Sep 12, 2026
Vacation fun
I have read 26 books by Declan Finn and 25 of them in the last 8 months. I have greatly enjoyed books in several other series. This is one In the White Ops Series and at the writing of this review two more has been announced. I have been working through Finn’s back catalogue. This was an excellent story, I had not read any description or reviews before picking it up. I am currently cycling through a few of his series and just decided this one was up next, do not even have one chose for on deck when I started this one. Luckily for Sean, terrorists take over the amusement planet before he can lose his mind. To stop the terrorists, White Ops will have to battle a weaponized planet, including cloned dinosaurs, giant sharks, animatronic amusements and a doomsday device that will destroy the planet. And when the deadliest assassin alive joins the fray, whose side will he be on?” This story takes the action to a whole new level. Sean Patrick Ryan and his team of totentanzers – Rangers – are on an assigned vacation. But Ryan is a magnet for trouble and soon the vacation planet has been taken hostage. The demands are a little crazy. And the threat is to wipe out everyone on the planet and destroy the planet. Also on planet for very different reasons is John Hugh Watson, a professional assassin, maybe the best in the known universe. Ryan and his team must traverse the globe, fighting human Vigiles still loyal to the ousted president, animatronics with extra abilities, animatronics that include raptors, a giant squid, a Megalodon or two, and replica entertainment characters from a variety of shows and era’s. They need to diffuse fusion reactors all over the planet, evacuate billions of people, prevent a scorched earth scenario, and climate controls set to unleash natural disasters on a biblical and global scale. Not the quiet vacation for having saved the universe twice … But would Sean really want it any other way? Towards the end of the book Sean is giving a welcome speech to a new Rangers class, he states: ““Before I finish, I would also like to ask you all one very important question: Why are you here, now, willing to join us? Why do you want to risk your life for someone else? Do you want to do it because it’s the right thing to do, or do you have a very personal reason? I want you to have a damn good reason before this year is out. I want you to think of why you’re going into all the dark places no one else will. I want you to have a reason to sustain you and keep you going when you’re taking fire from an enemy or waiting to die cold and alone in the middle of the darkness. “We are the sentinels who keep watch in the night. We keep away the monsters. We are the dragon slayers and the knights-errant. This is who we are. Is this who you want to be? “Welcome to Ranger training.”” Between the above quote and a the last page of the book we are staged from some excellent action in the next instalment. This story is packed full of action. It has great characters. An excellent pace. It is just a really fun story. This was a very entertaining story with Finn’s usual sense of humour! I really enjoyed with this offering from the masterful pen of Finn. It is a great read. And leaves you wondering what happens in book 4. An excellent read I can easily recommend this book, this series and all of the books from Finn I have read to date!
