Book Review: "Field of Valor" by Matthew Betley

I’m going to start off this review by saying how much I appreciate thriller writers who actually have “thrills” in their thriller novels. 

I won’t mince words — I want action in the thriller novels I read. 

This is especially true in today’s macho breed of political thrillers — stories featuring heroes who eat granite for breakfast, and are willing to risk life and limb to defend what is right. 

When it comes to action, Matthew Betley is a writer who likes to yank the story into gear, punch the accelerator in his narrative, and make the reader swerve through the pages at breakneck speed.

I reviewed Betley’s two previous Logan West thrillers on this blog in 2018.

(Read my reviews of Betley’s “Overwatch” and “Oath of Honor”).   

Betley and I are roughly the same age. As such, I would imagine we grew up consuming the same tough-guy action movies — starring actors like Sylvester Stallone and Arnold Schwarzenegger — that boys of our generation loved during their middle and high school years. 

(I remember vividly when my mom took me to see “Rambo: First Blood Part II” at a local multiplex when I was in sixth grade — a pretty terrific day for a 12-year-old kid). 

More to the point, Betley actually slips in a reference to Schwarzenegger’s movie “Predator” on page 330 of his latest novel “Field of Valor.” 

In “Field of Valor,” former Force Recon Marine Logan West is back in action. Along for the ride is Force Recon buddy John Quick, former CIA operative Cole Matthews, and mysterious former LEGION operator Amira Cerone. Together, the quartet makes up a special FBI task force known as “Ares.” 

(Task Force Ares is roughly the political thriller equivalent of Marvel’s “The Avengers”). 

In the previous outing for “Team West,” the objective was to stop a weapon known as ONERING from wreaking havoc in the hands of foreign baddies — a mission that saw our heroes trotting across the globe in its pursuit. 

In “Field of Valor,” Task Force Ares has to stop a secret society of foreign policy chess players known as the Organization — a group helping “manage chaos in countries like Colombia, Mexico, and Iraq” with the “backing from dozens of countries” and the sole purpose of bringing “stability and order to the chaos.” 

The Organization is led by a man known as the Founder — a wealthy businessman named Constantine Kallas who has spent his life working to right the wrongs he experienced as a child during World War II. 

Unfortunately, something has gone wrong within the Organization, and it’s up to our band of heroes to save the day, and stop a foreign policy calamity. 

For my money, the best action thrillers are simple stories told well. 

Betley structures “Field of Valor” around a number of entertaining action sequences. His strong suit as a writer is action. The action scenes in his novels are well crafted and highly theatrical. 

Another Betley fan and I were discussing one of these sequences on Twitter last week. That particular sequence takes place at the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center — an annex for the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum. 

In addition to favoring action movies as a kid, I also spent a lot of my free time building model airplanes. 

I got a kick out of Betley's heroes participating in all sorts of derring-do in a museum that houses historic aircraft like a SR-71 Blackbird and the Enola Gay — the famous B-29 bomber that was built in Bellevue, NE (about 10 miles from where I live) on the property that houses Offutt Air Force Base (STRATCOM). 

That sequence — along with some other high-octane set pieces — makes "Field of Valor" an enjoyable ride. I appreciate the fact that Betley is willing to craft meaty action scenes on the pages of his novels that feel like they jumped off the big screen. 

That isn’t an easy feat.

There are a number of thriller writers who avoid complex action scenes — instead giving readers 345 pages of dialogue with 5 pages of action tacked on at the end. That isn’t nearly enough for me. 

In addition to Betley's action sequences, the “tools of the trade” he sprinkles into his thrillers add to the overall authenticity. 

“Field of Valor” features weapons like SIG SAUER P229s, Colt M4 Commando rifles, SOG Flash II tanto knives, Force Recon Mark II fighting knives, Glock 22s, FN Five-seveN pistols, and Colt M1911s. We have military vehicles like the AH-1W SuperCobra attack helicopter woven into the narrative. And, a Logan West novel wouldn’t be complete without mention of his beloved Kimber Tactical II pistol. 

Unlike the first two Logan West thrillers, Betley keeps the action in “Field of Valor” centered around the Washington, D.C. area. 

I actually thought less globetrotting served the story well. In some cases, the best action scenes are those that take place in normal, everyday locales. 

