Book 2, in the Nick Stone series
This series follows Nick Stone a very clever, ruthless and effective EX-SAS trooper hired by the British Intelligence on the most dangerous operations. In this mission he is tasked with finding and eliminating one of their operatives, Sarah Darnley.
Reading this book we have to keep in mind that it was written prior 9/11. This is a story filled with lots of action and suspense as well as death and betrayal.
A glimpse into the story:
Nick hunts Sarah down in the wilderness of America and soon finds himself involves in a scheme masterminded by Osama bin Laden targeting U.S. President Bill Clinton, Israel’s Benjamin Netanyahu, and Palestinian Leader Yassir Arafat while the three leaders are going to be in Washington for a peace summit. Nick is no more than a few days in on his mission that he is smack in the middle of a cat and mouse game that can only turn deadly…Welcome to the gloomy side of Special Operations.
My thoughts:
In his plot the author shares his military knowledge at great length, explaining in minutia every action, tactics, types of ammunition, etc. Some may find this interesting although I did for most part, I thought this was overly stretched enough to have hindered the pacing making this story not as exciting and far less captivating. If I ever wanted to evade surveillance, track someone or ever extract an individual this book provided all the information needed. If you like a plot which is heart stopping with violence and has a lot of insanely scenes and even dubious one, you are well served here. But if you expect great characterization, you will miss out. The players IMO have flat personalities and their actions are not particularly credible especially towards the conclusion. But again this is a fiction meant for entertainment and it does so in many ways. I particularly love the first person narration and Mr. McNab uses it perfectly with all the characteristics we expect from a macho operative…
Good book although not my favourite in this series so far.
This wonderful story continues the intrigue, the medical drama and the love stories that began with “The Far Side of the Sky”. Although this sequel can be read on its own I strongly suggest reading the first to connect with the characters and understanding them better while each is coping with a shattering loss.
During the Second World War Shanghai was one of the last havens for Jewish refugees, after the Japanese occupation the Jewish population was forced into the squalid ghetto of Hongkew. Life was no picnic…….There is a fair amount of characters to get to know and once I shorted them all out it was easy to let my imagination follow the tempo as the story moved along at a briskly pace.
When the Nazis tighten their control on Japanese officials, tension in the ghetto mounted and life for the residents became hell. We follow the Adler family, their friends and allies in their struggle, living in deplorable conditions and forced to confront one dilemma after another in order to survive. Each moment fearing the Kempeitai, as well as the Nazis, hiding in basement, and defying each other in order to join the Resistance, some had to run the Jewish hospital and give lifesaving surgery to their tormentors while the young smuggled cigarettes and jewelry for some extra money.
The author has built tension throughout his words and captured the sounds and smells and tastes of Shanghai during this terrible time, creating an incredible and terrifying world. This emotional thought provoking tale of love and loss, courage and betrayal tells how far people will go to save those they love. The story is very character driven and focuses mainly on their interaction and how they coped.
This is an exciting page turner very hard to put down. I am happy to know there is a sequel in the making.
Book 3, in the Thora Gudmundsdottir series
I don’t know why I put this author on the back burner for such a long time. I had totally forgotten how wonderfully different Thora Gudmundsdottir, the protagonist is. Thora is a lawyer by profession who has a very unusual clientele and is the type to poke her nose into the investigating side of cases as well as defending her clients. If you haven’t read the previous installments don’t worry this one works pretty well as a standalone.
Although the book is long, it doesn’t drag by any means. As in her previous stories there is quite a bit of interviewing and re- interviewing of witnesses and lots of traveling back in forth from the big city to where the action takes place. Ms. Sigurdardottir weaves a very complicated crime thriller with a liberal helping of “what-ifs” to keeps us guessing till the very end. The winding plot takes us down many avenues and is fueled by the infinite peculiarities of human behavior.
The star is also Iceland with all its glorious scenery. “Ashes to Dust” takes place in parts on the Heimaey Islands. In 1973, the small community came to international attention after volcano Eldfjell erupted and the inhabitants were temporarily evacuated. With this as background the author pinned a clever, rich an intriguing mystery with surprising twists and turns and handled Iceland past and present to the full effect in her tale of hidden crimes and family secrets.
Here is a brief outline:
The volcanic eruption buried a number of houses in lava, including that of Markus Magnusson, who was 15 at the time. In 2007, an excavation of his childhood home reveals three bodies and a severed head that appear to be decades old. Markus tells the police he knows nothing about the bodies, but the single person who could have verified his version of events is found dead, her apparent suicide soon revealed as murder. With the searchlight of suspicion cast on his affairs, Markus must rely on Thora, his determined lawyer, to defend his interests.
