{"id":575,"date":"2024-10-04T12:11:00","date_gmt":"2024-10-04T12:11:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/?p=575"},"modified":"2024-10-04T12:11:00","modified_gmt":"2024-10-04T12:11:00","slug":"book-review-operation-cavolo","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/?p=575","title":{"rendered":"Book Review: Operation Cavolo"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"wp-block-media-text alignwide is-stacked-on-mobile\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-media-text__content\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-group has-background\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-group__inner-container is-layout-constrained wp-block-group-is-layout-constrained\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-group is-vertical is-content-justification-center is-layout-flex wp-container-core-group-is-layout-1 wp-block-group-is-layout-flex\">\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center has-text-color has-large-font-size\"><strong><em>Operation Cavolo<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center has-regular-font-size\">by E.S. Benton<\/p>\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center\"><strong>Genre:<\/strong> Mystery, Thriller &amp; Suspense \/ Action<\/p>\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center\"><strong>ISBN: <\/strong>9781739251659<\/p>\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center\"><strong>Print Length:<\/strong> 332 pages<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"ub-buttons align-button-center orientation-button-row ub-flex-wrap wp-block-ub-button\">\n<div class=\"ub-button-container\">\n    <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/4ej85de\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"ub-button-block-main ub-button-medium ub-button-flex-medium\" rel=\"noopener\">\n<div class=\"ub-button-content-holder\"><span class=\"ub-button-icon-holder\"><\/span><span class=\"ub-button-block-btn\">Buy from Amazon<\/span>\n    <\/div>\n<p><\/p><\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"ub-button-container\">\n    <a href=\"https:\/\/bookshop.org\/a\/5423\/9781739251659\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"ub-button-block-main ub-button-medium ub-button-flex-medium\" rel=\"noopener\">\n<div class=\"ub-button-content-holder\"><span class=\"ub-button-icon-holder\"><\/span><span class=\"ub-button-block-btn\">Buy from Bookshop<\/span>\n    <\/div>\n<p><\/p><\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><em>Reviewed by Peggy Kurkowski<\/em><\/p>\n<h2 class=\"ub_advanced_heading wp-block-ub-advanced-heading\"><strong><\/strong><strong><\/strong><strong>Alpha Team is racing the clock to stop a global toxin conspiracy, but a web of deceit and betrayals threatens their search for an antidote before millions of innocents die.\u00a0<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>When a mass poisoning alerts the members of Alpha Team to a rogue actor out for vengeance, they have eighty-four hours to avert the lethal countdown and find the antidote in <em>Operation Cavolo, <\/em>the second book in the Silent Codename series by E.S. Benton.<\/p>\n<p>Six months after stopping the nefarious organization Fellscient from unleashing global natural disasters via the weather, Alpha Team and their alphabetic siblings Bravo, Charlie, and Delta, are back to stopping one-off criminals. But Fellscient will not be stopped in their quest for world domination, and one Captain Frederick \u201cKale\u201d Bridge has a vial up his sleeve that promises to bring the world to its knees.<\/p>\n<p><span><\/span><\/p>\n<p>Ten years ago, Kale and his team were ambushed in a remote jungle village and imprisoned and tortured for sixteen months. Kale escaped with the help of a mysterious agent, and now acts out his vengeance by poisoning food in a major factory. Indeed, for Kale <strong><em>\u201crevenge is much like whisky. It might burn, but it\u2019s worth it, and the longer is ages, the better it gets.\u201d<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>When people fall sick, and many of Kale\u2019s personal targets die, Alpha Team and their urbanely dressed French boss (named Bosse) must act quickly to find the antidote. Meanwhile, Scott (aka Alpha One) welcomes a recruit, Mia (Alpha Seven) whose on-the-job training is about to get quite dangerous, indeed.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Along with the return of their previous nemesis, Alpha Team learns that a diabolical leadership structure within Fellscient known as the \u201cFive Limbs of the Beast\u201d is looking for a replacement \u201climb\u201d after the demise of one of its members in <em>Operation Storm\u2019s Eye, <\/em>the first book in the series. Scott quickly learns that Kale is gunning for the position and will dangle the poison cure above their heads to achieve his aims.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Benton is a skillful action writer whose elaborate battle pieces are clever, inventive\u2014gun grips that are coded to the blood vessels, for one\u2014and just absurdly fun to read. With Alpha Team once again inserting themselves into death-defying firefights, Benton uses cinematic jump cuts in time to reveal each operative\u2019s role as the mayhem unfolds. It is <em>Mission Impossible<\/em> on steroids.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>But the closer Alpha Team gets to Kale, the more secrets are revealed of past associations and hidden truths. Benton has compelling surprises in store for his characters and even bigger decisions of loyalty they must make individually.