Red Metal

By: Mark Greaney, Lieutenant Colonel Hunter Ripley Rawlings IV - USMC

Narrated by: Marc Vietor

Length: 21 hrs and 21 mins

Publisher's summary

From the New York Times best-selling author of the Gray Man series comes a startlingly realistic novel of World War III.

A desperate Kremlin takes advantage of a military crisis in Asia to simultaneously strike into Western Europe and invade east Africa in a bid to occupy three rare Earth mineral mines that will give Russia unprecedented control over the world's hi-tech sector for generations to come.

Pitted against the Russians are a Marine lieutenant colonel pulled out of a cushy Pentagon job, a French Special Forces captain and his intelligence operative father, a young Polish partisan fighter, an A-10 Warthog pilot, and the commander of an American tank platoon who, along with his German counterpart, fight from behind enemy lines.

Through grand land, sea, and air battles to a small unit fighting hand-to-hand in the jungle, Russia and the US face off in a terrifying but thrilling battle for world dominance - with constant the threat of a Russian nuclear detonation ever present.

©2019 Mark Strode Greaney; Lt. Col. Hunter Ripley Rawlings (P)2019 Audible, Inc.

The best military thriller ever!

This book was exceptional. The easy flowing style and a lot of detail I love about Mark Greaney’s writing style with the attention to detail and input about war from Lt Col Rip Rawlings.

I must admit I never realised quite how much the commanders and top brass are involved in war, I am not sure what I thought they did, but I have more respect for them now. I still hold my belief that war is senseless and all the testosterone and ego’s cause innocent people to die.

All the moving parts across Europe, Asia and Africa keeps you on the edge of your seat, and it is clear that a veteran of war was involved in this exceptional book. The scary part is that this is a very possible scenario and if the electronics are disabled across the world, we will all be in big trouble. Electronics make life a lot easier, but it has made us lazy and, in this case, very vulnerable and exposed.

I enjoyed the strong female characters of Paulina, the chopper pilot and the submarine commander, and it is nice to have women portrayed as something else than sexual objects.

All the human stories and losses that the main characters faced are the real stories behind every war, and I was in tears a couple of times. The book also shows that even on the side of the “baddies” there can be one person who keeps a clear head and prevents a major catastrophe.

I loved the humour throughout the book, especially the pilot’s comment about a piece of coal!

In my opinion this is Mark Greaney’s best book ever and will replace “that other one, by a great author” as the best military fiction work ever.

I cannot recommend it enough and will for the first time in my life read a book again. I am sure I have missed some things.

I am looking forward to the next one.

I did not like the narrator. But I still gave it 5 stars because the author's do not deserve to be penalised because I did not like the narrator. His voice of all the brass in charge sounded tired and bored, and I am convinced that these guys would not have been bored and not sounded tired even if they were exhausted. He also made Paulina sound tired and “down” when I am convinced, she was wired and on edge. The brass should have been portrayed as on edge and in charge, not as if they want to rather return to watching sport on TV. Please do not let him do the follow up book.

Thank god for a lengthy novel!

I’ve read every Tom Clancy book ever. I miss the days of 20+ hour reads.

This one really grabbed hold of me

Story started slow and I thought It was a miss. However in a very short time I got sucked in and could not wait to get back each time i was required by life to put it down.

A very good book.

The book starts a little slow but sets up the characters well. Once I got into the book it was hard to stop listening.

Excellent listen - will listen again

This is a great book with excellent character development. I really didn’t want it to end and hopefully we will see Connelly soon.

Shades of Red Storm Rising

This was a great listen. I love all the technical jargon. The characters were great. This book made me dislike Russians and at the end feel sorry for the rank and file. The Paulina story line humanized the war. The one thing I would have liked is Conley and Riggs boss getting his ass handed to him.

Compelling military fiction

It is simply a better story than most I have read or listened to. The story was believable with great characters. It had a good mix of technology and tactics. If you like Tom Clancy this is the modern twist on his approach.

Beautifully and Creatively Written

This was a terrific story of heroism and triumph. Narrator was spot on. Great read. Easy to understand without military experience and understanding.

Awesome book, great story line.

This audio book was a great listen. The story line is great and very realistic. To top it off, the narrator did a dynamic job in his depiction of each character. I have read and listen to many books during my lifetime. This book has been catapulted into my top 10. Well worth the money.

Amazingly addictive

Such an amazing book, written with such military detail. Excellent performance and such an amazing story. Loved it!!