A group of terrorists plan to attack Washington DC with the intent of causing panic and a massive disruption of services; a ragtag group of civilians with unique talents are the city’s only hope. And this is just the beginning of an effort by jihadist to destroy targets in America and undermine the public’s confidence in the ability of the government to protect them. The civilian group, under the leadership of a Shaman and a secret military leader, must come to recognize their unique abilities and put faith in things outside of their normal understanding. Part of the group can communicate with animals and part of the group can work miracles with technology, but only by working together will they be able to defeat the terrorist bent on destroying the American way.

Guardian Dawn: Common Ground Book 1 by Anthony Stevens is an interesting look at how a group of mismatched civilians with unusual talents can bring down terrorist plots. Each of the main participant’s stories are followed as they find the whole group and then as they come together as a unit. The plotting and plans of the terrorist group are also laid out for the reader so that all aspects of the plan are known before the attacks happen. Then the action is followed while each member of the group encounters a different part of the terrorist group. This is not an easy, light story. The violence of the terrorist group is extreme as is their disdain of anyone who is not of their belief system. They do not care if innocent people are killed as they see everyone as the enemy. I really enjoyed the tale and watching as the civilian talent tries to rise to the top to defeat the enemy and save as many other people as they can. I only have one complaint; there were times in the story where I got lost on which character was doing what, I suspect there was also a time or two that the character name was wrong, which added to the confusion. The book as a whole is good enough that I was able to overlook these errors but I sincerely hope that this type of error will be fixed for the second book in the series. If you like stories about terrorist plots and how civilians can fight them, then you will enjoy this story.

Reviewed by: Stephanie B.