Blaze of Glory: A Novel

While there is no series title to the four books that are written by this author duo, the books are sequential in time. There are several characters that carry over from book to book. The missions are vastly different in each book, but a lot of the characters remain the same. They should be read in order beginning with Certain Jeopardy, Blaze of Glory, Fallen Angel and then Hide and Seek.In Blaze of Glory, a new member is added to the team, Jerry Zinsser. Jerry is a decorated hero from his last mission where only two of his team survived their mission in Somalia. He was responsible for saving the other team member. He has fooled the army psychologists into thinking he is ready to return to duty. However, he is suffering from PTSD and having suicidal thoughts. He returns to his former mission in his head at any time and can’t tell what is real and what is in the past. This poses a problem when it happens on his current mission and his team leader, Eric Moyer, must decide whether to return him to base or continue their mission.Their mission is to find out who is behind the recent increase in female suicide bombers. There have been bombings in several major European cities, all committed by young female bombers. They discover that someone may be trying to kill the President of the United States while on mission. Soon they come face-to-face with an armed bomber within striking distance of the President of the United States as well as several other world leaders. There are other bombers converging on the same location. How can Moyer and his team stop them all?If you like military action, suspense and tension-filled moments, then this book is definitely for you! I couldn’t put it down. The short chapters make the story pass quickly and the exciting plot will keep you glued to the book. The characters of this Special Operations Team are loyal to one another to the point of being willing to die for each other. The sense of humor and camaraderie between the men is really fun to read. While their missions are secret so only a few know about them, the soldiers know that they are doing their duty for their country. Thanks for your dedicated service to all the men and women who have served or are serving in the armed forces of the United States. Hooah!

Awesome read! I've been reviewing novels with a combat PTSD theme or character as a non-traditional resource for military spouses and loved ones. Most reads I’ve found thus far fall into either a romance or romantic suspense genre. Given my choice genre has always been war, I was quite content to stumble upon this one!As a brief overview of the story without giving too much away, Sgt. Major Eric Moyer is the leader of a special ops team assigned to a mission to find and stop the one(s) responsible for the recent occurrence and trend in female suicide bombers. Prior to their mission, the team is assigned a new member and decorated war hero, Jerry Zinsser. What the team does not know is that Zinsser suffers from PTSD and is having suicidal thoughts. This adds an additional dimension to the storyline as Zinsser suffers with flashbacks, depression, and suicidal thoughts throughout the mission. It also leaves Moyer to with a gut-wrenching decision to make once he becomes aware of Zinsser’s condition: send him home prior to mission completion and lose a valuable member of the team, or keep him and risk mission safety if Zinsser loses his sense of reality.I think Ret. Major Jeff Struecker and Alton Gansky made an excellent team in formulating this novel to be a well written, clean yet realistic, suspenseful, and exciting read, while developing characters fully to give you that, “I’m scared to read the ending” effect in fear of who might die. It was one of those books that earned several dirty looks from my husband given I couldn't put it down.I recommend this book to anyone who enjoys a good war novel, especially those looking for a cleaner read that still provides a realistic story plot. In terms of recommending this book as a non-conventional resource for military spouses and loved ones, I think it is also an excellent read. Not only does it illustrate the many facets of PTSD (depression, social isolation, survivor’s guilt, suicidal thoughts, alcoholism, flashbacks, sleep disturbances, etc.) but it also enables the reader to see and feel Zinsser’s mindset in not seeking the help he needed and why he would suppress and deny his mental condition in fear of losing the only link he had left to personal fulfilment and comradery.

This was such an awesome story. Filled with interesting characters I loved reading about . Then there were the characters so evil and mean you wanted to jump in and help the good guys. This is my second read by this author. I can't wait for more fat paced action. Stories that could be happening as American soldiers make a difference in the world today. I could not put this down til the very last page. This author presents so much more to a story than expected. What an enjoyable read!!

Special ops teams are closer than brothers. Trust in each other is paramount. A highly dangerous op on two continents with a new man on the team suffering from PTSD makes a difficult mission even dicier. Five stars--a definite, stay-up-all-night page turner.

This was a great read I would recommend it to anyone. This is the fourth book that I have read that Alton Gansky wrote or had a part in writing.This book was an easy read, great flow, very suspenseful, a lot going on in the different relationships within the book, a story told from many angles, very engaging. Also a clean read no profanity which is a plus.

Well done, well written. Exciting, well paced. A look into a different possible terrorist attack that challenges the team. Nice to read with clean language. Nice touch on Christian values and prayer without being pushy.