It also felt like more of the action centered around Logan West — making our protagonist feel like a fully-realized action hero in “Field of Valor.” 

I enjoy Betley’s novels because subtlety and nuance aren’t his focus. Instead, he likes to “cut to the chase” and infuse his stories with the essence of what made a great action thriller in the 1980s and 1990s. 

This passage of dialogue in “Field of Valor” — where Logan West is barking at a bad guy — sums up Betley’s style perfectly:

“Get up. And if you try to run, I swear to God I’m going to break your ****ing knee, and AARP won’t be able to do jacks**t for you. You got me?” 

If you like writers in the style of Vince Flynn and Brad Thor, you’ll enjoy Matthew Betley’s series of thrillers. Visit his official site at http://matthewbetley.com.

P.S. — if you want additional insights into Matthew Betley, his “origin story,” and his writing process, take a listen to this episode of “The Author Stories Podcast” with Hank Garner: 

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Book Review: "Oath of Honor" By Matthew Betley

Former Force Reconnaissance Marine Logan West is back — filled to the gills with testosterone and loaded for bear with a Kimber .45.

In “Oath of Honor” — Matthew Betley’s second novel featuring his deadly protagonist — West & Co. must stop a weapon known as ONERING from wreaking havoc in the hands of nefarious foreign players. 

West and Force Recon buddy John Quick joined the FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force at the end of “Overwatch” — doing their bit to aid FBI Special Agent Mike Benson.

The early stages of “Oath of Honor” find West and Quick knee deep in “blood and glory” as they root around Unalaska, Alaska, attempting to track down the missing ONERING device. 

In case you’re wondering, the ONERING device’s moniker is a reference to J.R.R. Tolkien’s epic fantasy “The Lord of the Rings.” 

At one point in the novel — as the team works to thwart the villains — Logan says of the ONERING device, “It’s brought nothing but death and misery to us and our country today. Tolkien would be furious. ‘One ring to rule them all,’ my ass...”

Macho dialogue that feels like it stepped off the set of a Jerry Bruckheimer action movie is something you’ll be treated to in a Betley novel.

The narrative in "Oath of Honor" primarily takes place in Alaska, Spain, Sudan, and Las Vegas. Betley gives more "page time" to supporting characters like John Quick and Mike Benson this time out, and the extra development is nice.

In addition, Betley introduces some new characters, including a mysterious LEGION operator named Amira Cerone, and CIA operative Cole Matthews. 

As was the case with “Overwatch,” Betley is good about peppering the story with various tools of the trade — Type 05 machine guns, two Heckler & Koch MP5 models, and M79 grenade launchers find their way onto the page. 

Helicopters are also featured prominently in “Oath of Honor.”

In particular, a Russian Hind Mi-24 helicopter — unofficially nicknamed the “crocodile” by Soviet pilots — antagonizes West and Quick in Sudan during the latter stages of the novel. 

I wondered if this was the same chopper Sylvester Stallone battled in “Rambo: First Blood Part II” and “Rambo III,” but recalled reading something suggesting the “Hind” featured in those movies was a modified helicopter of different origin (which would make sense since it was the waning days of the Cold War). 

(Same for the helicopter seen in Dolph Lundgren’s 1988 action movie “Red Scorpion”... which might actually be the same modified craft from the “Rambo” films...)

Anyhow, the Hind Mi-24 isn’t the only “crocodile” that Logan West has to do battle with in “Oath of Honor.”

Let’s be real... it doesn’t matter if we’re talking about “flying tanks” or ravenous reptiles, Logan West is up to snuff. 

Betley admits in the “Acknowledgments” section of “Oath of Honor” that this story is a “different kind of runaway train” compared to “Overwatch.” 

That is indeed true. 

“Oath of Honor” moves away from the first novel’s “origin story” focus, and instead sets things up for Betley’s next few novels. There were moments in “Oath of Honor” that had a vibe similar in feel to a Vince Flynn thriller (the ending, for example). 

Betley’s novels tend to epitomize the look and feel of post-9/11 espionage thrillers. That means readers get tough stories, about tough men, doing tough things. 

If you are like me and enjoy the rugged novels of Vince Flynn and Brad Thor, give Matthew Betley a try. 

You can learn more about Matthew Betley on his website at www.matthewbetley.com.

