Published by Ace, 1998,
paperback, $5.99 ISBN 0-441-00526-8
439 pages

The Dirigent Mercenary Corps offered a last chance for Lon Nolan, a military academy reject. He signs up and it's off to visit new worlds, meet new people, and kill them.

As before, Shelley excels in the dirt-level small squad infantry tactics he learned as a NCO in the U.S. Army. The battles are well done, the strategy and tactics sound, and the weaponry a delight. He shows a nimble grasp of holding the reader's attention with military precision.

The ins and outs of the DMC -- dare I say the mercenary "culture" -- is a bit too honorable and anti-septic at times, but better that than trumped up tensions and other such drivel found in other books. A civil war on a planet provides all the background you'll need as the boys from the DMC fight it out with the rebels.

Firefights, patrols, and day-to-day battle conditions are faithfully recorded, leaving you anxious to continue the book and see what's next for the DMC. And that's the best praise to give to a novel -- you want to read more. Excellent.

More in the Dirigent Mercenary Corps series

Officer Cadet Book 1
Lieutenant Book 2
Captain Book 3
Major Book 4
Lieutenant Colonel Book 5