Fury in the Gulf (Brannigan's Blackhearts) Paperback – November 14, 2017

Story was good. But the characters were better; the type you remember long after the book is done. And I'm looking forward to more adventures!

I immediately thought of "The Dogs of War" when I started reading this book. The classic work on mercenary soldiers is reflected here in tone and subject matter. The story follows a familiar track. First, the pitch to a well-tried soldier, now retired. Then the assembling the team to carry out the mission. Next, we have the execution of the mission and the finish. But the writing is so good that we feel like we are right there at each step of the way. The combat scenes are intense, seemingly accurate, and very well choreographed. We can imagine the fighting and keep the complicated aspects of the fighting in our head. that is, the writing is clear and sharp. sometimes, the combat in e-books are confused and mushy with an emphasis on exploding heads and gushing blood rather than on understanding how things evolve. the political aspects of contending Middle Eastern factions, nations and interests are also well developed, reasonable and as far as I can tell, accurate. I will read the second in this series right away.

Some new guns I had to google for this one loved the action. Can't wait to finish the series. Now I just need to remember names cause God knows I suck with names but faces I remember forever but that just me

This is my first book by this author.The book starts with John Brannigan (of the yet to be named Brannigan's Blackhearts) who is struggling with retirement from the Marine Corp. A friend comes over with a job, and that kicks off the team building sequence. There's some training but not nearly enough because time is short.A fictional island in the Persian Gulf has been taken over by the Iranian QODS. No one knows why, but they're serious. A company is offering a serious amount of money to resolve the situation, and that's what this team does.Things do not go to plan.I enjoyed this, but I prefer my military fiction to have a sci-fi element to it. This is good, no question about it, but it didn't hit my sweet spot. The story moves along at a quick pace as the team encounters one problem after another, and the tension builds in a satisfying way.It's all good. It's just not in space. 4/5*

The first part of the book where they were preparing for the mission, I enjoyed. Not so much thereafter. Too much military lingo, and repetitive graphic description of violence. Pages just describing them trying to get up a wall or through a door. Was exhausting.

Brannigan’s Blackhearts, Fury in the Gulf, a thriller published, copyright and written by Peter Nealen.This early book in a series by the author of an already published number of books apparently in this and similar genre, is an action packed tale recounting a rescue mission of a pirated tanker’s crew and assorted tourists from an island under control of a Muslim sect. It is a well-funded, but strictly unauthorized operation that has brought former Colonel Brannigan from retirement along with some of his former NCO’s, an M.D. former Medic and an unknown, but recommended, Muslim whose ability with Arabic customs and language were needed. The operation first requires obtaining the necessary weaponry and supportive equipment from foreign sources to even initiate the actual extraction. This requires negotiating with Russian Mafia, among others. After betrayal and other expected hitches, the required armament et al. is obtained and the extractive action is initiated with actually rather extensively described activity and inclusion of unanticipated inter-Muslim deceit and treachery offering an amount of perhaps somewhat debatable aid to their operation.Discussion: This is an extensive description of step by step activity by a clandestine group of experienced combat veterans as they proceed in a difficult extraction. The author is knowledgeable and as stated, has set forth a fictional presentation that “is more exciting than anything 99% of real gunfighters ever experience".

Like the story, the problem is the author try, but can't, give us so many details that the story got boring.The characters are ok, not great but will do. The story is my problem, and the "end", jeez why destroy the end with so little details and fed up ur readers with little details that doesn't help.Will try for another book but, it better be exceptional.

While Peter Nealen is no stranger to writing thrilling works of military fiction, Fury in the Gulf is somewhat of a departure from his usual works. Compared to the longer American Praetorians novels, the first entry in 'Brannigan's Blackhearts' is a relatively short read as it has more in common with the old pulp action stories like 'Mack Bolen' or 'Sons of Barabbas'. However, the usual hallmarks of Mr. Nealen's novels are still present; unforgiving realism, entertaining characters (I especially enjoyed the point of view of David Aziz), and engaging combat scenes. As a throwback to the older military pulps, these elements are put into overdrive. I highly recommend this modern two fisted tale to anyone. Whether you are someone just looking for an entertaining read or an avid reader of pulse-pounding action, there is something for everyone.

Peter Nealen is one oft my favorite GWOT vet turned Thriller writers and after his awesome American Praetorian series , Brannigan and his Team do not dissappoint! Looking forward to the next one!

Ahhh, this brings back memories. Back in the '80s, I used to buy and read a series of books published by Gold Eagle press. They were released monthly for the most part, and one of the series was the SOB's. It was about a Viet Vet who recruits a group of men to be mercenaries for a hostage rescue.This book by Peter Nealen is his modern take on the genre, with a similar plot. Brannigan is an ex-Marine Colonel, who gets "asked" to leave the Corp after a successful mission to rescue hostages in Africa is against orders. This time, he is asked to rescue a group of American hostages for terrorists on the island of Khandark, situated in the Straits of Hormuz.The island has been captured by Iranians who seek to use missiles to attack Saudi Arabia. It turns out that the missiles were originally placed there by the Saudis, in order to attack Iran in the proxy war the two states have been waging for years.Colonel Brannigan recruits 8 men to go with him to rescue the hostages. Along the way, they have to fight gun smugglers who try to sell the Americans to Al Queda, Russian smugglers who may or not be trustworthy to extract them after the rescue, and the Iranian terrorists themselves. After several battles, with ever-increasing explosions, they free the hostages, and make their escape, only to find the Russians didn't turn up. Out of fuel, they go back to the island, have a final battle for a boat with the Iranians, extract the Oil Tanker that the Americans had originally been part of the crew on, and get away from the Al Queda supported Rebels that are left on the Island.All in all, there were a couple of minor errors, but nothing that spoiled the story enough for me to care, and I enjoyed the book. I look forward to reading the next book in the series "Burmese Crossfire" which releases in Jan 2018.

This was the classic former military coming out of retirement to do a rescue genre. Hostages have been taken, the politicians are doing their usual thing so it's time to go out of house. Good action and description. Standard compatant military operators but with a few personality qwirks for spice. Looking forward to the next mission.