Book Review: Unbreakable

Unbreakable: A Section 8 Novelby Stephanie TylerSignet Eclipse, 2013 Unbreakable is Stephanie Tyler's second "Section 8" novel, following Surrender from the spring of 2013, and both books include fairly early on a clarifying description of what she means by the term, since she must know it retains something of an iconic status from its depictions in American pop culture as a thoroughly dishonorable discharge from the military - Corporal Klinger from M*A*S*H and so on. Her version of "Section 8" has a maverick, heroic cast:

Section 8 had been assembled in the eighties, comprised of seven men and one woman who'd gotten dishonorably discharged from the miiltary for many different reasons. Typically, for not being leadable enough ...

These unleadable types are conscripted for secretive 'black ops' missions in which they're fairly obviously portrayed as not only unfit for duty but more fit for duty, a group of true-blue heroes. A stretch then, certainly, one hell of a stretch, but if we grant it, Tyler has a fast-paced story to tell, this time about a tattoo artist named Gunner, the son of former agents, who'd hoped never to deal with Section 8 again - and about an agent named Avery who has a colorful history with Gunner:

And somewhere along the way, maybe even from the first day she'd slammed into his shop, she'd fallen for Gunner. The tattoo he'd given her had cemented it, pink and white flowers trailing along her side, grazing a breast and a hip. It was so graceful. Perfect.

When old conflicted loyalties come back to ensnare Gunner, a well-organized international plot unfolds, with Tyler in near-complete control of all the moving parts. She has a strong narrative voice and seems especially engaged by tough-guy (or gal) scenes, but she keeps a line of tenderness going throughout the book, voiced by one character this way:

"I don't think making a decision with your heart is ever wrong ... There are always going to be things you didn't do. But that's what it is - a different path. Different, not right, and so it shouldn't be a regret."

Reading Surrender and then even more so reading Unbreakable, you get the strong impression that Tyler herself is probably not a black ops mercenary (a visit to her delightful website tends to confirm this). These hard-bitten characters of hers get drugged more often than ticket-holders at Woodstock, and despite their carefully-honed secret agent instincts, positively everything catches them by surprise. But then, readers probably aren't coming to a book like this for the Tom Clancy-style details. They're more interested in tattoo-on-tattoo action - and Tyler doesn't disappoint.