Battle Born

By: Nathan Best

ISBN: 9 781922 765758

Big Sky Publishing (2024)

“Battle Born” is labelled a Damien Hunter action novel, and given the title, I assume is the first in a series from Nathan Best. However, it stands alone and ends in a satisfactory manner. It is a novel aimed squarely at action readers.

Damien Hunter is a veteran soldier, now operating as a contractor for the Taipan Organisation. His current contract has him in Afghanistan, working with two long standing colleagues.

Damien and his team are tasked with protecting a Dutch mission aiming to destroy an Afghan warlord. Unfortunately the mission is deeply flawed, and the warlord has also engaged foreign contractors to fight on his behalf.  Damien and his team soon have to abandon the original mission plan in a desperate attempt to survive.

Now, I’ll say right up front that I didn’t particularly enjoy this novel. That is largely because these kinds of action novels don’t strongly appeal to me. The plot basically consists of blowing things up and killing people, with virtually no overarching story or characterisation.

This novel is also not very well written and needs a good proofread. Words are missing from sentences, incorrect words are used, and in places the writing is just plain clumsy.

However, for those who are looking for a straight action novel, this will probably fit the bill. Once the action gets properly started, it’s non-stop through to the last page. It is well choregraphed, complex but easy to follow.

There is a lot of technical detail about the equipment characters use, which gives the action a sense of authenticity and convincing reality. This will very much appeal to the kind of reader who really wants to know how things work and what equipment was used.

There is very little in the way of a story beyond that of the mission. There is no sense of the broader purpose of the war, or of anything that pertains to the world beyond this war. This makes it an easy read for those simply interested in the action. The focus is kept strongly on this one particular mission – indeed, while it focuses on the objective (killing the warlord), it doesn’t really mention the overall purpose at all.

Similarly, characterisation is very lightly sketched. These men don’t seem to exist outside this theatre of war. Again, that keeps the focus on the action and this one mission.

The tag line (“a Damien Hunter action novel”) suggests that there may be more to come. Certainly, although the novel has a satisfying conclusion, it could also be opened up to a sequel.

This is definitely one for readers looking for a straight forward, fast moving action story with few distractions.

An edited version of this review first appeared on www.beautyandlace.net as part of their bookclub.