Sometimes you have to dance in the minefield …Navy SEAL, JD Cordell, is ready to retire and take his K9 partner, Ajax, with him. JD has exciting plans for a new life that includes the courageous and beautiful Doctor Ellen Chang he met on a mission in Niger. But when JD’s father unexpectedly dies of cancer, his grieving mother, Mai, travels to Vietnam to search for her adopted Montagnard … her adopted Montagnard brother, a brother she hasn’t seen in over forty years. During her attempt to track him down, Mai unwittingly steps into a blood feud between her Montagnard brother and a powerful Vietnamese drug lord, a bitter hatred that began during the Vietnam War.
When his mother disappears into the seedy underbelly of Ho Chi Minh City, JD has no choice but to come out of retirement for one last explosive mission. And Ajax is with him all the way.
If you liked Serpents Underfoot, you’re going to love Montagnard. Order your copy now!
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Action thriller indeed. I’m thin-skinned enough to be uncomfortable with the story’s crude language, brutal and sordid and vividly gory scenes, but was glad to continue the story of JD Cordell and his parents, Curtis and Mai, from the author’s first book, “Serpents Underfoot.” This one involves the kidnapping of a doctor in Niger, a rescue by SEAL Cordell and his 87-pound Belgian Malinois. The character of the dog Ajax is a welcome part of the story. Cordell retires as a SEAL, but after his mother returns to Vietnam to locate an adopted brother and his kidnapped, JD and Ajax head to Vietnam to find them.
The Montagnard people had helped Mai before. Having just read “Blaze of Light” by Marcus Brotherton, the almost unbelievable true story about a Green Beret Medic who was embedded with the Montagnards during the Vietnam war, I was more interested in their challenges since he war.
If you enjoy details about martial arts and weaponry, combined with a well-woven thriller, you’ll enjoy this. I was more taken with a couple of threads of the story that hinted toward redemptive outcomes after such scenes of human despair left behind after the Americans pulled out of SE Asia.
The ending is a bittersweet one, but satisfying nevertheless.
Summary
Dr. Ellen Chang is abducted by terrorists led by al Qaeda. In no time, JD Cordell, along with his K9 dog named Ajax, and the rest of the SEAL Team, successfully rescue Ellen. When JD’s father dies from cancer, his mother Mai travels to Vietnam to look for Dish, her adopted Montagnard brother. However, Mai’s life is put in danger because of a feud between Dish and Colonel Tran, a former Viet Cong commander and an evil drug lord responsible for killing many Montagnard and South Vietnamese people. JD is supposedly planning a new life that includes Ellen, but when he learns about his mom’s disappearance, he goes on one last rescue mission with his dog, Ajax.
Review
Montagnard is an action thriller by D.C. Gilbert. I miss stories like this. It gives me this unexplainable nostalgic feeling. I rarely read anything like this anymore and I’m glad I stumbled upon this great book. It reminds me of action films from when I was way much younger, so as I read this book, I was really imagining it as a movie. I love JD and Ajax’s tandem; it’s always adorable to have a hero lead in the story who loves his hero dog. I’m also glad the author included an epilogue about JD, Doctor Chang, and most especially, Sophie. Otherwise, I would’ve been crestfallen.
I’m giving this book 5 out of 5 stars. It was a well-written action-packed thriller that brought back memories of that era when a man and his dog made such a great rescue team. I highly recommend this book to readers who love heroic military and dog stories.
DC Gilbert – JD Cordell Action Thriller Bk 2 – Montagnard – Reviewed 7/25/20 – Read 7/17-18/20
Retirement, JD Cordell, and Ajax are ready, a beautiful rescued doctor, and family!
Navy SEAL, JD Cordell, and his K9 partner, Ajax, are on their last mission. They go to Niger with the team to rescue an American doctor, Ellen Chang, that had been kidnapped. Ajax is injured on that mission, but Dr. Chang takes care of him. While Ajax is healing, JD and Ellen found that they had a lot in common, and decide to see what could happen. Meanwhile, JD returns to the states to finish submitting his retirement paperwork for him and Ajax. But first, he is going to take his time on leave, to visit with his parents. Then he and Ajax would travel on to San Diego to muster out. While he is there he finds out that his father is dying from Liver cancer. The doctors told him that it was caused by a parasite that he picked up in Vietnam, while he served there.
In fact, that was where he met his wife. He had fallen out of a helicopter that was avoiding being hit by ground fire, landing him in a tree, and then fell to the ground. Lucky for him, Dish, one of the Montagnard men that had aligned themselves against the VC’s had heard the rotor blades and went to check out what was going on. He had found him severely injured. Dish carried him back to the village and his sister, Mai, doctored and took care of him. When he was well enough to return to his unit, Dish was tied up. So Mai agreed to lead him back to the camp. They ended up getting married, and she came back to the US with him.
Now the story begins…
What did I like? This is book two of the series, I read the first one back in 2018. I certainly enjoyed it and was happy to receive this one to continue the story. I hope that Darren will continue with many more adventures with JD. As a mother, I was thankful that my sons were too young to be drafted for the Vietnam war, but I know that numerous men did end up there and served as their government asked them too. I also know that lots of those same men came back ill if they came back at all. This book put many things in perspective for me. I was unaware of the Montagnard men that worked alongside our soldiers. I for one am grateful for their help and what they gave up to fight for their country.
What will you like? As the author states at the beginning of the book, it is a fictional account, but you have to appreciate the storyline better by knowing that these men did exist. The action is incredible, the characters are amazing, the storyline is astonishing. It all feels so real, the men, the action, the times, the war. This is beautifully written and edited. The one thing that you will find is the astounding emotional impact that it will make on you. As you walk next to the men and K9 partners, every one of them that are risking their lives to rescue people. Darren takes us on this amazing journey across the globe to the war zones, and back again to the US. The lives of those men in the Seals and other special units that are required to do these astounding rescues are incredible. This is a remarkable read that should be in everyone’s library.
• File Size: 3596 KB
• Print Length: 307 pages
• Publisher: D.C. Gilbert & Associates (June 4, 2020)
• Publication Date: June 4, 2020
• ASIN: B089QDZMXW
• Genre: Romantic Action & Adventure, Action & Adventure Romance Fiction, War & Military Action Fiction.
@ddeegott