The very first page of the book will capture your attention with the adrenalin rush of a SWAT raid by vividly describing the stack?s entry into a drug dealer?s apartment. From that point on you will be hooked and unable to put the book down. Several other SWAT raids, car pursuits, foot pursuits, and training exercises are described in enough detail to make you feel like you are part of the SWAT team. The storyline builds to the last 1/3 of the book which is devoted to a major situation involving a very dangerous criminal.
The characters on the SWAT team are well developed in the book. Brookside SWAT has mature married officers, an engaged officer, a playboy officer or two, a female officer, and some neophyte officers. After several chapters you will feel as though you know them all personally. The book also gives you a good look into the scary minds of several criminals.
True to life, police department politics plays a large part in the story. Every department seems to have a career climber who has little regard for the citizens he serves or the other members of the police department and the Brookside PD is no exception. It is interesting to watch the interaction among the chief, senior staff, and supervisors as the political jockeying develops.
The entire book is presented through the eyes of someone who?s been there, done that, and has the SWAT shirts to prove it. According to his bio, the author has a BS degree in Criminal Justice Administration and over 12 years of law enforcement experience. He is currently assigned as a patrol sergeant and SWAT team leader.
There are a lot of well written works about infantry tactics, mostly designed for circumstances where there are no innocent non-combatants and where everyone not in the same uniform is an enemy in a free fire zone. SWAT teams operate in a very different climate - typically, an urban or suburban setting with innocent and unarmed citizens all around and a few baddies, who must be presumed to be quite willing to kill anyone in their way. Clearly, the tactical problems a Police SWAT team must deal with are far different from traditional infanty combat.
This work fascinates in covering the planning and real craftsmenship a well trained SWAT team uses in pursuit of their goal - neutralization with minimal force of the baddie and most certainly with minimum danger to lives and property. Tactics are carefully developed and practiced to reduce risk to the team and to innocent bystanders to the absolute minimum while leaving the baddy no options for escape or the opportunity to inflict further damage.
The novel deftly develops, setting the stage by giving the reader an insite into the regular training the team goes through, exploring the politics of a suburban police department in a city always looking for ways to cut costs, and with a police department member intent on sabotaging the SWAT team for his personal gain. The last third of the novel plays out a desperate confrontation with an enraged ex-Marine who has nothing to lose and is intent on avenging himself on society with the largest possible bang. And to his credit the author gives us considerable insite into the mind of the villain, and in doing so we gain understanding, sympathy and respect for the baddy as well.
In sum this is a remarkable first novel. The polish and development, while not perfect, leave the reader with much satisfaction, and a very real hope that the police or sheriff in his or her area are as well trained and prepared for emergencies. The novel ends well, with all loose ends neatly tied. This is a most satisfying book.
A last note: our military might do very well to consider engaging Mr. Skaehill as an advisor for developing similar teams for duty in Iraq.