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>For Daniel (aka Alpha Two), the mystery of his parents\u2019 death in a car accident is uncovered as well as the sinister machinations of those engineering Alpha Team\u2019s involvement in tracking down the antidote. Daniel\u2019s undercover operation introduces the team to the evil Grenham, who also seeks to manipulate Kale for his own evasive purposes, but Daniel is wise to what Grenham\u2019s story really is. After all, he knows that <strong><em>\u201cthe first person to dictate a story controls the narrative.\u201d\u00a0<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Benton improves on his first outing by providing more backstory for Daniel, Scott, and Anthony (aka Alpha Five), who all seek closure for events in the first novel, but the sheer number of plot twists and new enemies introduced can be hard to follow in this one. Still, better an embarrassment of riches than a plot plagued with a poverty of ideas.<\/p>\n<p>Can the team find the mastermind of chaos manipulating each of them? Benton teases that there is more in store\u2014even after a cliffhanger and explosive denouement deep in the jungles of Senegal\u2014as Alpha Team finally catches up to Kale in a showdown that could make allies enemies and vice versa.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Buckle up, action lovers\u2026<em>Operation Cavolo <\/em>gives you what you came for and then some, upping the ante in this compelling fight against the forces of evil<em>.<\/em><\/p>\n<div class=\"ub-buttons align-button-center orientation-button-row ub-flex-wrap wp-block-ub-button\">\n<div class=\"ub-button-container\">\n    <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/4ej85de\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"ub-button-block-main ub-button-medium ub-button-flex-medium\" rel=\"noopener\">\n<div class=\"ub-button-content-holder\"><span class=\"ub-button-icon-holder\"><\/span><span class=\"ub-button-block-btn\">Buy from Amazon<\/span>\n    <\/div>\n<p><\/p><\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"ub-button-container\">\n    <a href=\"https:\/\/bookshop.org\/a\/5423\/9781739251659\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"ub-button-block-main ub-button-medium ub-button-flex-medium\" rel=\"noopener\">\n<div class=\"ub-button-content-holder\"><span class=\"ub-button-icon-holder\"><\/span><span class=\"ub-button-block-btn\">Buy from Bookshop<\/span>\n    <\/div>\n<p><\/p><\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>Thank you for reading Peggy Kurkowski\u2019s book review of<em> Operation Cavolo <\/em>by E.S. Benton! If you liked what you read, please spend some more time with us at the links below.<\/p>\n<div class=\"ub-buttons align-button-center orientation-button-row ub-flex-wrap wp-block-ub-button\">\n<div class=\"ub-button-container\">\n    <a href=\"https:\/\/independentbookreview.com\/category\/book-review\/\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"ub-button-block-main ub-button-medium ub-button-flex-medium\" rel=\"noopener\">\n<div class=\"ub-button-content-holder\"><span class=\"ub-button-icon-holder\"><\/span><span class=\"ub-button-block-btn\">Book Reviews<\/span>\n    <\/div>\n<p><\/p><\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"ub-button-container\">\n    <a href=\"https:\/\/independentbookreview.com\/category\/blog\/\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"ub-button-block-main ub-button-medium ub-button-flex-medium\" rel=\"noopener\">\n<div class=\"ub-button-content-holder\"><span class=\"ub-button-icon-holder\"><\/span><span class=\"ub-button-block-btn\">IBR Blog<\/span>\n    <\/div>\n<p><\/p><\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"ub-button-container\">\n    <a href=\"https:\/\/independentbookreview.com\/writers-only\/\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"ub-button-block-main ub-button-medium ub-button-flex-medium\" rel=\"noopener\">\n<div class=\"ub-button-content-holder\"><span class=\"ub-button-icon-holder\"><\/span><span class=\"ub-button-block-btn\">Resources for Writers<\/span>\n    <\/div>\n<p><\/p><\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>The post <a href=\"https:\/\/independentbookreview.com\/2024\/10\/04\/book-review-operation-cavolo\/\">Book Review: Operation Cavolo<\/a> appeared first on <a href=\"https:\/\/independentbookreview.com\/\">Independent Book Review<\/a>.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Operation Cavolo by E.S. Benton Genre: Mystery, Thriller &amp; Suspense \/ Action ISBN: 9781739251659 Print Length: 332 pages Buy from Amazon Buy from Bookshop Reviewed by Peggy Kurkowski Alpha Team is racing the clock to stop a global toxin conspiracy, but a web of deceit and betrayals threatens their search for an antidote before millions [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":576,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-575","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-bookreviews"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/575"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=575"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/575\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/576"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=575"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=575"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=575"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}