Special Forces - Reviews

There are so many reviews of Special Forces all over the web, and so much feedback from readers since the publication of the first chapters in 2006, it is an impossible task to gather it all, or even just a fraction of it. It doesn't help that I've lost all my feedback emails from a dedicated account, because that account got hacked. I shall forever remember the many words that have been said about Special Forces, though.

Thank you to every reader who ever took the time to feedback via email, discussion forum, review site, or anywhere else. Thank you.

All feedback below is copyright of the respective author. I do apologise that for most I lost the identification of the author.

Review © DBRAINHAILINGJOB at DBRAINHAILINGJOB (full review) (September 2011)

"I won't be doing a review because I don't know how to properly critique a book. This post is just to vent what I am feeling right now about this mind-blowing book I have read a night ago. I don't even want to think as I type as long as I am able to express everything I feel about this book that has tortured my mind all day! Mind-blowing, addictive, brutally honest, hauntingly captivating, imperfectly perfect, morbid, dark, and tenderly painful to read. That's how I describe this book. How on earth can I enjoy reading another book after this? (...)

However, it's not the same case to me if a novel aims to be brutally honest and to present a certain degree of reality without having the aim to "titillate" the senses of the readers with sweetness and tenderness that you often get from a typical romance novel. This book that I have just read is anything but sweet and tender. It has some great bed scenes (a lot, in fact), and haunting dialogues of revelations of powerful emotions (sorrow, ecstasy, happiness, love, violence, lust). It has a happy ending, alright, but the obstacles the main characters undergo involve torture, rape, bombings, murder, and some more crimes you wouldn't even want to imagine. The ending would not satisfy your fantasy as you wonder what other internal and external struggles the characters will encounter. (...)

There are a few things in the book that challenged my moral tolerance. In a typical romance novel, I get emotionally triggered when problems like "cheating" (or sleeping with another individual to be more precise) occurs. This I can still stand since such acts are really considered not good in any context of a romance novel. And so, such problems are solved as soon as there is reconciliation between the two characters. However, this particular book is way too much for my wholesome mind =). Some scenes repulsed me but I could not let go of this book no matter how disgusted I was as I read from scene to scene. (...)

This book had a tight grip on me. Oftentimes I wanted to stop reading but I could not bear the thought of not being able to keep track of the story of these two characters. I enjoy romance novels for the fantasy and the sweet feeling I get. On the other hand, this book does not have the perfection that I often seek from a romance novel. But it deeply moved me despite those deep dark scenes. In fact, it could be these deep dark scenes that have captivated me. A romance novel with perfect characters would be forgettable and not memorable. This book, however, in its most disgusting and morbid way, will surely stay in my memory for a long time. A simple line like "I fucking missed you" would tenderly give a painful kick to my heart. "

"Judging by the Special Forces series and HMM you are a special talent. Your milltary research is meticulous, and the sex scenes are so original. I love the mix of toughness and tenderness. I think Dan and Vadim's relationship demonstrate your skill as a writer. SF is a wonderful epic, and I cannot think of another book that explores the emotions and social dynamics of a m/m relationship over a 25 year period.

I love the fact that you do not pull your punches in your writing. You depict real men and you do not apologise for your uncompromising writing style.

Finally: Thank you for a great cover that I can actually read on public transport. It conveys the the toughness of the book better than any bared torso."

"I just finished the Special Forces saga! I loved not only it, but its length: it was great to be immersed in Dan/Vadim's world through so many pages and years. I'm truly impressed by how you managed the characters, development, plot, continuity, etc. throughout the whole 2000-odd pages. :) I feel kind of bereft now that it's over, and I have to re-emerge from their world. Thanks for a lovely and well-written read."

"I just wanted to say I found you accidentally whilst surfing the net, I am halfway through the Special Forces books and I think this is possibly the most amazing love story I ever read, I have spent a lot of the time sobbing my heart out, Vadim and Dan deserve a HEA, and some, I am almost afraid to read any more in case they are separated, I don't think I could bear it. Please don't ever stop writing these stories they are great!"

"This story was one of the best I've ever read! The shocking reality of war, was something I did expect to shake me like it did; but I have a deeper understanding what the men in uniform have gone through. Dan and Vadim will forever be engraved in my memory, for the sheer hard work it took to stay together in the war and even after the war. It was difficult to understand how an act of violence and pain can be twisted into an act or declaration of deep love. It was all so fasinating, I did not want it to end.

You are an excellent story teller and was shy to send a comment that would not express how much I enjoyed reading your novels. I thank you for having them as a free read here as well."

"Am reading your Special Forces fiction. I was expecting something closer to pornography, but this is storytelling at its best."

"I LOVE Special Forces! What an amazing book (hate to even call it a book, it's so much more than that) I've never read anything like it and doubt I ever will."

"I have just finished reading "Special Forces", (the most wonderful love story I have ever read), and I was wondering if you will be doing a follow-up after Veterans. Please say Yes!"

[Author's note: sorry, but there will never be anything more. Dan and Vadim's story has come to a natural end, while their lives - in all our imagination - live on.]

"Reading Special Forces was an incredible experience. And I wanted to thank you for sharing such amazing characters with us.

I loved all the books of course, but Soldiers will always be my favorite. Probably because it was all about Dan and Vadim, no secondary characters.

It doesn't mean I didn't like some of these characters: For example I'm almost as much in love with Hooch and Matt as I'm in love with Dan and Vadim."

"Just finished the first of your Special Forces trilogy. At 64 years, I didn't think I would ever again read anything that would warm me up as much as this story. Now I'm completely hooked. Thank you for fanning flames of emotion and pride that had almost died out. What can I say: you have the magic touch!"

"[Special Forces] is the best story I’ve ever read. I finished it many weeks ago but
the story and characters are still with me. They flitter through my mind sometimes throughout the day and I find myself thinking about certain scenes or conversations between Dan and Vadim.

Once I started reading I could not stop. I became immersed into the world of Dan and Vadim. The intensity and reality of these characters and their story had me believing and feeling it. Felt the hate Dan had for Vadim in the beginning. Then later fell in love with Vadim and was rooting for them to make it through alive and find the happiness they deserved together.

I experienced the journey of transformation along with these characters. I thought everything was black and white in the beginning…the war, good guys vs. bad guys, right and wrong. This story reflects life and humans are never simplistic, that we are complex and unpredictable, and this was convincingly captured."

"I haven't slept in an entire day (over 24 hours) to finish reading this, and my God... this is probably the best thing I've read in a long time. This made my heart break, in a good way."

Note: if you are the author of any of the feedback on this page and wish for it to be removed, please contact me.