Kirkus Review: The Drone Enigma

Posted on May 31, 2014 by admin

Kirkus has been an authoritative voice in book discovery for 80 years. I’m pleased to post Kirkus Review‘s review of The Drone Enigma.

Former lawyer and Navy SEAL Jake Palmer returns in McManus’ second thriller (Libido’s Twist, 2011), working a simple case that escalates into murder and a potential terrorist attack.

Investigative consultant Palmer is looking for an easy job, since his last left him with a bullet wound. Friend and fellow SEAL Wade Jansen, a vice president at defense contractor Lynnhaven Technology Group in Virginia, has just the ticket: He wants Palmer to investigate whether a failure of LTG safety measures led to a woman’s overexposure to the chemical thallium. That woman, an engineer for a high-tech drone project, has since died, and her death doesn’t seem accidental. Palmer also finds out that project leader Owen Fuller’s laptop was recently lost. A woman named Alona Green claims to have inadvertently switched laptops with Fuller at an airport, but after she contacts Jansen to return the computer, the VP is found murdered. Palmer swears vengeance against the killer, and soon realizes that the drone project may also have been compromised. It turns out that the murders may be connected to Islamic terrorists, led by drone-attack survivor Hassan Aswad, who are planning a strike against the United States. The author lays the foundation for a military thriller and fortifies it with a rock-solid mystery. There’s a bounty of action sequences, mostly in the book’s final act; these fierce, bullet-ridden scenes, which include more than one boat chase, may have readers ducking their heads to avoid gunfire. Palmer is flanked on all sides by female characters: Cmdr. Lara Hamilton, whom he’d dated 20 years earlier in college; the alluring Green, who calls Palmer for help; and, back in London, Fiona Collins, who shared Palmer’s last adventure and who just might be the woman he loves. But none of them measure up to Cora Donegan, an accommodating and informative LTG human-resources rep who has the novel’s best line, warning Palmer not to “do anything stupid,” followed by: “And when you do, be careful.”

A thriller with copious action and an exceptional mystery.

Outstanding Review of The Drone Enigma by Luxury Reading

Posted on February 8, 2014 by admin

Luxury Reading is a well-established and respected book review website. Individual reviewers provide objective reviews of all genres of books.

Review by Lauren Cannavino of Luxury Reading

Books that are touted as military thrillers, like The Drone Enigma, are often laden with too many technical terms, government speak and cold, surface characters. None of these characteristics apply to this novel. Ron McManus presents a lively story of secrets and intrigue, murder, mystery, politics and adventure. Ex Navy SEAL member Jake Palmer is called to join an investigation by his old SEAL team member and friend, Wade Jansen. Jansen works as a top defense contractor and needs Palmer to dig into the death of an employee working on a top secret project. What Palmer gets himself into and what he uncovers along the way is far from expected or safe.

Palmer is no nonsense, intelligent and skilled which allows him to quickly gather information and back stories on everyone connected with a top secret government project named Perseus. The project is centered on the design, development and eventual implementation of military drones. The murder of one of the top project engineers paired with the theft and return of a top secret laptop have rightly aroused suspicions. Only a few days into the investigation, Jansen is shot and killed in his office and the case soon takes on an entirely new level of importance for Palmer. While this action is unfolding, other stories and suspicions are interjected throughout and all paths will soon lead to Palmer and his discoveries.

The cunning and beautiful Alona Green shows up as a possible suspect with a wealth of knowledge and skills that are both useful and potentially dangerous to Palmer. Green has confessed to stealing the laptop that belongs to project leader Owen Fuller whose part in the plot begins to excitingly take shape as the book advances. Meanwhile, back in Afghanistan, a shadowy figure, Hassan Aswad carefully lays the groundwork for his plans against America; the connection to the events and people that Palmer is uncovering cannot be denied. Green and Palmer become an unlikely duo when Palmer must turn to old SEAL friends and avoid the police when things begin to head south. Never questioning his gut, Palmer affirms his loyalty to both his dead friend and his country, and continues his personal mission in order to stop an attack on US interests overseas.

