SEAL Team 666

In SEAL Team 666, Jack Walker is going through the selection process to become a U.S. Navy SEAL, one of the world’s elite Special Forces organizations, when he is graduated early to join an even more exclusive group: SEAL Team 666, a five man (and one dog) team of operators that deal with supernatural threats to the United States. It seems that Jack, due to an incident in his childhood, has the ability to sense supernatural danger, which makes him valuable to the group beyond his basic sniper assignment. Unfortunately for Jack, his spidey sense initially manifests itself as complete paralysis, which could be a problem in combat situations.

Jack has little time to adapt to his new role, as the team is off in pursuit of a Karen rebel in Myanmar who plans to bring forward an ancient demon, controlled by a custom suit of human skin. Casualties among the good guys mount rapidly as time runs out to stop the final ceremony.

Weston Ochse is the author of one of the best novels dealing with the supernatural in the last twenty years, Scarecrow Gods, and this is the launch of a new series blending military fiction (think Tom Clancy) with supernatural literature. I don’t think this is as good as Scarecrow Gods – there isn’t the depth of characterization found in the earlier novel – but few books are. I think this will be good reading for those looking for a book filled with action and horror. I will certainly look forward to the next book in the series.

Irrelevant trivia: because it is a pet peeve of mine, I was overjoyed to see that Ochse refers to the ammunition storage devices for the rifles used by the SEALs by the correct name of “magazine.” Too many writers use the word “clip”, a mistake they beat out of you in basic training. (Few modern weapons use free-standing clips, although many types of magazines contain clips.)
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