Claude Berube Delivers an Action-Packed Thriller with THE ADEN EFFECT [BOOK REVIEW]

By Alexander Martin

I’m quick to bore.  Bored by movies.  Bored by books.  Bored by television.

Don’t even get me started on dating…

But in The Aden Effect, Claude Berube delivers an action-packed, page-turning narrative that did not disappoint.  Not since reading Clancy’s The Hunt for Red October did I not want a book to end.

From the stand point of having been a counter-piracy assault force commander who ‘walked the beat’ in the Gulf of Aden back in 2010, this book brought back the genuine sights, sounds and smells of a region and a mission that I’ll never forget…but did so within the context of a colorful narrative that truly excites.

The story follows Connor Stark, a former naval officer who lives anonymously in the rugged Hebrides of Scotland after having been dishonorably discharged until he is called back to service by the American Ambassador to Yemen, C.J. Sumner, to assist with countering the threat of pirates as she is embroiled in negotiations intended to gain access to oil fields off the coast of Socotra.  Stark is the only one the Yemenis will trust, and so Sumner has Stark recalled to duty.  This time he is not fighting for country or service, but to regain his tarnished reputation.  It is in this setting that Stark soon discovers a greater threat to the region and the country after uncovering ties with a prominent shipping company and Yemen’s ruling family which leads to a deeper chance discovery that carriers the action even further.

From drug trafficking, to Somali pirates, to high stake politics, Berube has knocked this one out of the park.  Steven Pressfield was spot on when he commented that the author “has given us the toughest, brainiest, and most interesting new hero since Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan.  The Aden Effect is thinking man’s military thriller.”

Sales of The Aden Effect started this week.  I highly recommend you pick up a copy to give yourself an entertainment alternative from all of the electoral theater that’s forthcoming.  Unlike this year’s politics, this story will not disappoint.

Alexander Martin is the President & Co-Founder of Skye Maritime, a private maritime security company based in southern California.  In 2010, he led the level-IV boarding of the Magellan Star, capturing 9 Somali pirates and rescuing 11 hostages.  He is a graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy, a sailing enthusiast and lives in La Jolla, California, where he was raised.