Dale Brown is the best writer of high-tech, global conflict books. This one has the military and monarchy in Iran trying to overthrow the religious leaders, using both Patrick McLanahan's air forces and the Tin Man ground forces. It also sets the stage for the next battle against a stirring Russia. ( )

Good read. Rating 80. Enjoyed whole book. ( )

THE BATTLE FOR CONTROL OF IRAN . . . BEGINS IN SPACE.
When a disgraced former Iranian military chief of staff engineers an insurgency that threatens to destroy the theocratic regime in Iran, a new era appears to be dawning in the Middle East . . . but one must be wary of old enemies.
On the run from the theocrat's terror army, the Pasdaran, and unable to count on support from his friends in the regular army, rebel leader General Hesarak al-Kan Buzhazi desperately turns to his old nemesis, U.S. Air Force Lieutenant-General Patrick McLanahan, for help. Unwilling to commit American forces in an Iranian civil war, and with time running out, the President authorizes McLanahan to utilize a new and top-secret fleet of globe-crossing spaceplanes, the XR-A9 Black Stallions, led by test pilot and astronaut Captain Hunter Noble. Within hours, McLanahan's Air Battle Force turns the tide, possibly changing the course of history in the Middle East for generations.
The advent of almost instantaneous global reach, along with the reactivation of America's first military space station, Silver Tower, has rekindled fears of a space arms race, and the growing insurgency in Iran is threatening to erupt into a worldwide jihad. But McLanahan finds himself embroiled in even more bitter battles at the White House, between those who support his space-based military initiative-and those who are working secretly to undermine it. When McLanahan is forced to fight his political and personal battles back at home, it's left to Hunter Noble and his team of young American space engineers to keep the fires of freedom in the Middle East from exploding completely out of control.

Charged with rebuilding America's long-range attack force devastated in Edge of Battle, Special Adviser to the President Lt. Gen. Patrick McLanahan shocks everyone by proposing to build a force of spaceplanes, able to attack any target on the globe within minutes. The project is led by test pilot Captain Hunter Noble. Just then, Iran's theocratic regime falls victim to a swift military coup that reveals its immense military power to the world. The new self-appointed Iranian president, General Buzhazi wants to normalise relations between Israel and the United States. Buzhazi appeals to the world for help in hunting down terrorists, he argues that only he has the resources to stop radical fundamentalist Islam, and the world responds favourably. Hunter Noble secretly launches several reconnaissance satellites over Iran to monitor Buzhazi's powerful forces. Soon the satellites reveal Buzhazi's real plan, planting thousands of Iranian Pasdaran special-ops troops throughout the oil-rich Kurdish region of northern Iraq. The U.S. tries to re-establish a strong military presence in the Persian Gulf and Arabian Peninsula, but Iran has the upper hand now, and the U.S. government realises it is in danger of losing control of the entire Middle East. But Hunter Noble is already working up a plan to strike back, showing the real power of the spaceplane force.

While I am a fan of the genre, I thought "Strike Force": a very poor example. The story was a bit disjointed, and it got bogged down in the minutiae that typifies a Dale Brown novel. He knows little of the inner workings of the White House and the government -- it shows. However, if you want to know the switch position of the bombing system, it's right there in the book. Further, if a general officer had done half the things that McLanahan has gotten away with, he'd be in jail. And we haven't seen a POTUS since Reagan with the cahones to approve execution of the operations in this book, even if the technology existed. If Brown spent half the time with character and plot development that he does with "switchology", we'd have a decent book. I stopped listening half way through and fast forwarded to the end. Even that, wasn't particularly satisfying. I've put off Dale Brown for awhile; as I have other authors who can occupy my time. ( )

In number 13 in the McLanahan series we are brought to Iran where a once loyal follower of the theocratic regime is disgraced and scapegoated and decides to unite numerous disenfranchised parties to revolt against the regime.

Naturally, for the series, Russia is in the mix and there's plenty of high tech weaponry and a focus on action over realism.

I found mid way through the book the story got a bit bogged down in politics and seemed to skip a vital link between the first and second halves of the story line. Whether this was done for dramatic purposes or merely a plot oversight I couldn't quite work out, it was distracting nonetheless.

Overall, a good entry in the series which fits well in the universe of books including a tie in to the stand alone novel Silver Tower. ( )