The Colonel’s Revenge

A Mateus de Silva Adventure (Koehlerbooks, 2026)

By Jeffrey K. Schmoll

Genre: Fiction – Action/Adventure

Pages (Print): 252

Via: Author’s request

Note: We received a complimentary copy of this book for an honest review.

“Revenge is a dish best served cold” – Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan.

So. You may want to break out your winter gear and an extra blankie for the newest action/adventure book by Jeffrey Schmoll. Cuz we’re talkin’ Edmond Dantes-esque revenge here as expert writing, pitch-perfect pacing and a lightning-fast plot race across pages and places like a runaway freight train in The Colonel’s Revenge.

Yeppers, this story has it all. Unusual settings: Angola, Namibia and South Africa. Friends lost on the battlefield. Diamonds, gems, treasure. A desperate fight for survival in a brutal, illegal gold mine. Losing a family. Finding a grandson. Love. Loyalty. Betrayal. Second chances. And enough high-octane adventure to send you into orbit. I’ll let Mom tell ya more. (Cuz, ya know. Mom. Insert eye roll here.)

Set in Angola, 1984, the first chapter starts off with a bang. Literally. When Cuban Col. Juan Mateus de Silva is fighting for the Soviet-backed People’s Movement for the Liberation of Angola. A brutal civil war is raging. And UNITA is raining down howitzer fire on his position.

Unjustly accused of cowardice by his arrogant, inept superior after his force is wiped out, de Silva forms a plan. A plan for revenge. Once in motion, it will move him from decorated officer to traitor.

Then all of a sudden, faster than you can say “Fidel Castro,” the action shifts to Harvey Mudd College in Claremont, California. It’s 2011. And we follow dueling timelines for a while. More on that in a min. So, keep your hair on, Cookie.

Anyway, de Silva escapes the general’s clutches and is rescued by Johann van Jaarsveld. Sort of. De Silva is later betrayed by this guy. The colonel winds up as slave labor in a pretty nasty illegal gold mine in South Africa, the Bekebeke. He’s trapped there for decades. (Kimber: For the record, “Harry” is an idiot, old sod. Wot?)

We then find out that the colonel’s grandson, also named Mateus, is a college prof at Harvey Mudd. He and some Caltech friends have formed a non-profit focused on providing clean drinking water and other necessities to poverty-stricken Angolans.

When young Mateus receives an old letter from the colonel hidden in the de Silva family Bible, the “four from California” launch a daring, desperate rescue plan…

The colonel was out there. His only family. Whatever it took, he was going to bring him home.

Note that there’s some profanity in this book. Which we never like. But it’s not pervasive or gratuitous. So, we’re letting it slide. Just this once, Sweetkins. Also, we got a little lost in the whole casino stuff in Part 3, The Reckoning. Not our thing. We were also scratching our heads as to how the “four from California” – Caltech grads and a college prof – manage so much expertise with high-end and highly complex military grade weaponry. Note also that you have to keep two sets of characters, two-time frames (1980s and 2011-ish), and two sets of action in two different continents (North America and Africa) straight in your head early on. So, you may want to bring some bread crumbs. And a map.

Indeed, it took one of us a little while to get into the Angola – Namibia – Cuba – South Africa – California – Texas – South Africa again thing. (Hi, Mom.) But let’s not get picky here, okay?

Flip side: Action/adventure fans will enjoy The Colonel’s Revenge. Think Indiana Jones meets Ethan Hunt meets Rambo meets Edmond Dantes. The action skims along briskly as the story hurtles down the track to a nail-biting crescendo. (Kimber: You might want to buckle up, Buttercup.) The plot is quick and clever. Intense, absorbing and engaging, Revenge is as sharp as well-aged cheddar. (Kimber: Cheese? What? Mom: You eat what you want and I’ll eat what I want, okay?)

The front-page headline, printed in four-inch block letters usually reserved for moon landings or presidential assassinations, shouted…. (to find that out, you’ll have to read the book. Heh heh heh.)

Finally, masterful writing, strong story-telling skills and a high-energy narrative will keep you turning pages till the very end. (Who needs to chug Red Bull when you can have Revenge instead?)

Bonus points: We Totally Love-ified the Lord of the Rings references. We also love Alexandre Dumas and Edmond D. Revenge reminded us of both.

Kimber: Speaking of reminder-ing, I had to keep reminding Mom about The Most Important Time of the Day while she was reading this book. That would be dinnertime, of course. Cuz Mom claims she got so absorbed in the book once it got rolling, she “lost track of time.” So annoying. While we’re on the subject of annoying – sort  of – that Khan dude? Never fear, friends. I’ve got him out-classed and out-thunk sixteen ways from Sunday. Every day of the week. Especially at dinnertime! So there!

Meanwhile, The Colonel’s Revenge is the second book in the Mateus de Silva adventure series. Like its predecessor, The Treasure of Tundavala Gap, Revenge’s cliffhanger ending is ripe for a sequel. So keep an eye out, my little hobbits.

Our Rating: 4.0