Renay. He felt his teeth involuntarily clench at the thought of her in trouble. The last time they had spoken, she had told him to come back safe. He looked down at his left hand. His palm bore a burn mark from the Geltex that had killed Sennett on Eden. He hadn’t even noticed it during the assault, but over the past two days it had bothered him more and more. The memories of his lost men — of Sennett dying in the jungle, of Jimenez dying in the cowardly garage bombing — were bubbling up to the surface. He had tried to tamp them down as part of the mission, as losses for the greater good, but to no avail.
Death haunted him from his earliest memories.
Breaking Point, as defined by Collins English Dictionary – Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition., is (noun) 1. the point at which something or someone gives way under strain 2. the moment of crisis in a situation.
Commander Evan Gabriel has kept it together for longer than most people in his position could hope to. He has been a pawn in someone else’s game, yet he has always managed to overcome the odds. There had been losses and there were new scars, but Commander Gabriel came out on top. When the shadowy forces arrayed against him take the woman he loves then he is pushed beyond his breaking point. Nothing else matters but saving her and dispensing his revenge. Steve Umstead’s final book in the Evan Gabriel trilogy takes you through the Commander’s greatest fight, where the demons within are as dangerous as the enemies he must conquer.
I could hardly wait for this book to come out. I read and reviewed the previous two books in the trilogy (see the links below) and the third book could not get here fast enough. Steve Umstead does a tremendous job of drawing the reader in and carrying him along for a wild ride. Gabriel’s Revenge, like the previous books, did not take me long to read, but not because it was short. The pacing and action is very fast, making the books a great page turner. I stayed up too late reading, yet I found myself starting again as soon I was up in the morning.
The characters are all complex and believable; even the villains are more than the simple stereotypes they could have been. Evan’s inner struggle is highlighted by the concerns and reactions of the people around him, which gives him depth and keeps the reader in a position of uncertainty. We expect the hero to prevail and to do the right thing, but the author weaves enough uncertainty through the story to make us wonder.
If ever there was a candidate for a science fiction book to be turned into the next big Hollywood Blockbuster, this is it. Go out and buy the books and read them before it happens, so that you too can say that you read Steve Umstead’s books before he was a superstar.
Buy Gabriel’s Revenge here:
Links:
Book Review: Gabriel: Zero Point | My Writer's Cramp
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