"Sergeant Kendra Pacelli is innocent, but that doesn't matter to the repressive government pursuing her. Mistakes might be made, but they are never acknowledged, especially when billions of embezzled dollars earned from illegal weapons sales are at stake. But where does one run when all Earth and most settled planets are under the aegis of one government? Answer: The Freehold of Grainne, the only developed system that belongs to neither the UNES nor the Colonial Alliance. There, one may seek asylum and build a new life in a society that doesn't track its residents' every move, which is just what Pacelli has done. But now things are about to go royally to hell. Because Earth's government has found out where she is . . ."
Personally, I liked the book or I wouldn't be recommending it, but the sexual content may throw some people off. It can be a little...tedious in places too. I understand this is his first novel and so I've given some allowances for that. I read this in e-book form on my Palm Tungsten E2 in two days. It took me that long because my eyes wouldn't focus after a while and the battery ran dead and I had to recharge it. Plus, I have to get a little sleep! LOL My eyes were so shot from reading in fact, that on a range trip I had trouble reading the scope adjustments because my eyes wouldn't focus on the tiny letters.
A Desert Called Peace by Tom Kratman
"They should have picked their enemies more carefully.
Five centuries from now, on a remarkably Earthlike planet that is mankind's sole colony in space, religious fanatics called the "Salafi Ikhwan" have murdered the uncle of former colonel Patrick Hennessey. That was their first mistake, because uncle was rich and Hennessey was rather a good colonel. But they also murdered Hennessey's wife, Linda, and their three small children, and that was their worst mistake for she was the only restraint Hennessey had ever accepted.
From the pile of rubble and the pillar of fire that mark the last resting place of Linda Hennessey and her children arises a new warrior—Carrera, scourge of the Salafis. He will forge an army of ruthless fanatics from the decrepit remains of failed state's military. He will wage war across half a world. He will find those who killed his family. He will destroy them, and those who support them, utterly, completely, without restraint or remorse.
Only when he is finished will there be peace: the peace of an empty wind as it blows across a desert strewn with the bones of Carrera's enemies."
Carnifex by Tom Kratman
"Revenge: it won't bring your wife and kids back, but it might help with the nightmares.
Patricio Carrera has been waging what amounts to a private world war to bring to justice the murderers of his family. He's raised an army and air force and used them. He's raised a fleet and he's about to use that. He's suborned one republic and is about to undermine another. He's tracked his enemies across half a world, breaking, in the process, any notion of international law that stood in his way.
Now he's deployed his legions to Pashtia, penultimate hideout of the Salafi Ikhwan who have made him what he has become. But with each step further from his home, revenge seems no closer. And with each step he leaves behind him a little of his dwindling humanity.
Revenge is a dish best served cold. Yet the trail itself grows cold, as cold as the snow-capped, windswept mountains of Pashtia. Only Carrera's hate still burns hot, and that's a fire that is slowly consuming him."
I read ADCP and Carnifex, number 1&2 in the series, back to back on my Palm Tungsten E2 in e-book form. Again the only thing stopping me was battery life, sleep and a pair of eyes which would no longer focus. I loved both of these books and the only thing some might find tedious is the detail the author goes into with regards to military structure and weaponry. It's obvious the author knows his military and weaponry well and for me it made it even more immersive.
I am looking forward to Caliphate when it comes out in April!
Like Freehold, ADCP and Carnifex are thinly veiled social commentary on the world we live in today. Some of the "Liberal" persuasion may not like these books, but for the rest of us - Enjoy! :-)
If you are interested in getting these books in e-book form like I did, check out Webscription. Like Freehold, many of the Baen Books are available in the Baen Free Library.
UPDATE: I somehow forgot to list links to the authors websites in the original post. Here is the link for Tom Kratman and here is Michael Z. Williamson.
