Code 13 by Don Brown
The second book in "THE NAVY JAG SERIES" follows Lieutenant Commander Caroline McCormick as she is assigned to the prestigious Code 13 Administrative Law Division. Not only is she excited for the opportunity to work at the Pentagon for a division that ensures she will rise quickly through the ranks, but she's reacquainted with the man she almost married, P.J. MacDonald. P.J. soon reads her in on his high-pressure secret assignment, forming a legal opinion on the ramifications of a massive drone project that would see the Navy working alongside Homeland Security sharing drone surveillance. Soon afterwards, P.J. is killed right in front of Caroline, and a second murder follows shortly after. Caroline suddenly finds herself in the cross-hairs of powerful forces who will do whatever it takes to further their interests.
Code 13 is another action-packed novel that seems all too plausible a scenario to occur in real life. I quite liked Caroline's character, from her deep integrity to her bravery to do whatever it takes to catch the killers who took down P.J. The U.S. Navy scenes seem realistic, and if I were an American reader I would certainly be able to understand why U.S. citizens are so proud of their Navy! The premise of the story is a very interesting one to consider, in terms of whether the government would be justified to have the massive drone set-up depicted in this story for the purpose of protecting their ocean border and also their citizens. However, I do have to admit that while I enjoyed the overall plot, I did not always find the actions of either the contractor or the mob, who have varying interests, to be all that realistic. I'm not sure I bought the rationale for the steps that they take in this story. So while I found the story to be entertaining and the main characters to be well portrayed, I found the "bad guys" to be a little to formulaic and not believable. That said, I still did enjoy the story, and will certainly continue on with the series. There was certainly plenty of action to move the story along!
I award this book a rating of 3.5 out of 5 stars. Those readers who enjoyed the first book in this series, "Detained", will no doubt enjoy this second installment as well.
Book has been provided courtesy of the publisher via the BookLook Bloggers program, for the purposes of this unbiased review.
about the author...
Don Brown is the author of Malacca Conspiracy, The Navy Justice Series and Black Sea Affair, a submarine thriller that predicted the 2008 shooting war between Russia and Georgia. Don served five years in the U.S. Navy as an officer in the Judge Advocate General's (JAG) Corps, which gave him an exceptional vantage point into both the Navy and the inner workings of 'inside-the-beltway' as an action officer assigned to the pentagon. He left active duty in 1992 to pursue private practice, but remained on inactive status through 1999, rising to the rank of Lieutenant Commander. He and his family live in North Carolina, where he pursues his passion for penning novels about the Navy.
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