Helpful Score: 2
(Spoiler warning!)
Be prepared for a huge disappointment if you've read
the prior adventures of Philip Mercer from this author.
Dubrul more or less disembowels his hero in this work and leaves off in a
cliffhanger ending which has the reader severely disappointed and unwilling
to witness any further horrors to such a good hero in any subsequent works.
All his earlier books were a thrill to read and one gets the impression that Dubrul simply wanted to 'kill off' his hero for some reason, perhaps he was bored of writing these stories or carried away with his own successes.
At any event, if Mercer returns it must be as a completely broken man.
I have never seen any author so disrespect the hero and to be able to
successfully resurrect the remains after breaking his soul so completely.
Be prepared for a huge disappointment if you've read
the prior adventures of Philip Mercer from this author.
Dubrul more or less disembowels his hero in this work and leaves off in a
cliffhanger ending which has the reader severely disappointed and unwilling
to witness any further horrors to such a good hero in any subsequent works.
All his earlier books were a thrill to read and one gets the impression that Dubrul simply wanted to 'kill off' his hero for some reason, perhaps he was bored of writing these stories or carried away with his own successes.
At any event, if Mercer returns it must be as a completely broken man.
I have never seen any author so disrespect the hero and to be able to
successfully resurrect the remains after breaking his soul so completely.
Helpful Score: 1
DuBrul writes his most creative novel, mixing science fiction with James Bond and current events. However, I felt that he missed the chance for his "hero" to take the next step in his evolution as a character. DuBrul does break from his characteristic formulas in this book, adding twists and surprises, and yet still at the end, I feel the book falls flat.
