Be warned! Once you start reading Mark Terry's "The Fallen," you won't want to stop until the end. That's because this book is packed with action and I mean A-C-T-I-O-N.

Terry sets the novel at the Cheyenne Resort in Colorado Springs, at the G8 Summit where twenty world leaders will be meeting. Before the summit begins, a terrorist group, "The Fallen Angels," is already picking off security forces and inserting themselves in their places. The group is led by Richard Coffee, a disenchanted former Army Special Forces operative who aims to secure the release of his comrades detained by the United States at Guantanamo Bay. Breaching the resort's inner security proves easy for The Fallen Angels since Coffee has recruited many of the G8 members' own security people to join his cause. And once inside, The Fallen Angels hold hostage the G8 leaders, threatening to kill one leader an hour until their demands are met.

Meanwhile, Dr. Derek Stillwater, working undercover at the resort as a maintenance man, is the government's only hope for a good outcome. Stillwater specialized in biological and chemical warfare and counterterrorism in the Army Special Services and worked with Richard Coffee before Coffee's fall from grace. Long thought dead, Stillwater is very much alive, but does he have the smarts, strength, endurance and downright luck to pick off Coffee's men and end the siege?

Author Terry's chapters are short, but the action is long in this gripping novel. He surprises readers with page-turning twists and turns. I found Derek Stillwater to be a world-class hero and I can only hope that Terry continues to tell his story. I highly recommend action junkies read this one. They won't be disappointed. ( )

"The Fallen" by Mark Terry is a suspenseful novel that packs more action into its 279 pages than an entire season of the TV show 24 and whose hero, Derek Stillwater, is reminiscent of a less angry Jack Bauer.

The G8 summit is getting ready to begin in Colorado Springs and with 20 of the world's leaders planning to be in attendance, no expense has been spared to make this gathering as safe and secure as possible. But despite all the precautions, a terrorist group called The Fallen Angels, manages to infiltrate the summit and take everyone hostage. The leader of the group, Richard Coffee, has agreed to kill one world leader every hour if his demands are not met and the FBI, Secret Service, US Military and Homeland Security are scrambling to come up with a plan to stop him. Luckily undercover agent Derek Stillwater is on the inside and has no desire to see his old foe win this round. Does one man have what it takes to stop an entire group of terrorists on his own?

"The Fallen" is a thrilling roller-coaster ride from beginning to end with more twists and turns than Lombard Street in San Francisco. Mark Terry has created a likable and engaging hero in Derek Stillwater and, while this is the 3rd book in a series, it truly stands on its own as a highly entertaining, political action thriller that any reader would thoroughly enjoy. ( )

The story begins with a group of The Fallen Angels taking over a checkpoint to the G8 Summit, a gathering of the world’s top leaders that are meeting at the Cheyenne Resort in Colorado Springs. It is the site of the G8 Summit where the world’s top leaders are meeting. The Fallen Angels are terrorists who have plans of their own for the summit.

The US military, FBI, Secret Service and Homeland Security are working together with the security groups of the foreign diplomats to make this event very secure but things do not go according to their plans. In steps Derek Stillwater, a former FBI agent who is now working undercover as a maintenance man at Cheyenne Resort. As such, he has pretty much free reign of the resort and knows all the nooks and crannies. He also knows the head of The Fallen Angels, Richard Coffee who manages to capture the 20 leaders within minutes of their arrival and demands that 20 detainees from Guantanamo Bay be released. Stillwater’s girlfriend gets involved and proves quite helpful along with a former Russian acquaintance. Stillwater uses his knowledge of the enemy, the floor plan of the resort and his plain ingenuity to try to stop this plot.

Terry has written a true thriller that has an intriguing plot filled with action and interesting characters. Derek Stillwater is a likable hero and I would love to read more books centering on him and his adventures. ( )