Review - Ranger: Intrepid 4.5, Chris Allen

In a particularly poignant touch, all round good guy and saver of the world Alex Morgan shows an unsurprising side in RANGER with his care and concern for a returned vet who needs help. 

This novella sees Morgan returning from rescue duties, to be immediately redirected to the US where returned vet and friend, John Nash has asked for his help. Without hesitating Morgan dives into the task without the normal INTREPID backing, and in the full understanding that his old army buddy might be struggling, but he will have a compelling story to tell. 

It's interesting how much action has been combined into a novella, that is full of compassion and understanding as well. There's a message here about the way that returned vets are treated, as well as one about power and influence. Fast paced, as you'd expect, full of action and suspense, that's not the point of RANGER and it doesn't overwhelm. This is an exposé on the treatment of returning vets, and an equally important dig at the mindless, trash-culture obsession of modern day society. And it works really well on all levels. 

Allen has always had a compelling and realistic action hero in Alex Morgan. In this novella he's added a level of compassion and support to the already very human character that he's created, and he's doing that for some very good reasons.

In 2015 Author Chris Allen was appointed the inaugural ambassador for the charity Veterans Off the Streets Australia (VOTSA). A not for profit organisation and charity, reliant on donations from the public, business and industry to facilitate their work in assisting veterans and ex-service personnel in finding crisis, temporary and permanent accommodation; to actively find and assist families who are looking for accommodation related assistance; and provide a concierge service for related areas to at risk personnel and their families. RANGER features a homeless, forsaken war hero as a way of highlighting the real situation that VOTSA and their associated groups worldwide are attempting to resolve. Donation links are included at the end of the book:

Australia:
http://www.votsa.org.au(link is external)
http://360.org.au(link is external)

Canada:
http://vetscanada.org/(link is external)
http://woundedwarriors.ca/home/(link is external)

New Zealand:
http://fallenheroes.org.nz/(link is external)
http://rsa.org.nz/(link is external)

United Kingdom:
http://www.soldierscharity.org/(link is external)
http://www.britishlegion.org.uk(link is external)

United States:
http://www.va.gov/homeless/(link is external)
http://www.legion.org/careers/homeslessvethelp