Butchers of Eden

Here we have the third story in the series, with two of the SOBs sitting out this mission, and a return of Lopez from the first book. The first half is really a solo adventure where we get to see Barrabas himself as the sole hero of the story. It isn't until his nemesis, Karl Heiss along with another main villain, captures his girlfriend, that the SOBs team enters the picture. Sri Lanka is the setting for this adventure, with the compound where the woman is being held one set piece, and the other takes place in the town of Colombo. The family that Barrabas helps out in the city makes for some good reading, and later the assault on the compound more good action there. The addition of Jessup to the story made it more interesting, and the father of the family has a terrific scene to close out the book. I always like the kind of books where the main villains get eliminated in unusual and interesting ways, and this book is one of those. Both the vietnamese villain and the corrupt officer in the city get taken out in what you will have to read yourself are shocking. The SOBs themselves again work well together and the banter between the guys during the mission are funny moments in a story that can be serious and dark at times. Another well written book from Philipson, I recommend this series, it is great so far, and Heiss is to Barrabas as Strakhov was to Mack Bolan. I miss the recurring nemesis villains like these!

Exceptionally good read here featuring two of Nile Barrabas's arch enemies namely CIA renegade Karl Heiss and former ARVN Major General Nguyen Son Ny who relate back to Nile's Vietnam days and the heroin pipeline he smashed that had been set up by these two. Indeed it was only in title #1 where we last came across Karl Heiss who was left for dead at the end of that one. The start of this title and Karl is probably wishing he was dead when we come across where he is and what has happened to him. Eventually he is rescued by the Major General's mercs and flown to Colombo to be reunited and to be present for the closing of the trap which will see the end of Barrabas and his SOB"S. Nile's girlfriend is kidnapped and held by the bad guys who wait in anticipation for the attempted rescue to be tried by the SOB's confident that nothing can go wrong and they will kill them all once and for all. Coupled with this is the turbulent times in Sri Lanka with the Tamil Tigers basically going berserk and the wanton violence happening through the country. Very much and action orientated title here with some very gruesome scenes which if this is your bag you will love this one. On top of an excellent read a cameo starring role is handed to guess who? Yep the Big Guy features here folks where he and Nile are playing volleyball with hand grenades and the VC excellent section. So very highly recommended read with this title you will likely enjoy it if you give it a go.

Another whopper with the continued pursuit of Karl Heiss. I loved the brutal violence that this series brought, and this entry had a lot of it.