Series Week: Ben Coes' Dewey Andreas Series

The first book in the Dewey Andreas series is Power Down (St. Martin's Press, 2010).  Dewey is an ex Delta Force Army Ranger.  When his wife and son died he walked away from the Army and eventually became a roughneck on an oil rig.  This is where we meet Dewey Andreas as the Chief of Capitana Oil rig right before it gets destroyed by terrorists.  These terrorists continue to make systematic strikes at America's infrastructure and Dewey Andreas is unwillingly drawn into the confrontation.

Power Down is the debut novel of author Ben Coes.  I was really impressed.  Power Down was well written and exciting.  There were a few little moments where I was kinda like "Really??", but I chalked that up to suspending disbelief.  Generally, I was reading the book thinking that the author knows a lot of stuff or did a ton of research...or both. 

I finished Power Down and started right in on the second book on the series Coup d'Etat (St. Martin's Press, 2011) the same day.  Coup d'Etat picks up some time after Power Down.  Dewey has fled to Australia to get away from the terrorists that are out to kill him for revenge.  The same terrorist group is still trying to invoke?/commit? jihad on the rest of the world.  Now they have a democratically elected president in place in Pakistan.  A little border skirmish between India and Pakistan leads to a nuclear attack on India.  The US President and his National Security Advisor Jessica Tanzer come up with a plan with the Indian President that only one man can carry out.  Dewey Andreas.  Can Jessica get him out of Australia before the terrorists get to him?

Coup d'Etat was just as good as the first book.  Again I was marveling at how well researched it was...or at least it seemed like it was anyway.   It was one of those books I couldn't put down once I started.  The only thing I didn't care for in Coup d'Etat was the terrorist Youssef.  His mannerisms seemed a little off with me, even for one that had been in the US for awhile.  I couldn't imagine one terrorist screaming "shut your piehole" to another.  Maybe they do, but that just doesn't go with the mental picture I have.  Anyway, it was a great read.  People who like political thrillers will love it I'm sure. 

The third book in the series, The Last Refuge (St. Martin's, 2012), just came out and I'm just getting started with it.  So far it's starting out just as tense and exciting as the first two.  Ben Coes is definitely on my Must Read Authors list after reading this series.