Following Shadows of Steel is Fatal Terrain, a continuation of the Patrick McLanahan / Brad Elliot storyline.   The next in my quest to read all of the Old Dog series from Dale Brown.

This time, the conflict is in China.  Specifically centered on the "rogue province" of Taiwan.  The Taiwanese leadership declares independence from China, which is not received well.  Gen. Elliot (ret) is recruited by Sky Masters, Inc. to fly one of the EB-52 Megafortresses with McLananahan and crew on contracted Sig-Int recon missions in the Formosa Strait.  When a Taiwanese frigate is attacked by Chinese navy ships, Elliot launches against them, exposing the stealth missions and heating things up.  Major conflict ensues.  Nukes are used.  Fun by all.

I found it very helpful, and quite enlightening , to read up on Taiwan's real status in today's world.  Wikipedia's article on the Republic of China (Taiwan) is concise enough to get a feeling of the complexity of the situation over there.  While not one of Brown's best works, it was very entertaining, if a bit disturbing.  The portrayal of Elliot was a bit over the top, but worked for the story, and the reasoning why was evident in the end.