Book Review: Target Down by Ryan Steck

Revenge Porn For The Department Of War Crowd. This is one of those tacticool "military thrillers" for the more modern former soldier/ wannabe. Lots of people getting shot, lots of fists being thrown, a few damsels and kids in distress, and through all the wanton slaughter by the *good* guys, a decent heaping of prayer and American Churchian-ese.

Tom Clancy / Dale Brown/ Stephen Coonts, this aint - but maybe those guys wouldn't be so popular with today's soldiers/ former soldiers/ wannabes either. Not enough Churchian, for one. Still, this *is* a particular arena that has never had *enough* authors within the space, so the fact that this book exists at all will absolutely be a boon for at least some readers and perhaps be the difference in them reading at all, so there is absolutely that side of this to appreciate.

Also, don't get me wrong here, as a generic action tale, this actually does a pretty solid job. See aforementioned high body counts, fist fights, etc. Great set pieces across the northern US and even a touch internationally (at least in the opener) to boot, including some that will be fairly memorable for quite some time.

One thing to know up front - that I didn't, having this as an ARC for several months before publication (yes, I got behind on reading and writing reviews ;) ) - is that this is officially Book 5 of a series... and actually feels like it would be a situation similar to what happened in Matthew Reilly's... Four Legendary Kingdoms? Three Secret Cities? Fans of those books will know *exactly* what I'm referring to here. So for those who absolutely have to start at the beginning of a series/ can't stand any spoilers at all, no matter how remote, of previous tales in a series... start back at Book 1 here. If this is your kind of tale, it seems like you'll be at this book soon enough, and you'll seemingly have a lot of fun getting here.

Overall truly solid tale of its type, one that will absolutely have at least some readers who don't usually get their kinds of stories told absolutely enthralled and here for every second... and one that will have other readers rolling their eyes and/ or looking for whatever passes as a tall building in Montana to defenestrate this book from. Know which you are, and proceed accordingly. Maybe not with the defenestration - just skip the book if you think you'll be in that crowd. This is for those readers who don't get enough books in their preferred styles, and I'm glad this book gives those readers something to enjoy.

Very much recommended.

This review of Target Down by Ryan Steck was originally written on October 9, 2026.