VENGEANCE

Marcinko takes on Homeland Security to show how far from secure the homeland is.

Since the first two Rogue Warrior entries, the series has wobbled, dipping into mouthy action comedy and wholesale invention. Happily, Number 11 makes a strong recovery from its predecessor, the demented bloodbath Violence of Action (2002). Since author/protagonist Marcinko’s real-life firm, SOS Temps, may have done some work for Homeland Security, the reader can vaguely relate to his flimflam here. Just in case, he and co-author DeFelice wheel out detail-specific hardware and armaments to support his thrills—and plenty of buffed-up female troops to keep Demo Dick happy. Here, Richard Armstead of the Homeland Security Office contracts for Marcinko’s Red Cell to wake up the country. As if leading a terrorist team, Demo Dick starts by taking over a train hauling several tankers of cyanide gas through Kansas. During this activity, the team finds a real satchel bomb wired to a railroad bridge and a headless, handless corpse under the bridge. Next they take out a hospital in Des Moines, showing that it would be easy prey. Well, his Red Cell team earlier got plenty of attention when it “blew up” Air Force One and some nuclear submarines. But Armstead is furious at Marcinko for literally terrorizing the country, starting with Kansas, Iowa and a massive truck depot in Illinois. Says Demo Dick, “If you’re going to have a war on terror—HAVE A FUCKING WAR ON TERROR!” A motorcyclist shadowing Marcinko gets chewed up by an Amtrak train, a gruesome death, admits our hero, but the people after him want to kill nasty, too. In Manhattan, to save female agent Brandy, he foils a bank robbery in progress, personally killing two punks. Soon, he kills two more just as a Muslim suicide bomber blows up a shopping mall. Then the real terrorists head for vengeance in Las Vegas and Boom! Boom!

Ridiculous fun, like Lethal Weapon flicks.