I honestly tried to go into the book and try to judge it on its own merits, but the only reason I even clued into it was due to a mention of Seal Team 666 in one of the latter Jonathan Maberry books in his uniformly excellent Joe Ledger series.

Maberry is a shameless namedropper, and most of the times, I know exactly what he's talking about, but this time, I had only the most nebulous of ideas of what he was talking about, so I sought out this story.

And, due to that already strong connection—I mean, hell, the Joe Ledger series is all about a serious military/technological solution to the more esoteric and supernatural threats to the world in general and the U.S. of A. in particular—I simply couldn't go through this book and wish for that Maberry touch on the story and character.

Having said that, this is a decent start for the series. Good set up, and it's obvious Ochse (pronounced "oaks") knows his shit when it comes to anything military or weapons related. He's good with the action sequences, and to be fair, his supernatural threats are pretty freaking cool as well.

I guess it's that stuff in between that didn't quite grab me as much. Jack Walker, our introduction into Seal Team 666 as a new recruit (or FNG...Fucking New Guy), seems to get tossed from situation to situation to situation with absolutely no agency...which I get. I mean, that's a part of military fiction, I'm assuming, right? You're a grunt, you get no say...until the team is thrown into danger and only you can pull their ass out of the fire, in which case, you have all the agency in the world to do what must be done.

And he's set up as having a bit of a mysterious past, but it feels as though the reveal came too easily. Much as the ultimate big bad of this novel was not only beaten a touch too quickly, but we never really got enough screen time with him to truly appreciate his badness.

Granted, Ochse had a fair amount to pack into this novel, but man, he should have gone back and read that first Ledger book to see how to do it, and do it well.

I'm really hoping the next book ups the game a bit.

Other than that, I would have loved (and maybe it comes along later in the series) to see a woman or two on the team. But I have to say, I can't imagine, from the Ochse writing style, that a gay Seal Team member would ever be allowed. It all seemed a little chest-thumpingly badass male through the story.

And finally, yeah, I get it, the military loves its acronyms, but sweet jumpin' Jesus, please dial back on that shit a bit in future, okay?

( )

REVIEWED: SEAL Team 666
WRITTEN BY: Weston Ochse
PUBLISHED: November, 2012

This is the second full-length Ochse novel I’ve read (after SCARECROW GODS) and thus also the second full-length Ochse novel that I’ve thoroughly enjoyed. Each book is written in a distinctive voice, but SEAL TEAM 666 may be the more appealing to me only because of the subject matter: American SEAL Team special operations that fight against the country’s “Supernatural Enemies.” That’s right... good ol’ American weaponry, firepower, and kickass attitude against demons, monsters, golems, otherworldly possession, and a whole slew of further inhuman forces. The book is fast-paced, gripping, and filled with action as well as a full range of emotions from empathetic sorrow to rapid-fire joking. Great book to escape into for a wild adventure.

Five out of Five stars ( )

The Seal team bursts into a high security compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan. After reaching the second floor, they find their target: "It stepped forward. Glowing eyes. Taloned hands. Dark skin stretched tightly over elongated bones. Demon." And that's just on page 4.

Weston Ochse starts what should be an amazingly creative, well-thought-through and multi-layered action/horror series with his "Seal Team 666". It's a simple concept: Seal Team battles the supernatural. It's Men In Black, but the Men wear body armor and fatigues and battle demons instead of aliens.

SEAL Team 666 is a secret unit of the Navy SEALs. The team's sniper is killed during the raid in Pakistan, and a rookie SEAL, Jack Walker, is assigned to replace the fallen soldier. Walker is at the heart of Ochse novel, and he deftly uses Walker's introduction to the team as the reader's introduction to the concept of badass warriors deployed across the world to take out supernatural baddies.

Ochse has a military background and his in depth knowledge of weapons and operations is on full display. I'm not, by any means, an experienced reader of military fiction, and Ochse's detailed descriptions of weapons and use of military terminology tethers the supernatural to the realism and believability of the novel.

Ochse does a terrific job writing the characters with a subtle introduction of their back-stories and personality traits interspersed within the narrative, providing context and motivation for their actions. He doesn't hammer you over the head with clichéd characterizations and language. What clichés do exist fit well within the military theme and work well with the overall plot.

I don't actually know if this is a planned series, but it could be. The book works as a stand-alone while also setting up opportunities for ongoing missions, and long lasting feuds with international and demonic foes.

There's plenty of action as Walker and his well-written teammates deploy to several smaller and mid-size missions, which build the plot towards an inevitable large-scale and potentially apocalyptic showdown.

I was a little anxious about the book, which, in lesser-skilled hands could come across as trite or hokey. Ochse, though, has written a believable and thoroughly enjoyable horror-military novel.

I received this book through the Amazon Vine program. ( )