Heroic Measures, a review by Joanna

Stephen Englehart never got over the violent deaths of his parents when he was only young, and threw himself into a pathology career so he could give other families the answers he never got for himself. When bodies from a massacre in the Middle East are diverted to his base, the initial autopsy findings don’t match the information his team have been given, and Stephen suspects something sinister is afoot – and then a supposedly dead soldier wakes up! Meanwhile his sister Sharon, a formidable Green Beret, is looking forward to catching up with him en route to her next posting – but then she goes missing…

Not knowing much about the US military hierarchy and structure, I initially found this a bit bewildering, between all the different ranks, acronyms and base names, but once the plot got going that didn’t matter and this turned into a fun adventure story with fantastical elements straight out of Marvel. It’s well written – the author is a practising physician and it shows in the various forensic details described. There’s murder, intrigue, twists, a little romance, a female protagonist who’s way more kick-ass than her geek-hero brother, and dastardly villains – I thoroughly enjoyed it and look forward to the sequel, Extraordinary Measures, which is due out next year. Thanks to the author for the ARC.