Every so often a novel is written that has the audacity to pull you in and cause you to forget what you're reading is fiction and not real-life.
FALCON SEVEN is one of those novels. The story could easily be one you're reading in anticipation of what will happen as if reading an ongoing news headline daily. Based on the fact that the United States never signed the agreement creating the International Criminal Court (ICC), two American pilots are captured in Pakistan and whisked away to The Hague to stand trial for war crimes on the basis the building they received to orders to hit may have been a refugee medical post.
A former SEAL-turned-criminal defense attorney, Jask Caskey is hired by the American government to defend the two pilots. Part of his argument to the world (and directed at the President of the United States) is for the U.S. to invoke the American Servicemember's Protection Act. Anticipating this type of arrest of American military personnel, this act was written in 2002 and signed by George W. Bush and states, "The President is authorized to use all means necessary and appropriate to bring about the release of any US or allied personnel being detained or imprisoned by, on behalf of, or at the request of the International Criminal Court."
This novel poses the question of how the US would respond if the ICC were to move forward and prosecute American personnel on the basis of accidental, collateral deaths during a potential war-time situation. Complicating the political arena in this story is the indictment of George W. Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld, and others who were part of the prior administration.
Whether you agree or not with the real-world War on Terror, this novel will cause you to move through degrees of anger, sadness, hope, and fear. This is an outstanding premise and the pacing pulls you in wanting to know if the US will act, if Caskey will have to pull the proverbial rabbit out of the hat, or will the ICC blink if the US flexes its might? This is a rare 5-star novel.
FALCON SEVEN is one of those novels. The story could easily be one you're reading in anticipation of what will happen as if reading an ongoing news headline daily. Based on the fact that the United States never signed the agreement creating the International Criminal Court (ICC), two American pilots are captured in Pakistan and whisked away to The Hague to stand trial for war crimes on the basis the building they received to orders to hit may have been a refugee medical post.
A former SEAL-turned-criminal defense attorney, Jask Caskey is hired by the American government to defend the two pilots. Part of his argument to the world (and directed at the President of the United States) is for the U.S. to invoke the American Servicemember's Protection Act. Anticipating this type of arrest of American military personnel, this act was written in 2002 and signed by George W. Bush and states, "The President is authorized to use all means necessary and appropriate to bring about the release of any US or allied personnel being detained or imprisoned by, on behalf of, or at the request of the International Criminal Court."
This novel poses the question of how the US would respond if the ICC were to move forward and prosecute American personnel on the basis of accidental, collateral deaths during a potential war-time situation. Complicating the political arena in this story is the indictment of George W. Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld, and others who were part of the prior administration.
Whether you agree or not with the real-world War on Terror, this novel will cause you to move through degrees of anger, sadness, hope, and fear. This is an outstanding premise and the pacing pulls you in wanting to know if the US will act, if Caskey will have to pull the proverbial rabbit out of the hat, or will the ICC blink if the US flexes its might? This is a rare 5-star novel.
