FNG

Black Spear, Book 1

By: Benjamin Spada

Narrated by: GM Hakim

FNG: NOUN. INFORMAL. MILITARY TERM, "F****** NEW GUY":
A PERSON JUST OUT OF TRAINING OR NEWLY TRANSFERRED INTO THE UNIT, WHO EITHER HASN'T PROVED THEIR WORTH OR DOESN'T KNOW HOW TO OPERATE PROPERLY DUE TO LACK OF EXPERIENCE.

"Welcome to Black Spear." With these four words Cole West is immediately thrust into the shadowy world of the military's most deadly black-ops program. No warning. No training. No choice but to buckle up as Black Spear conscripts him to fight against a paramilitary group of renegade veterans known only as "Terminal." Terminal is no ragtag militia but a veritable private army of disgruntled soldiers with one mission: Stop at nothing to topple the government they think failed them.

Armed with a highly volatile bioweapon capable of absorbing the properties of other contagions, they plan to wash the country clean through an ocean of blood. It's up to Cole West and Black Spear to prevent Terminal's terrorist attacks and stop the insurrection before it can happen. To survive in Black Spear, West will have to prove himself. But even on day one, there are no second chances...

©2022 Benjamin Spada (P)2024 Benjamin Spada

Adrenaline fueled race against bullets and blood

With a non-stop rush of heart-thumping action and grizzly fights to the death, the "new guy" in an established and experienced black-ops team has to earn his squadmates trust and respect as well as try his hardest to prevent the possible death of millions of Americans. Book-smart but lacking field work, Cole West gets thrown into a career's worth of bloody battles and harrowing enemy encounters in his first few days on the job. Told from both the protagonist and antagonist viewpoints, the story leads us on a path of cat-and-mouse while slowly revealing the end game, and the confrontation that will determine the outcome. Excellent narration by GM Hakim with distinctive voices for each character, and tense, visual descriptions by Spada make this a banger of an opening title for the Black Spear series. [Disclosure: I received this title for free and listened at 1.75x]

Action packed millitary action thriller

i had a great time listening to this. If you are a fan of Jonathan Maberry's Joe Ledger series you will enjoy this book. I also really likes the narrator. I had not heard him before but I will be seeking out more of his titles.

Alot of fun!

This book was a joy to listen to. It was funny, action packed and held my attention throughout. The author did a good job making the main protagonist feel more human than unstoppable killing machine. Him doing his best, instead of being the best is a great way of starting up this series. I can't wait to see his growth in future adventures.

Very well done

Very well performed and a good story line. Most terrifying of all is that it could actually happen!! However I enjoyed listening to the book and would recommend to anyone who likes this type of story like.

A great opening title for a new series

When an author wants to start a new series sometimes the first book can get bogged down in exposition while setting up characters. I appreciated that this kicked off quickly and effectively. The narrator does a great job with the voices and pacing. I'll definitely be looking for the next book. Hopefully they keep the same narrator.

A fun shoot-em-up

Big guns and bio weapons set the stage for Cole West finding his true calling as a born killer, one tasked with defending America from enemies both foreign and domestic.

Fighting With a Knife in the Chickenwing Stop

Grave biological warfare standoff in a sort of small scale civil war of between commando style military cartoons. Its the right mix of bravado, social commentary, combat, and political context. The voice acting is good with a deep overly serious military style vibe that is a little corny but engaging and the narrator shows decent range with dialects and characters. The plot has a neat violent military feel paired with a unique weapon that suggests horror tropes. It often works but sometimes flirts with being monotonous. Overall I really liked FNG and am looking forward to the sequel.

Great entry into a new series from a new author

Solid story, well written action sequences, the villain is frighteningly realistic in the current online political environment and the narration is well top notch.

Outstanding!!

I read the book first. I loved the story and the characters.
As I began listening to the audio book, I was immediately reminded why I love the story! GM Hakim's narration is matched perfectly with the characters as I came to love them. In particular, I cannot say enough good about the voice given to Roark. Pardon me, MR. Roark! Seriously, the voices for Cerberus Team are perfect fits. He injects humor in exactly the right places, and gives us the snarky comments the characters trade.
This is an example of how an audio book ought to be made! And if you've never read the book, don't worry, you'll get everything the author intended from listening to the audio version. Highly recommended!!

great narrator, story was ok

not much more to say. the narrator was great, easy to listen to. the story was not really that grest