Peter Nealen arrived home from the Sandbox not too long ago and immediately set to work as a novelist. I’ve reviewed his other two Praetorian Security novels. I asked Pete if this was the capper to a trilogy and he said that he envisions this as an ongoing series.

One thing that set his first two efforts apart from the other new military fiction by young veterans (some of which is bloody good stuff) is his commitment to verisimilitude. Told in first person by the paramilitary protagonist Jeff Stone, these books make an admirable effort to immerse you into a grunt’s eye view of the chaos in the near-future Near East.

Jeff’s Private Military Company is like a man trying to navigate a forest fire barefoot. Alliances are constantly shifting. Friends become enemies overnight and vice-versa. Praetorian seems to be only a half-step in front of the Grim Reaper most of the time, in a world with a violent power vacuum in the absence of American interventionism after the collapse of the dollar.

In Alone and Unafraid, Nealen really ramps up the action. Some of the complex regional politics might be challenging to follow early on, but don’t let that deter you, because it takes off soon thereafter. Once it gets going, it just about never stops.

This is my favorite novel in the series so far. Pete has found a nice balance between plausibility and entertainment, and I expect his audience to expand after this.

If you like paramilitary adventure, you need to read this book.