Man of War

An Eric Steele Novel

By: Sean Parnell

Narrated by: R.C. Bray

Length: 9 hrs and 19 mins

Publisher's summary

The New York Times best-selling author of Outlaw Platoon makes his fiction debut with this electrifying military thriller - a gripping tale of action, suspense, and international intrigue that introduces a compelling new hero, Eric Steele.

Eric Steele is the best of the best - an Alpha - an elite clandestine operative assigned to a US intelligence unit known simply as the "Program". A superbly trained Special Forces soldier who served several tours fighting radical Islamic militants in Afghanistan, Steele now operates under the radar, using a deadly combination of espionage and brute strength to root out his enemies and neutralize them.

But when a man from Steele’s past attacks a military convoy and steals a nuclear weapon, Steele and his superiors at the White House are blindsided. Moving from Washington, DC, to the Middle East, Europe, and Africa, Steele must use his considerable skills to hunt this rogue agent, a former brother-in-arms who might have been a friend, and find the WMD before it can reach the US - and the world is forever changed.

©2018 Sean Parnell (P)2018 HarperCollins Publishers

Critic reviews

"Fast, hard, and effortlessly authentic - both lead character Eric Steele and author Sean Parnell are the real deal." (Lee Child)

"An exciting, action-packed debut! Bristling with intrigue, deceit, power, and treason - once you pick this book up, you will NOT be able to put it down. Sean Parnell has knocked it out of the park!" (Brad Thor)

Great Fiction Debut

This is Sean Parnell’s first fiction book. I am impressed with his authentic action story. The book is well written and the characters are realistic. Our protagonist, Eric Steele, is a member of a small elite top-secret unit. The story is filled with non-stop action. The action is a combination of military, espionage and political. The story moves around from the USA, Middle East, Northern Africa to Europe. The author provides some good descriptions of the various areas of action. The suspense builds throughout the story. This is definitely a cannot-put-this-down type of story.

The book is nine hours and nineteen minutes. R. C. Bray does an excellent job narrating the book. Bray is a well-known narrator. He has won many Earphone Awards as well as the Audie Award. He also has won the Voice Arts Award. He is an actor, voice artist and audiobook narrator.

The best book I've heard in a long time.

I listen to a lot of a thriller/suspense audiobooks, and this is the best book I've listened to in a long time. Well written, good characters, and a lot of realistic details.

Excellent action

The story is well written with a lot of details without getting bogged down by them. R.C Bray does an excellent job of bringing the characters to life and giving them individual characteristics.

really really well executed !

great first installment in the Steele Saga -- the plot keeps you on your toes and the action is presented in a way that doesn't require the total suspension of disbelief of some other novels centered around singleton and SOF operators. the author kept the book mostly apolitical which I appreciate in a genre that can dip in to ideological soap-box rants of the author's own politics which can be a real turn off as someone who enjoys these books for the way they take a Jason Bourne or a James Bond and add layers to the character (and supporting characters too) deepening the reader's relationship with the cast and adding a their own research and (in Parnell's case) experience to make the technical tactical aspects flow with the more realistic representation of how special operations forces operate and communicate/shoot the shit with each other -- especially when it comes to the role that strategy, tactics, and careful planning must play in executing a operation -- elements that are often washed over.

I really feel as though Parnell could have done a better job at setting the scene and painting a picture of the environment in which the characters are operating (Greany with Cort Gentry and even Ted Bell w/ Alex Hawkeye are a great example of how painting that picture with words can really help the reader visualize and understand both the challenges our main characters are facing and also understand what the author's vision of the "way-point(s)" or the compound in Malaga, or Boudin's airfield, or the terrain and features of the battlefield are supposed to look like in my mind's eye.

I think this was a great first fiction book and I'm looking forward to the continuation of the series (I tore though this one in a day). I know book 2 has already been submitted for editing and I hope you were able to expand a bit on the exposition and "scene-setting" which I believe are the only elements keeping Eric Steele from joining the "Alpha Program" elite of this genre.

keep it up !! I really enjoyed your interview on SpyCast and downloaded the book immediately after you got the Vince Houghton seal of approval (and Vince is - understandably - a rough critic of the genre considering how many of the books that cross his desk are a bad on the technical elements (the "reality" and plausibility of people's behaviors in a combat environment) or are just shitty writing.

lyour novel nails both of these elements, and with little tweaks to the exposition and scene-setting-- well this might be my new favorite series !!

thank you for this and keep keeping these books where they belong -- as action thrillers steeped in spycraft and house of cards-*lite* politics. the political intrigue is fun just please keep this series fun and engaging without making the same mistake as other great authors of this genre who lost sight of what made this genre so funny to read and so captivating by taking her focus away from what we love about the book : action, "realness," engaging characters (both good guys and bad) who aren't 2D, and a sprinkle of house of cards-esque conspiracy.

solid work

Intense Action

if you like us thriller with plenty of action, this book is for you! the narrator does a great job, the good guy is really good, and the story unfolds with twists and turns like a formula 1 race track. Great job!

ACTION PACKED

Great characters, lots of action - great writing. I'm going to be looking for the next in the series!

This needs to be a movie.

Didn't think much of this a first. but give it a chance, you'll love it!

cool story

heck. pretty neat stuff. I'd read his other books. i bet they are good too.

Action packed

The story starts slow, but it has to so that the all the characters and the story line gels. Although this is not the type of story I normally read it is so well paced and written that it carries you along.

Great Book

Book went way too fast! I couldn't stop listening, and can't wait for the next book in the series!