Head Game by Tim Downs Published by: WestBow Press (2007) 368 pages Rating: 9/10 Buy it Now:    Also by Tim Downs: First the Dead Ends of the Earth

There are two types of villains in classic literature - the "tough guy" villain who combats the hero with brute force or strength, and the intelligent villain who combats the hero with his mind.

Tim Downs has taken the second choice for the villain of Head Game, and it lends itself to a pretty intense psychological thrillride. The heroes of the story are three members of a military psy-ops team. Back during Desert Storm, the three worked together creating propaganda leaflets to convince Iraqi soldiers to surrender. Today... someone is returning the favor. Only he doesn't just want the three men to surrender in battle; he wants them to surrender in life.

The novel begins as Cale, the team's psych expert and Pug, the intelligence officer, discover a suicide note from their third companion - Kirby the illustrator. In fact, Kirby has left a comic-book-style suicide note behind (drawn by Tim Downs, also!).

It isn't long before Cale's life starts falling apart. As readers, we know that the disasters are orchestrated by the mysterious enemy, but to Cale, it's all random. Crisis after crisis strikes, driving him deeper into despair.

Downs knows how to deal out the anguish... and he knows just how far too take it. Just at the moment when it seems so dark and you're not sure you (or Cale) can take any more... Downs dispenses that one sudden moment of hope. It's perfect timing.

The suspense is palpable. Even after the hope enters the story, there's still much to be done to resolve things. A couple of characters are a bit "stock," but since their role isn't that large, it's not much of a complaint.

The illustrated introduction is well done and adds a nice touch to the story (and an important clue if you know where to look...). Highly Recommended.