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Expendable Assets by Drew Howell Lulu
book review by Omar Figueras
"The man riding in the pale Toyota used many names, but of them all the one he wore today was certainly his favorite."
Drew Howell's Expendable Assets is an action packed, quick-paced novel, that centers around those individuals fighting in the trenches of modern warfare, both domestically and abroad. Told from the point of view of the peripheral characters, adjuncts to those in power, the crux of the novel is about how the business of war is conducted, and in the end, those who are factored out of the equation. Howell focuses on the undercover operatives behind the scenes, the ones who are truly running the show; they are the oil in the proverbial war machine.
The author's writing is very good, exceptional at times, and thoroughly informative as he provides a detailed and technical back story for how present day war is conducted. Despite some cliche phrasing in his dialogue, which one would think is to mimic typical, everyday military speech that can sometimes cloud and weigh down the writing, by and large the resonant prose is vibrant and active, and it leaps off the page just as the characters Calvert and Gault do. One chapter in the book is a tactfully detailed attack on a diplomatic mission in Kashimiryan Afghanistan, simultaneously told from various points of view. The scene is first cast in the perspective of an Afghan freedom fighter organizing the attack. The author then jumps from character to character, as the chapter unfolds in both the eyes of the occupiers and the insurgents. These multiple perspectives provide a more holistic view of the front line.
Howell's writing style and the content of his material is reminiscent of Robert Ludlam and Tom Clancy, but this author has a story all his own to tell. He provides an up-to-the-minute, large overview of a contemporary combat zone, then he homes in on minute, harsh details that serve to highlight the expendability of the human condition which is always overlooked during war.