NCIS Special investigator Linus Schag’s latest mission is to head to northern Iraq to take custody of two Navy SEALs accused of the murder of an Army Green Beret.

What seems like the simplest of tasks is made a lot tougher when thanks to an ISIS (the local Islamic terrorist group) explosive device; the prisoner’s make their escape on a stolen Navy river boat and head off upriver.

Teaming up with a member of the Army CID, an unhelpful patrol boat crew and a shifty Iraqi interpreter, Schag sets off into hostile country to track down the fugitives and bring them to justice.

Why have the hunted due headed into territory infested with extremists rather then make a run for the border? Schag is about to find out

The author has written a nicely executed plot filled with interesting characters that, whilst heading towards the resolution of the main objective, has time to wander off on to sub-plots that complement the rest of the story.

Schag’s relationships with his hastily assembled crew are allowed to develop and grow throughout the book. In the beginning there is a degree of friction that comes with working with strangers especially in a combat zone.

Other related topics are covered sensitively by the author and he raises points on friendly fire, racism, mistrust and family commitments.

The story is fast paced and doesn’t get bogged down with all of the extraneous military detail that seems to happen in a lot of books of this type. We get what we need to know about the hardware to maintain the realistic feel without it getting distracting.

Just like real forays into war zones, nobody is ever safe and the author doesn’t allow the reader to get complacent about their favourite characters.

This is the third book in the Linus Schag NCIS Thriller series but is a perfectly self-contained story that does not require the reader to have any prior knowledge of the characters or the setting.

What I liked most about this was the pace of the plot, the interaction between the members of Schag’s team and also the portrayal of the escaped SEALs and their struggle to escape both Schag and the ISIS terrorists as they made their way upriver.

The sub-plot involving the Iraqi interpreter and the trip to Mosul was also a stand out feature for me that brought a further element of reality to the whole thing.

Overall this was hard to put down and difficult to fault. It’s given me a desire to go back and read books 1 and 2. ( )