Fast-paced and well-plotted, Project Amber: The Milestone Incident by Carl Lakeland is a riveting story that features intrigue and a woman’s unwitting journey to the discovery of who she really is and what she’s meant to be. Angelique “Angel” enjoys a lot of popularity and respect in the media world, thanks to her uncanny ability to unearth interesting news stories. This time around, Angel is about to uncover a startling truth — a nuclear powered aircraft entering Australian territory, and without permission. There is a secret, and an ominous project that could unleash something worse than humanity has known before, but as she pursues this story, she begins to understand that every step she’s taken thus far has been designed and laid out for her — but by whom? Has she been working for herself or has someone been behind the scenes, pushing her on a path that seems to be hers, but which could end up in her own destruction?

I loved the pacing, the drama, the intensity, and the sense of realism injected into this story. It starts with a bang and the reader’s attention is arrested from the very first page with the intense action. But there is no slowing down, as the author leads the reader from one fascinating page to the next gripping one, each page filled with well-crafted scenes, great dialogues, and awesome descriptions. The setting in Australia is well done, and the reader feels like the author is part of the landscapes and the culture he describes. Carl Lakeland’s writing is crisp and he knows how to create colorful and strong images in the minds of readers. I particularly enjoyed the excellent prose, the balance in the overall writing, and the way the conflict is handled. Project Amber: The Milestone Incident is a great entry for a series and I can’t wait to read the next book. It’s a story that will appeal to a wide range of reader interests — thriller fans, plus crime, suspense, and general fiction fans. This is a book for you if you are into writing that is upbeat, characters that are real, and plot lines that compel you to keep on turning the pages.

Don’t worry about aliens coming to earth – they’re already here and they have been for eons. They look like us, they talk like us and they’re almost impossible to distinguish from us. This is the scenario presented to us in Carl Lakeland’s Project Amber: The Milestone Incident. When a successful young television journalist, Angel, has the temerity to ask the U.S. Secretary of State about the visit to Australia of a nuclear powered carrier, all hell breaks loose for this young woman. Unbeknownst to her, Angel is someone special and has been groomed all her life for the new role she will undertake as a member of Australia’s elite Secret Service (ASIO). In a story set principally in the outback of Australia, Angel will join forces with an elite team to try to stop the destructive events that are unfolding around the world that could easily see life on earth, as we know it, end. She alone has the ability to stop Project Amber and Operation Milestone from devastating our world in a nuclear holocaust.

I particularly enjoyed the opportunity to read about another country’s Secret Service, rather than the USA. It is clear that Carl Lakeland has done his research well in Project Amber: The Milestone Incident. From his descriptions of the facilities at Pine Gap and Nurrangar, right through to the weaponry used and the attitudes and beliefs of these dedicated elite forces, it all rang very true for me. As an ex-pat New Zealander, it was refreshing to read some good old-fashioned “Aussie” banter, with its unique phrases and expressions. The story is super-fast and action-filled, quite often literally leaving the reader panting for breath. I found the premise of aliens always living among us to be believable and even the seemingly impossible “magic” to be acceptable, and this is a credit to Lakeland’s skill as a writer. I was intrigued to read the short excerpt at the end of the next book. It looks fascinating and I will be checking it out when it becomes available. The ability to prime a reader for the next book in a series is critical to authors and Lakeland has done that well. It’s an excellent fast-paced, science fiction thriller for fans of the genre.

Australian television journalist, Angelique (Angel), is about to have a very memorable thirtieth birthday. She’s scored a major career coup in that she’s about to sit down to a one-on-one interview with the U.S. Secretary of State. The protocols for the interview are already in place, with the benign interview questions and prepared responses provided – and a twenty-second delayed buffer on the broadcast insisted upon. Angel has no intention of sticking to the boring question and answer script after finding out from her colleague that the USS John Steinbeck, a U.S. nuclear-powered super carrier, is berthed in Melbourne harbor despite having been refused entry by the Nuclear Safety Commission. Throwing caution to the wind, she has the interview switched to a live telecast and confronts the Secretary of State about the super carrier’s unauthorized entry into the harbor. However, Angel doesn’t get any response as the other woman is quickly whisked off set. Expecting a huge pushback from her boss the next day, Angel is shocked to learn from him that a dozen Chinook helicopters had left the Steinbeck’s flight deck in the early hours of the morning, heading inland, further tightening the shroud of secrecy surrounding the presence of the super carrier. Angel is given the assignment to uncover the truth, but she soon finds herself in the middle of something she hadn’t bargained for…

Strap on your seat belt and hold on tight because you’re in for a helluva ride! Project Amber: The Milestone Incident by Carl Lakeland sucks you in from the very first page and doesn’t let up. There’s a nice balance between the narrative, dialogue and the action. The story is fast-paced and hard to peg into a particular genre as it is part military thriller and part sci-fi. No matter how you want to characterize Lakeland’s work, it’s one hundred percent entertaining. Angel’s character is sympathetic, likable and flawed, which makes her the ideal protagonist. She’s got some baggage from her past and her struggles with these inner demons give her character such intensity and dimension. There are many plot twists to this story and, while too many plot twists can confuse readers and ultimately lose them, that’s not the case here. Project Amber: The Milestone Incident delivers what it promises – a great story from beginning to end!