Criminal Investigation Detachment

This new book by top-selling author Don Bendell is clearly Bendell at his best, and even better than in the past, which is something of an accomplshment all by itself for Bendell has already demonstrated his considerable skills as a master story teller in past books. In CRIMINAL INVESTIGATION DETACHMENT author Don Bendell weaves a story that is so plausible as to make the reader wonder if it really happened; and what a story it is! This is the work of a master and it is both highly readable and fascinating. Filled with action and suspense, and informed by the author's thorough understanding of both human nature and the special culture of the American military, this book is a must read.

Anyone in the military, law enforcement or emergency med will love the main character's sense of humor -- often dark and laugh-out-loud funny. The plot action is fast, fluid, and fun. Author Don Bendell was a green beret in Vietnam and gives a great insider view into, not only the CID and the military, but what it is to think and act "SF" (Special Forces/green berets). As a martial arts master instructor, the writer understands how to layout an intense and suspenseful battle between hero army Major Bobby Samuels and the bad guy. You feel like you are right there with them, in the thick of the action in this classic fight between totally opposite combatants. Bobby Samuels is as courageous, heroic, and romantic as the villain is coldly efficient, calculating, and fanatical -- but neither character is a black and white caricature --Bendell adds complexities and vulnerabilities that make both real enough for a satisfying read. Also, every reader is gonna just love the main character's ability to think outside the box, to use "expedient weapons" -- even the verbal kind, and to give comeuppance to those in power who should have realized that with power comes responsibility, not arrogance and exploitation.

At Fort Benning, Criminal Investigation Detachment Major Bobby Samuels successfully completes a disgusting case involving a commanding officer abusing his position of authority to almost rape a direct-reports enlisted soldier. After reading the Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ) rights to Colonel Rodriguez, Smith leaves Fort Benning to return to his duty station the Pentagon. Bobby thinks his late wife would have supported his return to active military after 9/11 as a CID cop, having been an LAPD civilian homicide detective, and not a Special Forces soldier as he was during his first tour. Commanding General of the US Forces in Iraq Jonathan Perry briefs Samuels on his next Top Secret assignment. Samuels is to go undercover as an enlisted man to investigate several bombs that killed Americans in the Baghdad Green Zone and other locations in Iraq. Working undercover he must identity the Saboteur who probably is an Al-Qaeda operative working inside. CRIMINAL INVESTIGATION DETACHMENT is a terrific look at the work of the CID, insight into the UCMJ, and from a military perspective the Global War on Terrorism (GWOT) especially in Iraq. Though prejudiced on the side that the war in Iraq is just and part of the GWOT (reminiscent of Sergeant Barry Sadler's Ballad Of the Green Berets), the story line is action-packed as Major Samuels tries to uncover who the saboteur is. The hero is a fabulous ethical patriot trying to do the right honorable thing for his country and for the military. Readers whether they agree with Don Bendell's position on Iraq or not will agree that he has written a delightful military police procedural that provides insight into those who really have sacrificed plenty during the GWOT. Harriet Klausner