The first book in the series is just called Seal Team 666 and with Seal Team 666: Age of Blood author Weston Ochse has extended the story. The first book introduced some new SEALs to Team 666 – the US’s special squad that’s deployed against supernatural threats in a particularly high stakes battle. Age of Blood picks up in the aftermath, with some loose ends and a whole new challenge.
I enjoyed Seal Team 666 and I liked the sequel even more. This isn’t just because I know the characters. This is a better book. Ochse’ writing is just as tight and clear but the story feels more confident. We dabble a little more into the mythos – not on the monster side, but on the SEAL and US Navy side. In the first book we have an idea as to why the sniper Walker was picked for the team and in this story we get some insight into the others.
Age of Blood kicks off when a sea monster grabs a senator’s daughter and then escalates from there. To make things worse; the senator in question holds the purse strings for 666’s funding. Before you know it we’re dealing with drug gangs, werewolves and ancient powers.
There are a number of successes that Weston Ochse manages to bring to Age of Blood to make it a compelling book.
The first is that he knows all the military and navy foo. You’re not overloaded with technical specs for the kit, guns and vehicles but you get the details. SEALs don’t refer to their weapons as “guns” – they’re all correctly referred to with make and manufacturer and as a reader you know why anyone of the fighters is currently equipped in the way he is. This adds to the realism even though we’re dealing with the supernatural.
The second is that the heroes in the book; male, female and canine all pass the early James Bond test. That’s to say that they’ve their own flaws, will make mistakes but are clearly confident in their abilities and are very good at what they do. That’s what brings a level of excitement to each encounter. You know the heroes have a good chance but there’s no Superman syndrome here when you doubt anything can really harm them. The fact that SEALs die in these missions has already been established.
Speaking on the fear of death – Hoover the team’s attack dog is back. That’s not fair. I can cope with zombies wearing the skin of murdered innocents and demonic possession but putting a cheeky dog in jeopardy raises the tense to critical!
One of the touches I noticed in Age of Blood is that key members of the SEAL 666 team have geeky backgrounds. Walker, our hero sniper from the first, has planned Dungeons & Dragons and gets into a comic book hero chat with the new guy. A cheap tactic? Not sure. What it does do is bring these fitter-than-fit military men closer to home. Could they be “one of us”? Is Walker a native geek? He might be.
Seal Team 666, both books, rest on my recommend list. It’s a mix of action, military, supernatural, investigation and a whole lot of drama. I really like the series so far. Hate it? That wouldn’t surprise me. I imagine there are certain must-be-exactly-like-this military fic readers who’ll find reasons to dislike the books. For the rest of us; dig in!
My copy was provided for review. SEAL Team 666: Age of Blood, Weston Ochse, Titan Books, RRP £7.99.
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