-alikes: Jack Reacher by Lee Child, Water Memory by Daniel Pyne, The Fear Within by J. S. Law, The Bronze Fog by Arthur Denis Clift, Carrier by Tom Clancy

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