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Review Date: 9/15/2023
Worth reading. An intricate tale, twists and turns and a plot that is Jonathan Keller's trademark. My issue with this, otherwise it's five stars, is that by the end of the book, so many characters have been introduced it's hard to keep track of who the main characters are talking about. I see this more and more with authors who get deeper into their projects and go all Robert Ludlum on us and aim for complex plots with gobs of characters.
Review Date: 1/22/2019
I've like all the DeMille books I've read...until this one. I wanted to put it down several times. I found the story to have a fatal flaw. It's boring. This story lacks any complexity in the plot. It's very linear with too little action. I was always wondering, Is anything exciting going to happen? The ending is okay, but it's all narrative, no dialogue, and written more like a memoir. I will read another DeMille book sometime but he sure better up his game from this poor effort.
Review Date: 2/22/2018
After all these years, this is still a terrific read (the ORIGINAL movie is really good too). Highly recommended.
Review Date: 5/31/2019
This is a long story, which is fine with me. It's a good read, has well-defined characters who are believable, mostly, well, sort of, and a pretty decent plot. The writing is a little bit off. This story is not as well crafted as some of Baldacci's earlier works. I mean, "Her shoulder length hair fell freely to her shoulders." Really?
Review Date: 12/30/2021
someone gave this three stars. I'll give it four (not many get five). Actually, I loved the story, loved the two main characters, and thought all in all it's a very good read. I will order more Tim Tigner books.
Review Date: 7/18/2023
I got 80% of the way slogging through this book and wondered, am I really going to finish this? It'w flawed to be sure. Lots of characters to follow; the build up of suspense wasn't particularly trenchant; and this romantic angle was thrown in that I found not only bizarre but detracted from the story - and it kept coming back! The climax, however (and no pun intended) was quite good. Not first rate, but engrossing enough. Three stars should just about do it.
Review Date: 4/29/2022
Three stars. Not my usual rating for this line of Michael Bennett stories. First - it's very brief. At just 316 pages, each page contains maybe half the words of a Tom Clancy novel. Almost every other page is a break for a new chapter, which is annoying. Second - it very linear. No twists, turns, surprises. A to B. Third - I don't think it's all that well written. Some of the family time dialogue seems shallow, almost treacly. It's not a bad story, however. It does have some interest and my recommendation is, it's just okay.
Review Date: 12/13/2023
One or Daniel Silva's best. This taut, gripping tale is a great read, and the ending will leave you in tears.
Review Date: 5/12/2022
less polished and less compelling than the usual James Patterson book
Review Date: 1/26/2019
Read at your own risk.
Shock #1 - I opened this over-sized softcover to discover only 246 pages of story text, many white pages, a large font, and only 30 line per page. In other words, this is by far the fewest words of any thriller I've ever read. It went by very quickly.
Shock #1 - I didn't think the writing was all that good. The opening line, which writers, of which I am one, call "the hook." "I leaned back against a weathered stone wall." Wow. The tension! Makes me want to read on. So many times in this story I'm thinking, I can write better than that.
Shock #3 - To my great surprise, about 20 pages in or so, I actually became invested in the story. It became interested enough for me to read it to the end. No, the protagonist, Noble, is no Jack Reacher or Scott Horvath. But he's fleshed out just enough to be a character you want to read more about.
This is a two-star book in my opinion. I think there are far better and certainly more numerous options out there for political / military thrillers.
Shock #1 - I opened this over-sized softcover to discover only 246 pages of story text, many white pages, a large font, and only 30 line per page. In other words, this is by far the fewest words of any thriller I've ever read. It went by very quickly.
Shock #1 - I didn't think the writing was all that good. The opening line, which writers, of which I am one, call "the hook." "I leaned back against a weathered stone wall." Wow. The tension! Makes me want to read on. So many times in this story I'm thinking, I can write better than that.
Shock #3 - To my great surprise, about 20 pages in or so, I actually became invested in the story. It became interested enough for me to read it to the end. No, the protagonist, Noble, is no Jack Reacher or Scott Horvath. But he's fleshed out just enough to be a character you want to read more about.
This is a two-star book in my opinion. I think there are far better and certainly more numerous options out there for political / military thrillers.
Review Date: 6/28/2018
This franchise is getting a bit tired. Although an interesting story, the writing does not rise to the level of polish of some of the earlier works. It wasnt as captivating as the earlier stories. Again, not a bad read, but a bit of a let down.
Review Date: 4/26/2024
The very beginning is a little slow, but once this story gets going, it's as good as any action thrilled I've read is several years. When you get to the end, it's a WOW. Highly recommend. Tim Tigner's story telling will have you page-turning late at night.
Review Date: 2/26/2014
So far, this is one of my favorite Grisham novels. It's engrossing, a page-turner, realistic, and of course it's well-written
Review Date: 3/30/2021
I don't usually review books, but this is one of Grisham's best. It gets its claws into you and doesn't let go. The ending is emotional, and you are part of it. A powerful story.
Review Date: 6/8/2018
As a story-teller, Grant Blackwood isn't bad at all. He's not Tom Clancy and there were times when I'd nitpick his technical writing. Lot of "stage directions" which I found unnecessary. He could have cut 5% of the writing out of this book easily. This book runs slightly over four hundred pages and the type-set is such that instead of Clancy's dense printed pages, there aren't that many words per page here. So heads up: this is a much quicker read than some of Clancy's intense tomes.
Still, I enjoyed the story. It's a good read. Just don't expect Clancy.
Still, I enjoyed the story. It's a good read. Just don't expect Clancy.
Review Date: 1/2/2024
Three and a half stars. Not the same caliber as the original Tom Clancy novels, this story ramps up the deeper you get into the story line. I'm almost at the end and the tension keeps building. The character development is adequate, the sense of where you are and understanding what's going on are good, and the verb usage is quite strong. The plot is interesting and better yet, it's believable. I mean, almost any shit can happen in that utterly weird place we call North Korea, especially when the Russians are involved. I recommend this.
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