Stefan Vučak’s Final Limit is outstanding geopolitical drama with a dash of science fiction that has the muscular pace I want from a thriller this ambitious. Vučak is first-rate with military procedures, giving every technical detail a role inside the scene. The E-2D Hawkeye sequence proves it when four DF-11 missile tracks appear near a carrier group, leaving the crew only seconds to interpret what they are seeing. Thomas Meecham happens to be my favorite character, whose impatience for results gives his exchanges with Emily Sands a sharp, funny edge that fits both of them. Vučak also understands how military danger rises from judgment under pressure, and he uses it throughout the book. Captain Vance Twayne proves that aboard USS Gridley as a Chinese cutter closes near Scarborough Shoal. Readers who want intelligent geopolitical science fiction should put Final Limit high on their reading list. Very highly recommended.

Read the prequel novels: F/X-26 and the 28th Amendment.