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Book Review: “Overwatch” By Matthew Betley

There was a moment while reading Matthew Betley’s debut novel “Overwatch” when the 1985 Arnold Schwarzenegger action movie “Commando” popped into my mind. 

The two stories are wildly different.

But there is a part in “Overwatch” when Betley is describing his protagonist Logan West’s tactical gear — Kimber .45, HK UMP .45 caliber, Mark II fighting knife, Kevlar vest with nylon loops for ammo, camouflage face paint — that reminded me of the scene in “Commando” when retired Col. John Matrix (Schwarzenegger) is putting on tac gear and face paint (that he recently “procured” from Surplus City), armed with guns, ammo, a knife, and explosives as he prepares to storm the island hacienda where his kidnapped daughter (Alyssa Milano) is being held hostage.

“Overwatch” imbues the spirit of the action movies I grew up on in the 1980s — macho, muscular, testosterone-laden stories that took no prisoners and wasted little time cutting to the chase. 

Unlike a number of his contemporaries in this genre, Betley focuses on action, and makes sure his characters are in perpetual motion.  

The book begins with protagonist Logan West (a former Force Reconnaissance Marine) waking from alcohol-induced stupor to find a mystery man standing above him in his basement.

West launches himself at the stranger and manages to disarm — and eventually kill — the nefarious intruder in a massive brawl that involves weaponizing a pull-down bar from a piece of home gym equipment. Logan discovers the man has a tattoo that is a pair of crossed .50-caliber bullets in front of a skull. 

The dead man’s phone rings, and West learns from the caller (a man calling himself “Juan”) that he is after an artifact West and his team acquired during a 2004 tour in Falllujah — one of Saddam Hussein’s Iraqi flags. 

We find out that Juan’s compatriots are about to go after West’s wife Sarah (she and Logan are separated due to his relapsed alcoholism) in rural Maryland, and that there is another team of baddies hunting down retired gunnery sergeant John Quick (Logan West’s old Force Recon buddy) in Montana.

Before we know it, Logan West, Gunny Quick and FBI Special Agent Mike West are on the hunt.

The pace never lets up as the plot zips around — a plot that includes a gunfight near the Alamo in San Antonio. There are flashbacks to West and Quick’s time in Iraq in 2004, and those exploits figure into the overall narrative Betley unfolds piece-by-piece as the mystery develops. 

I consider myself something of a connoisseur of these sorts of brawny action thrillers with a military tilt. (I also love the novels of Vince Flynn and Brad Thor.) 

Betley’s “Overwatch” feels fresh — despite the fact a number of authors have traveled similar territory — and Logan West’s struggles as a recovering alcoholic give his protagonist a unique bent. 

Betley, a former Marine officer, includes plenty of “tools of the trade” used by special operators to dish out justice. We get intricate descriptions of the destructive power of weaponry, including M18A1 Claymore mines, M4 rifles, KA-BAR fighting knives, M67 fragmentary grendages, the Kimber .45 (which seems to be Logan West’s weapon of choice), STAR-21 rifles,  Benelli M2 tactical shotguns, FEM-148 Javelin missiles, HK G36C Commando assault rifles, HK MP7s, and MP5 10mm sub-machine guns. 

Readers are also treated to a man — who is wearing a bathrobe — brandishing a Vietnam War-era M9A1-7 flamethrower in one particular scene. I wanted to stand up and applaud Betley for the sheer audacity of that move — it was ridiculously fun, and another nod to the 80s-era action movies I adore.

I learned about Matthew Betley a few months ago following @TheRealBookSpy on Twitter (check out Ryan Steck’s website at www.therealbookspy.com). I’m glad I did. 

“Overwatch” was published in 2016. His second book, “Oath of Honor,” was released in 2017. His third Logan West thriller, “Field of Valor,” is set to bow on May 22. You can learn more about the author and his books at www.matthewbetley.com. 

Betley even tweeted at me about his books when I was deciding if I should read them:

At one point in “Overwatch,” Logan West says, “Justice has to be served, and I intend to see that it is.”

If you enjoy hard-charging action novels with characters willing to give life-and-limb for truth, justice, and the American way, you’ll find much to like in Matthew Betley’s debut novel.

It is a genre I am quite fond of, and look forward to adding Logan West to the stable of heroes I read.  

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