The Hard Corps #02 - Beirut Contract

Chris Lowder and William Fieldhouse, writing as Chuck Bainbridge, had to use 320 pages to unveil The Hard Corps team in the series debut. That book, which was published by Jove in 1986, was an entertaining team-commando novel that showcased the strengths of a five-man group of mercenaries operating out of the Pacific Northwest. The next year both writers were back at it again delivering the next installment, Beirut Contract, in a thinner and more manageable 179 pages.  

The novel is dedicated and inspired by the events surrounding Colonel Art “Bull” Simons, the legendary military strategist and combatant that helped mastermind the freeing of two American men from Iran (described in Ken Follett's On Wings of Eagles in 1983) for Texas businessman Ross Perot. 

In this paperback, a wealthy New York publishing executive named Banks is informed that his daughter Georgette has been snatched by a terrorist group calling itself the Revolutionary Front for the Liberation of Lebanon. On page, readers experience the turbulent gunfight leading to her capture, orchestrated by a madman named Abdul. In the early sequence of events it is suggested that Georgette's capture will lead to a negotiation and ransom netting millions for the terrorist group. 

After a U.S. Delta Force plan fails, due to an American media leak, Banks takes the matter into his own hands and seeks help from the Hard Corps team. What sets this action-adventure series apart from others is that this team works with the U.S. government. While the team works clandestine missions, they aren't violating or breaching any type of U.S. diplomatic boundaries. The team is assisted by the military in helping create the rescue plan. Some interrogation scenes involve the heroic mercenaries even operating inside of a U.S. embassy. I really like that aspect of this series. 

The Beirut Contract takes readers on intelligence retrieval missions to drill down a specific location that Georgetta is in. While I didn't quite understand some of the logic, the end result was an explosive novel featuring several violent gunfights as the good guys stop the mean 'ole baddies. It is simple entertainment written with a clear consumer base in mind. The bigger the bang the bigger the bucks. This one was effective and entertaining and that's all one can ask for.  Get these books HERE.