Blue Shield by FX Holden is a military thriller with a twisty plot and setting in 2026. It has been two years since a fragile ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine was reached. But Russia disrupts the peace through Operation Barca, a deception campaign designed to destroy the Coalition of the Willing’s security guarantee to Ukraine. GRU Major Tomas Arsharvin is the brain behind the false-flag attacks on the assets, and these include the Turkish Submarine and Swedish AWACS. Russia uses a humanitarian convoy to attack the allies. What was designed to weaken the allies of Ukraine quickly escalates into a counteroffensive that is brutal between Ukrainian Marines, the British Royal Welsh Regiment, and Russian naval infantry. This book is packed with action and contemporary warfare with drones and missile strikes. What happens when the United States is provoked to enter the war? Can Russia withstand Operation Dnipro Shield?

FX Holden offers a work of fiction that felt real for me at this time, especially with the war in Iran and the disturbing images of the conflict. As a fan of techno-thrillers, Blue Shield retained my attention from the very first page to the last, and I marveled at the details about weapons. I enjoyed the multiple viewpoints, which are used to build suspense, from the autistic F-35 pilot Cyborg Leeson, whose "if-then" logic proves devastating in air combat, to the Ukrainian “Bear of Budjak” Beartooth Korenchuk, who flies obsolete Su-25s with courage. Some of the things that captured my attention include the author’s ability to speculate on technologies like the Golden Horde drone swarms and the Rassvet satellite networks, and to use them as part of warfare. I loved the quick pacing, the action-packed scenes, and the descriptive prose that was as enjoyable as the complex characters.

In FX Holden’s Blue Shield, after a ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine creates a monitored peace enforced by an international coalition, Major Tomas Arsharvin is secretly tasked by Colonel General Gennady Chuikov to prepare a campaign to draw that coalition into open conflict. As coalition pilots such as Georgia Leeson and Ukrainian officer Vadim Korenchuk patrol restricted airspace under strict rules, carefully staged encounters escalate into live engagements that force a response. Intelligence analyst Siku Smith tracks a Russian naval movement presented as humanitarian support, but it is actually a coastal assault set-up, putting the region back on the edge of war. While operations unfold across airspace and sea, the conflict moves toward a planned confrontation in a Ukrainian town, where a decisive fight is unavoidable.

FX Holden’s Blue Shield moves at a supremely fast pace. Holden takes readers through sharp, heart-stopping scenes, like the sudden destruction of a surveillance aircraft that forces pilots into combat during a ceasefire, and an airport explosion in Odesa that cripples airborne deployment just as reinforcements prepare to move. Among my favorite characters is Leeson, a strong female archetype who can track the enemy aircraft but still chooses restraint and discipline. Chuikov is brilliantly depicted in his ability to direct both military strikes and disinformation campaigns. The prose is technical where necessary, and the author is incredibly knowledgeable about tactics and materiel. The settings make the operational details come to life, from a submarine duel in the Black Sea to the shattered streets of Tatarbunary. Readers who enjoy modern military fiction and geopolitical thrillers will love this book.