Your Weekend Read: Line in the Valley, the second novel by “Mad Duo Chris” Hernandez is now available in hard copy. If you look at the picture above, well, that’s how we spent last weekend. We can, in good conscience, recommend you do the same this weekend. It’s a gritty read. The topic may stir up a helluva lot of controversy too – it involves American military units conducting operations along the border of Texas and Mexico against dedicated bad guys who are either Islamic militants or Narcoguerillas (or both, or neither). We don’t want to give too much away, but we will warn you. It’s pretty dark, especially when they start pushing into the little border towns that suffered the first incursions.

The point man on Nunez’s side of the street climbed a chain link fence around a brick house. Nunez watched each soldier ahead hop the fence. He waited for a Pit Bull or Rottweiler to charge out from behind the house and attack them. Nothing happened. Nunez hit the fence and hooked his waist to flip over it, low profile. The brick house was easily the nicest house on the block, although that wasn’t saying much. Burglar bars covered the windows and the metal front door had three deadbolts. On the far side of the house a huge dead mutt was chained to a tree. The dog lay on his back with a chain wrapped around his torso and fangs bared, looking like he died twisting in agony.

Nunez cleared the far side fence. Death smells hit him at random, but still no activity.

As most of you know, Breach-Bang-Clear contributor Mad Duo Chris is one of our most prolific and sagacious pontificationists. He wrote about what it was really like fighting alongside the French, an in-depth series about War Crimes, movie and book reviews for which he interviewed directors and authors and participants (remember Hornet’s Nest?)  and of course a number of gear and training reviews (like this overview of the Sentinel Concepts Patrol Vehicle CQB course). Line in the Valley is the sequel to Proof of our Resolve, though each one can be read independently of the other.

D’Angelo’s machine gun opened up, tearing off a long burst. Nunez forced his scope back to the enemy fighter he had just shot and saw him hold his side as he struggled to stand up. Trcers flashed by him. Nunez put his crosshairs on the man’s pelvis and fired again. He dropped. The wounded fighter lying on the ground frantically tried to get up. Nunez pulled the trigger, got luky and hit him in the face. He didn’t just feel satisfied, he was elated. He looked over his scope again.

A black mass of enemy fighters was hauling ass south. D’Angelo’s bullets knocked some off their feet. Several bodies in black littered front yards. Nunez fired unaimed shots south, just suppressing. Some of the fighter peeled around corners, heading back toward Nogales. Others jumped behind cars. Nunez saw AKs drop onto hoods and trunks, pointed back at him with barely visible heads behind them.

Chris is a quadragenarian who looks like quinquagenarian that’s as grumpy as a septuagenarian with joints that creak like a nonagenarian but don’t let that stop you from reading his book. It’s damned good. More to follow.

You can purchase Line in the Valley in hard copy on Amazon. Although the novel will stand on its own, you might want to pick up the one that precedes it; Proof of our Resolve is also available in hardback, paperback and on Kindle. Read more about Mad Duo Chris here.