Published by Ace, 1994,
paperback, $4.99 ISBN 0-441-00123-8
232 pages

If you're going to launch a campaign to retake a planet, you put a lot of troops in a lot of spacecraft, and head into the battle. If you have a mission to evacuate scientists from a secret lab behind enemy lines, you send the elite 13th Spaceborne.

In goes the regiment on its mission, and right into the teeth of the enemy. But the plucky heroes of the 13th show they can be all they can be in outwitting, out-hitting, and out-gritting the enemy "Heggies."

Former U.S. Army NCO Shelley, weaves the battles well. The prose may not be a literary prize winner, but it is straightforward enough to create the aura of future combat using infantry, armor, artillery, and tactical aircraft. Its a good mix, and the weaponry offers a delight of prescience. Ex-military often write the best battle and TO&E (Tactical Organization and Equipment) style books and Shelley more than delivers.