The chapters of The Drone Enigma are quick and as a result the book survives a beginning that seems slow only as the major pieces are presented. The Perseus Project and all of its details are slowly revealed with an exciting climax at the end of the book. Palmer is a rugged and gruff, yet fun hero who has a sense of humor paired with a dry, quick wit. He has no time for nonsense and no time for threats to his country. McManus ends the story in a very interesting fashion that leaves the reader with a multitude of questions, not about the story which wraps up cleanly, but rather about our very own government and all the secrets we are kept from daily.

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The Drone Enigma: Goodreads Giveaway

Posted on January 31, 2014 by admin

I have allocated ten copies of The Drone Enigma for a Goodreads Giveaway that will run through February 13th. Residents of the US, UK and Canada are eligible to win a copy. If you win, please review the book on Goodreads.

Update – Virginia set to ban drones for two years

Posted on February 26, 2013 by admin

In an update to yesterday’s blog post, Stacy Parker has reported today in the Virginian-Pilot (“Hobbyists finding there’s not place like drone”) that Virginia’s two-year moratorium on the use of drones by police and government agencies will not apply to civilians. Looks like I can buy and use the Parrot AR Drone at Brookstone without breaking the law after all.

Virginia grounds drones for two years

Posted on February 25, 2013 by admin

XC59VFC3BPCG My new novel, Return to Valor, will be published later this year. The military techno-thriller features an experimental Navy drone. In anticipation of the release of this novel, I am writing a series of blog posts related to drones. This is the first of the series.

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Last month, Charlottesville, Virginia, became the first city in the nation to pass legislation imposing a two-year ban on the use of unmanned aerial vehicles or drones. Now, the Virginian-PIlot has reported that the state legislature has passed a bill that poses a two-year moratorium on the use of drones by police or government agencies in Virginia. The bill is awaiting approval by Governor Bob McDonnell. Like their colleagues in Charlottesville, the state legislators are concerned that the use of drones could infringe on citizens’ right to privacy. I have been unable to find the precise wording of the legislation, but should Gov. McDonnell sign it, I wonder what the implications are for private use of drones or use by the military in Hampton Roads or use by the CIA at Langley and the trainees at Camp Peary, a short drone flight from Williamsburg and the College of William & Mary. After all, the CIA isn’t the military, it is a government agency. And what distinction can be made between the local police using a drone to search for suspects and missing persons and the police using a helicopter to do the same thing? Does the fact one is piloted and the other is not make any difference to the possible infringement on our right to privacy? How about television traffic helicopters?

Charlottesville is home to the University of Virginia and, like most small university towns, is a liberal environment in which to live and work. The Virginia metropolitan area of Hampton Roads, where I live, is home to: the world’s largest naval base, the east coast-based Navy SEALs, the Joint Base Langley-Eustis, Naval Air Station Oceana – the Navy’s East Coast Master Jet Base, Joint-Expeditionary Base Little Creek-Fort Story, the CIA’s Camp Peary, the Fifth Coast Guard District, and SEAL Team Six. By anyone’s measure, it is a conservative, testosterone-charged place to live and work. In Hampton Roads, the thought of banning police use of small, unarmed surveillance drones seems—well, odd. If it is a right to privacy issue, aren’t there right to privacy laws on the books that cover violations by the police or anyone else? Do we need really need a special one for drones?

In their rush to pass something, I hope that the legislators took time to define what is meant by drone. When one reads a news headline about drones, images of the large Predator or Reaper drone, equipped with a powerful, high-definition cameras, and armed with Hellfire missiles comes to mind. Let’s face it, we wouldn’t want those flying over our house any more than would the law-abiding citizens of Pakistan or wherever else the the military and CIA are using them.

But the Parrott AR Drone, available in most shopping malls at Bookstone, with its built-in HD camera is a drone both in name and function. Therefore, for now, I must defer any further thoughts of buying one—seriously, I want one—because being a resident of Virginia, I just might be breaking the law even though the moratorium does not appear to cover use of drones by private citizens. By the way, my wife is pleased with this news. She didn’t see any reason to spend $300 on a drone that has a 12-minute battery life.