Rogue Outlaws

A Military Thriller

By: John R. Monteith

Narrated by: Virtual Voice

Humanitarians Gone Bad… After threatening both the Turkish and American fleets, the naval mercenaries set course for Yemen in hopes of righting countless wrongs. What they get instead is resistance from five power-hungry nation-states. When the mercenaries reopen the lifeline of humanitarian aid to ravaged lands, the Emirates, Saudis, Iranians, Houthi rebels, and Separatists retaliate in force. Fighting a multi-front war, the mercenaries learn to fight dirty. With enemies countering their every move, they must again use ugly tactics to survive. Can they save themselves–and thousands of lives–or will they die trying? Read this two-book mission (Rogue Neptune, Rogue Outlaws) to find out...

Proselytizing for Jesus with boring action

Apparently, this is book 15 in a series, but Audible (currently) doesn't tell you that. That explains why everything begins in media res, as though you should already know all the characters and ships. Very confusing if this your first exposure to the series. The plot limps along and the climax fizzles.

The author obviously hated having to wear a mask during COVID("dehumanizing") and desperately wants to prove to you that you should believe in Jesus. A full quarter of the book is characters having insipid discussions about how and why you should have faith. The arguments are sophomoric and poorly written. For example, when asked about child molesters in the Catholic church we get a classic "No True Scotsman" argument. You see, the church is so awesome that it attracts enemies. The enemies are the ones doing all the child rape because all the good priests love God and don't rape children. Thus, even though the church is riddled with abusers (whom it protects--that's not addressed) they are No True Catholics. Problem solved.

The virtual voice was emotionless and the audio quality was tinny. The voice pronounced the front of the ship "bow" (rhymes with slow) instead of "bow" (rhymes with "wow"), and people on submarines are sub-MAR-in-ers not sub-mar-IN-ers. I thought the science was further along, but apparently, it is not.