A spy novel that runs full tilt from beginning to end; action junkies will be more than satiated.
The CIA and allies try to stop a formidable and malignant terrorist organization from instigating an international war in Patrick’s (Threatened Waters, 2014) thriller.
It’s been 18 months since terrorists nearly succeeded with a catastrophic nuclear attack on U.S. soil. A CIA task force now has assets, including returning characters Zach Greer and Elle Hardwick, following the money behind the strike—and the largely unknown group calling itself the Gulf Service. But covertly trailing a Middle Eastern oil magnate’s yacht in Italy isn’t easy for Zach and his team; men on the vessel spot the surveillance almost immediately. Zach suspects that a mole is feeding intelligence to the Gulf Service, which in turn is hunting CIA agents. It’s clear that the nefarious group is well connected—it’s a multinational organization that has been around for decades. Its latest fiendish plan starts with convincing America that Iran attacked the country and that the U.S. should respond accordingly. This novel, like Patrick’s last one, practically overflows with espionage and action sequences. The story’s barely begun when Zach’s rolling off his boat into the water to avoid a barrage of gunfire. Patrick doesn’t give readers much time to breathe; even ex-SEAL Ramsey Turner attaching tracking devices to the baddies’ yacht is relentlessly tense. There’s likewise an impressive amount of ultra-cool spy moments: Elle uses a lip brush with a hidden camera, and Zach interrogates (and threatens to kill) an abductee while simultaneously cooking pasta in another room. Patrick’s descriptions are so meticulously detailed that it seems as if he’s choreographing a precisely edited and invigorating action film. Elle bathing, in fact, is so specific—her “smooth and flawless” skin and the subtle flavors of the wine she’s sipping—that it’s the literary equivalent of a nude scene. It’s no surprise, then, that nuance among characters or relationships seems almost nonexistent. Zach’s wife, Sandy, for example, a significant player in the preceding novel, serves little purpose other than as a loved one the villains can target. Nevertheless, readers looking for nonstop action and thrills won’t mind and will be excited by the prospect of another sequel.
A spy novel that runs full tilt from beginning to end; action junkies will be more than satiated.Pub Date: Nov. 6, 2015
ISBN: 978-0-9968045-0-9
Page Count: 246
Publisher: CreateSpace
Review Posted Online: Dec. 3, 2015
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Wacky plot keeps the pages turning and enduring schmaltzy romantic sequences.
Sisters work together to solve a child-abandonment case.
Ellie and Julia Cates have never been close. Julia is shy and brainy; Ellie gets by on charm and looks. Their differences must be tossed aside when a traumatized young girl wanders in from the forest into their hometown in Washington. The sisters’ professional skills are put to the test. Julia is a world-renowned child psychologist who has lost her edge. She is reeling from a case that went publicly sour. Though she was cleared of all wrongdoing, Julia’s name was tarnished, forcing her to shutter her Beverly Hills practice. Ellie Barton is the local police chief in Rain Valley, who’s never faced a tougher case. This is her chance to prove she is more than just a fading homecoming queen, but a scarcity of clues and a reluctant victim make locating the girl’s parents nearly impossible. Ellie places an SOS call to her sister; she needs an expert to rehabilitate this wild-child who has been living outside of civilization for years. Confronted with her professional demons, Julia once again has the opportunity to display her talents and salvage her reputation. Hannah (The Things We Do for Love, 2004, etc.) is at her best when writing from the girl’s perspective. The feral wolf-child keeps the reader interested long after the other, transparent characters have grown tiresome. Hannah’s torturously over-written romance passages are stale, but there are surprises in store as the sisters set about unearthing Alice’s past and creating a home for her.
Wacky plot keeps the pages turning and enduring schmaltzy romantic sequences.Pub Date: March 1, 2006
ISBN: 0-345-46752-3
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Ballantine
Review Posted Online: June 24, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2005
A strict report, worthy of sympathy.
A violent surfacing of adolescence (which has little in common with Tarkington's earlier, broadly comic, Seventeen) has a compulsive impact.
"Nobody big except me" is the dream world of Holden Caulfield and his first person story is down to the basic, drab English of the pre-collegiate. For Holden is now being bounced from fancy prep, and, after a vicious evening with hall- and roommates, heads for New York to try to keep his latest failure from his parents. He tries to have a wild evening (all he does is pay the check), is terrorized by the hotel elevator man and his on-call whore, has a date with a girl he likes—and hates, sees his 10 year old sister, Phoebe. He also visits a sympathetic English teacher after trying on a drunken session, and when he keeps his date with Phoebe, who turns up with her suitcase to join him on his flight, he heads home to a hospital siege. This is tender and true, and impossible, in its picture of the old hells of young boys, the lonesomeness and tentative attempts to be mature and secure, the awful block between youth and being grown-up, the fright and sickness that humans and their behavior cause the challenging, the dramatization of the big bang. It is a sorry little worm's view of the off-beat of adult pressure, of contemporary strictures and conformity, of sentiment….
A strict report, worthy of sympathy.Pub Date: June 15, 1951
ISBN: 0316769177
Page Count: -
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: Nov. 2, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 1951
BOOK REVIEW
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
APPRECIATIONS
© Copyright 2024 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Follow
Popular in this Genre
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
bookshelf
