I have found a new series that I think is going to be great. It’s great for two things. One, it’s the kind of military science fiction that I would like to have been part of; this story is what most science fiction fans dream of happening. Jason Burke should have been me or I should have been Jason Burke or how ever you want to put it. Two, there are eight, 8 books in the series already written. I’m in reading nirvana. I don’t know if I’ll just read all eight straight through or read something else in between. It’s going to be a challenge deciding what to do.
I’m already into book two, “Soldiers of Fortune” which is just as good as book one, so far. Book one is the beginning of Omega Force. Jason Burke is a former Air Force enlisted guy who has had enough of war and killing. He’s served his country in Iran and Afghanistan as a Pararescue operator or PJ, so he knows his business as far as the military goes. But, he’s had enough for now and is secluded in a mountain cabin that his folks bought for him not long ago. He doesn’t particularly want to hide for the rest of his life, but a period of peace and quiet would be nice. He’s twenty-six years old so he’s got a lot of life ahead of him, but also appears to have just lost the love of his life.
Suddenly, he’s confronted with a loud sound coming from the sky where his mountain is usually very quiet. It sounds like an aircraft and it’s coming in very low and very fast. He manages to wake up and get to his cabin door just as the craft appears to have hit the ground just beyond a ridge line a few clicks from his cabin. He decides he’s got to go investigate and find out if he can rescue any of the crash survivors. So he grabs a small flashlight and his civilian AR-15 and heads out. Not long after, he comes over a rise and sees a craft that has landed on three landing struts similar to other large aircraft he’s seen. But, the aircraft. itself, certainly isn’t any kind that he’s ever seen.
It appears to have not really crashed although it is smoking and seems to have an electrical fire smell to the whole area. Jason slowly climbs down the slope to get a better look and see if any one survived the landing. At first he can’t find any hatches or entrances into the craft. Then, the backend of the craft suddenly drops a ramp and more smoke comes billowing out. Now Jason makes the dumbest mistake of his short life. He enters the craft going through the smoke which is starting to subside. Jason continues on into the craft entering at what appears to be a cargo area. He sees a hatch with a big red button next to it, so he walks up and pushes the button. The hatch come open and he’s looking at a short corridor with another hatch and button at the end. Why he doesn’t stop now is beyond me.
Jason eventually goes through both hatches which he believes might have been airlock doors and then he come to a ladder or stairs going up. He’s thinking that this might lead him to the bridge or control room or whatever they call it on this ship. He’s now pretty much convinced that this ship isn’t of Earth origin. The writing on the door panels he walked threw were like nothing he’s ever seen. Once up on the next deck he walks forward through an open door way into a large control room. He notices someone or something sitting at a console and they notice him at about the same time. Next thing he feels is an electric shock which causes him to fire his AR-15 through on of the front screens and also knocks him off his feet.
From this point on, Jason Burke is in for an adventure of a life time. He has boarded an alien spacecraft that had set down to make emergency repairs and vent all the electrical smoke from the craft. It wasn’t intended to allow anyone to come on-board, especially anyone from this primitive planet. Yet, Jason is on-board and just now coming to in the ship’s medical bay. He’s confronted by a being that says he’s a synthetic humanoid called Deetz. Turns out, Deetz is just the first of many strange, but not so strange, beings he will encounter over the next few years.
This series is exactly why I like military science fiction. And the writing by Mr. Dalzelle is superb in that he doesn’t write gory details or blood-lust killing just for the sake of shocking his readers. In fact, his story is pretty mild as far as the fighting goes, but his characters have a purpose and they’re definitely not insane. I think my adventure with the Omega Force is just starting and i’m really excited to be reading it. I just hope each book stays lengthy and don’t become short stories. So far, that’s not the case. This first book provides the background for how the Omega Force came to be and details a lot of information about each member of Omega Force. There are just the right numbers so as to remember each character and their background. I am already into book two and look forward to reading all the rest.