Mission Target - Mark Nolan

 

Mission Target by Mark Nolan
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

It seems as if I waited a long time for Book 7, Mission Target” to come out. This is another thriller from Mark Nolan, and the wait was worth it. If you are unfamiliar with this author’s books, the main characters are Jake, a Marine, and his dog Cody, a retired war-time dog with PTSD. Actually, both Jake and Cody have their own PTSD problems. They are so dependent on one another it would be difficult to determine who needs who the most. Cody and his person, Jake, are in the top 5 of my favorite fiction characters. I’ve said before if I had to make a choice between Jake or Cody it would be very difficult. Ok, ok, Cody might win:)

This story begins with Jake having been a bad boy. Sometimes, no matter how many lives have been saved, our heroes are still removed from their posts for taking matters into their own hands. To me there is often a very fine line in determining what is the “right thing to do”. Some of Jake’s commanding officers think his banishment might have been made too swiftly or too harshly. They also determine they need his skills enough to justify giving him orders and a US Marshall’s badge to carry them out.

I think the actual plot of this book might be the best of the series so far. There were more sideline characters, the plot seemed to be a little trickier, the whole story had more depth. What was an order to track down the people bringing dangerous drugs into the country became a story with more layers and more intrigue. I mentioned more characters previously. This is the first time we have heard of so many new people interacting with Jake and Cody. It was this picture that made the story become family-like, even more team-like. Many people worked behind the scenes yet had an important part in an endeavor to save many lives.

Each of Nolan’s books can stand alone. If you haven’t read all of them (shame on you), you might not be familiar with Jake’s personal life. He has a close relationship with a veterinarian named Sarah. They seem very much in love, but we don’t hear much about her this time. Are they heading for a break-up? Wonder what Nolan has in mind for Cody’s person? As we all know…authors play with our minds now and then. Hope he hurries up with book 8 so we can know what’s ahead for Jake and Cody.


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