Tarnished Halo by D.J. Stephens -- Book Review

Jeff Barkil, Kelly, Louis Alverez, Donald Morgan, William Conley, John Bradley, and Jimmy Hairston are back in this sequel to Halo that takes place five years later.

Jeff and the team are sent in to terminate two drug lords that are scheduled to attend a meeting across the Burmese border in China.

After an early river crossing destroys their radio and cuts them off from the outside world, the team is forced to fight its way through the jungles of Laos and North Vietnam to complete the mission. Then they must rely solely on their small arms and combat expertise to fight their way home in a land where the line between friend and foe is continually blurred.

They can't be captured. They won't surrender. And there will be no rescue operation.

In this fast-paced military action story, the reader picks up with Kelly, Jeff Barkil, and the team they last met in Halo, where the men survived multiple harrowing missions in Southeast Asia.

Five years later, Barkil's service is just about up, and the others have all moved on to other roles in the United States Military. When Kelly approaches Jeff about this new mission, Barkil reaches out to reassemble the surviving members of his old team. After weeks of training, the men are ready for another dangerous and potentially fatal mission.

Stephens puts his former military service to good use in Tarnished Halo. He creates a realistic and suspenseful story filled with rich descriptions and military jargon. Anyone who reads this genre on a regular basis will easily be able to keep pace; but what I like most about how Stephens put this together is that he footnotes the terms he uses for the average reader so she won't get lost.

This reader became totally immersed in the story of these men and their determination to complete their mission and return home safely. And even when objectives change, the strong bond among these men will captivate you.

The author put several twists and turns in this one, which made the read that more enjoyable. I hope this isn't the last we hear from Jeff Barkil or D.J. Stephens.


Title: Tarnished Halo
Author: D.J. Stephens
Publisher: Infinity
ISBN-10: 0-7414-5779-2
ISBN-13: 978-0-7414-5779-0
SRP: $16.95