Overwatch: A Thriller (The Logan West Thrillers Book 1)

loved it great read

I am definitely on a kick. Thanks to the likes of Vince Flynn. While I have always loved crime novels, only recently have I started reading about espionage, and military-thrillers. My latest read is Matthew Betley's debut, OVERWATCH.The overall plot is somewhat simple. I like that. There is an objective, and the Betley just spends nearly four-hundred pages going at it full head-on! The main character is former marine Logan West. Since his time after the war he's let his life somewhat crumble. Marriage is a signature away from over, and his drinking isn't helping matters.On a binge, West wakes up to find he is not alone. A man is in the same room with him. He wants a flag. It was taken during a mission West spearheaded in Fallujah some four years prior. The flag belonged to Saddam Hussein, and it held the power to change the physical balance of the middle east forever. The intruder made a mistake. Several, actually. The intruder threatened harm to West's wife if the flag wasn't recovered and turned over.West calls on his closest, most trustworthy (and former military) friend, Mike Benson. Benson is a special agent with the National Counter-terrorism Center (and Benson's Uncle Jake is the Director of the F.B.I. Counter-terrorism Division). West never gave up any information, but he does know where the flag is, and who has it.Working with his former Platoon Sargent, John Quick, Benson and West are on a mission sanctioned by the President of the United States to track down and stop a planned, and major terrorist attack. They have three things working against them. They don't know who is involved. They don't know what kind of secrets are on the flag. And they have no idea what the intended target is . . . and yet, time is running out.OVERWATCH is nothing shy of an intense, adrenaline rush. It kind of reminds me of "24," if Jack Bauer had been in the marines. I will admit I spent time Googling things while reading. The military weapons, and terms, and vehicles used throughout the book. Could have just read over them, but what fun is that? I wanted to picture what was being described! And wowzers, I got the picture! Great book. Great read. I enjoyed Matthew Betley's fun writing style, and developed characters. Cannot wait to dig into the second book in this new series!Phillip TomassoAuthor of Assassin's Promiseand Sounds of Silence

Simply Superb. This was such an easy and enjoyable book to read. I started out by reading Matthew Betley’s second and third book (which I absolutely loved), before reading this first book in the series, and I’m so glad I’ve now read ‘Overwatch’ to see where Logan West came from. I really enjoyed how this story is constructed, and the way we are taken back to Logan’s days in Iraq. I know how much I’m enjoying a book when I need to stop reading it for work and life’s other interruptions, and then I’m excited to start reading it again. This is certainly one of those stories.Even drinking until he passes out, won’t stop Logan West from forgetting the horrors of losing most of his squad in Iraq. Not that he would be expected to after seeing them blown to pieces. Now the constant memories and nightmares aren’t helped his marriage. Logan is lucky that his fighting skills at that well-honed from being in the Marine Corps as a Force Recon Officer, that it continues to keep him alive as a civilian. He’s certainly not happy when his wife Sarah is targeted by the same group of killers that attack him, and they don’t look like stopping anytime soon. Logan calls on his friend Special Agent Mike Benson from the FBI to help, once they find out what the killers are after. They know there must be more to it than just an Iraqi flag, that Logan knows is at John Quicks house. Mike doesn’t have much trouble in convincing Logan and Mike to join in the hunt for the killers, especially after they have both been targeted themselves. If you enjoy Action Thrillers, then this is definitely an Author you should add to your reading list. A fabulous read from start to finish.

Mathew Belley, a former marine, has written an exciting international conspiracy thriller involving his protagonist Logan West. The story is unceasing in action shifting from Washington, to San Antonio, to Mexico, and to Iraq. Many weapons and military support assets which an ex-marine can accurately describe are featured in the fast paced story.The text is interspersed with a sub-story related to action against the insurgency in Iraq in 2004 which directly relates to the events in the main story taking place in 2008.The story is relevant to current events such as the June 25, 2016 press release stating that Fallujah, Iraq has been liberated from ISIL by the Iraqi army, Shiite militias and US-led air strikes. My only negative comment is that the protagonist is an acknowledged alcoholic dating from after his 2004 harrowing experiences in Iraq. I have never known alcoholics to demonstrate both outstanding physical and mental conditioning surpassing that of their non-alcoholic peers as demonstrated in this novel.

Good story with lots of action