After leaving the Special Forces, Harry Stoner thought he wanted to live out the rest of his life in peace. He takes a desk job at the Defence Intelligence Agency, but soon finds that peace doesn't suit him. He's a hands-on type, accustomed to fieldwork. When information of an arms deal crosses his desk, he can't resist going along for the ride. He ends up saving that day. In doing so, he angers powerful people and loses his chance at an undisturbed semi-retirement.
Harry gets into more and more trouble as, almost by chance, he uncovers more and more threats to his country. On a flight down to Florida to help his daughter he ends up on the same plane as a couple of terrorists involved in a drugs-for-arms transaction. He upsets their apple cart, setting more people against him. Then, after landing in Florida, he finds his son-in-law has been drawn into a cabal of anti-Castro drug smugglers. Harry resolves to do something about that as well.
Fighting the good fight on several fronts, Harry doggedly holds on to his sense of duty, both to his family and his country, no matter what happens. And boy, do things happen! How else could it be? He's up against people willing to betray their country for fun and profit, a set of cardboard Middle-Eastern terrorists, and assorted fanatics and profiteers associated with various other causes. Yes, the bad guys are truly bad, with few if any redeeming qualities and the good guys--other than Harry--are, by-and-large, either well-meaning bumblers or men who are shackled by bureaucracy.
The thriller portion of Flash of Emerald is first-rate. Modern-day thrillers are essentially fantasies. Flash of Emerald is no exception. Most of the events in the book are improbable, and Harry most decidedly has the gods on his side. The bad guys are contemporary dragons--mindlessly evil for no apparent reason. A good bit of a thriller's success depends on the author's ability to get the reader to accept that the improbable events and adventures are taking place in our world, rather than in a fantasy realm. Author J. M. Taylor's knowledge of military procedures and personalities, and the solid setting in Florida help root the novel in the "real" world and make it well worth reading.
Sandwiched around the thriller is a romance that, simply put, doesn't work and seems almost an afterthought. Fortunately, it doesn't ruin the book, but it comes close. As the novel opens, we are shown young Harry, falling for a woman in the Cuban resistance. He has to leave her behind, but he never forgets her. He, nevertheless, does get married, to a woman named Lynn. She seems to exist--at least in terms of the novel--largely so she can die horribly, and so Harry can have a daughter in need of his Special Forces talents.
Better than halfway through the book Harry falls into the arms of a lady by name of Annie, whose eyes provide the "flash of emerald" of the title. She persists to the end and the novel fades into the sunset with them in each other's arms. It wouldn't take much to write Annie out as a love interest, which makes this reviewer suspect she may have been written in to give a romance element to the novel.
Why would anyone do this, you ask? Well, the reviewer answers, rhetorically, it could be because romance sells. Or it could be because the world of electronic publishing remains controlled and driven by authors of romance fiction. Whatever the reason, Flash of Emerald would have been a better book without the romance sandwich and with more substance to Harry's relationship with his wife.
Still, anyone looking for a fast light read would do well to consider Flash of Emerald. This reviewer gives it three-and-a-half "Bonds" (shaken, not stirred) out of possible five.