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41/2 Stars

Don Brown’s consummate JAG advocate, Lieutenant Commander Zack Brewer returns in Defiance, the third book in the Navy Justice series.

Still grieving the loss of Diane Colcernian at the hands of extremists, Zack remains with the Navy seeking refuge from the public interest which arose from his previous legal achievements. He is unwittingly thrown into the spotlight again when his current trial is hijacked by US presidential hopeful, Senator Eleanor Claxton, seeking to garner support for her liberal views and label the trial as a witch hunt. At the same time Navy intelligence reveals Zack’s life may be in danger from the same terrorists that kidnapped Diane nearly 18 months earlier.

NCIS agent, Shannon McGilverry, is assigned to protect Zack but as she begins to link a murder in Paris with rumours of hostages hidden in the Mongolian desert, her own heart is the one at risk, threatened by each truth she reveals. Zack is not only targeted by terrorists but also someone closer to home.

Don Brown has succeeded again, penning an engrossing story of political intrigue and high suspense which kept me reading well into the early hours of the morning. His personal experience as a JAG officer lends authenticity and credibility to the courtroom scenes and Navy details. The ending left some unresolved issues and Zack’s faultless personality is a little overstated but in the end these things do not detract from a top-notch story and leaves the way open for a further book in this enthralling series.

If you haven’t already done so I recommend reading Treason and Hostage before Defiance is released by Zondervan in March, 2007.