Army officer Oscar Britton sees the worst of it. A lieutenant attached to the military's Supernatural Operations Corps, his mission is to bring order to a world gone mad. Then he abruptly manifests a rare and prohibited magical power, transforming him overnight from government agent to public enemy number one.
The SOC knows how to handle this kind of situation: hunt him down--and take him out. Driven into an underground shadow world, Britton is about to learn that magic has changed all the rules he's ever known, and that his life isn't the only thing he's fighting for.
To be honest Peter V. Brett said it best when he said that this book is part Black Hawk Down part X-men.
I am not usually a fan of military style novels. Usually I find I’m inundated with terminology and acronyms that I’m unfamiliar with and by the time I’m comfortable with them enough to grasp the importance of each I’ve missed a good chunk of the entertaining aspect of the book.
That said, Shadow Ops is not the typical military fantasy/sci-fi. Yes, there were acronyms and new terminology for me, but Cole does such a fantastic job keeping the story moving while at the same time keeping the characters fresh and interesting that I never felt bogged down or impeded by the terminology.
Another impressive aspect of Shadow Ops were the powers and the way that Cole addressed them in the book. Unlike a number of other science fiction and fantasy books the talents of the powerful are not looked at with awe and respect, instead if you don’t turn yourself into the government for military service then you are deemed a selfer and paint a bulls eye on yourself. Cole does a great job integrating the different ideologies on this subject without sacrificing any excitement. Further, I was really very impressed with the depth of many of the characters such as Oscar, Marty, Theresa.
The only downside the book was that it was the first in a series so there a number of questions and issues that I would love to know more about. All in all, when the worst thing about a book is that you wanted to read more (and you understand why there’s not more on the subject), it seems pretty apparent that this a good book. Between the dynamic characters, the interesting plot, and the non-stop action this is a book that will suck readers in and keep them there until the book is done. Definitely a book I’d recommend and I personally can’t wait for the sequel.
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