Book #1, in the Warriors shorts
“Zulu Hours” is the first in a series of short stories featuring Zeb Carter and is definitely a prequel to the main Warriors Series.
I always said I wasn’t a fan of short stories but here I stand corrected. 49 pages of brilliantly writing and engaging storyline that bring us back to where it all started. If you are already familiar with the Warriors series reading this prequel will answer most of your questions. If you want to start at this point, this book will give you a sample of what to expect and all you need to go forward.
Even with 49 pages we have a good storyline filled with action and great characters. We find out how Zeb’s group came together and how with Broker became important assets to the Agency.
1993, Mogadishu, Delta Force operative Zeb Carter meets Mohammed Jama, a vicious warlord…..and the action moves on from there….
Book# 12, in the Bernie Gunther Mysteries
This story moves back and forth between Nazi Germany in 1939 and the French Riviera in 1956. We follow Gunther match wits with German officials in two suspenseful stories that at first seemed to go their own ways but meshes nicely by the end. Mr. Kerr brings once again a renewed life to the monsters of the Nazi era and at the same time gives us a thrilling adventure, a deadly cat and mouse game in the French countryside….
Nothing is more frustrating for a cop with a conscience than to work under the Nazis and not end up in prison. “Prussian Blue”, swings around between a plot that trails the reluctant Gunther’s from France in the 50’s being pursued by his old enemies of the Reich, narrowly escaping the noose by doing dirty deeds to save himself. Then the plot brings Gunther to the days when he worked for Martin Bormann to clean up a messy situation at Hitler’s vacation home before he shows up for his birthday celebration in a week. The two plots go back and forth.
Mr. Kerr has a real talent in capturing the mood and misdeeds and once again brilliantly created a whodunit to bring the horrors of life during the Nazi’s regime. The shrewd and acute interpretations of facts blended with fiction makes for a believable depiction. The research and the accuracy of the historical setting can only match the best of the best authors; Mr. Kerr is definitely a master. I am a huge fan of Bernie Gunther and have devoured in gulps of fright and pleasure all of them to date. The plot is an entertaining adventure that takes in high crime, scandals, fraud, drugs and murder and features one of the most successful anti-heroes in crime fiction, Bernie Gunther: a WW1 veteran, a Kripo detective during WW11 who now roams the world like a wanted criminal. Gunther is not a young man how long can he stick around….only Mr. Kerr knows…but in the meantime I will be faithful to him….
I like this book but on the down side, although the pacing is steady it lacks the suspense I was hoping for. It is a bit overwritten, descriptions of people and places and long paragraphs stretch the plot over many pages unnecessary, making a meaty book to read.
Good story but not one at the top of my list.
Book #1, in the Assassin series
This is one brutal and heart-stopping novel I read in a long time. In “King of Swords” we are taken on a violent journey through drug cartel of Mexico. This thriller is definitely not for the fainthearted, it is a blend of facts and fiction and strange enough, we will never know where the truth ends and where Mr. Russell’s inspiration kicked in, the fine line between is a little fuzzy.
This thriller is cranked up on steroids and has left me gasping and cringing more often than not. The storyline is very graphic. It captures the casual savagery of the ordinary men engaged in extraordinary brutality. Thousands of good and bad people die every year caught in violent confrontations. The author wanted to highlight the psychological making of a monster and he perfectly achieved his goal in his storyline. The pacing is high-velocity I couldn’t help but to follow the tempo by furiously flipping the pages so captivated by the goings- on. El Rey, the main character is a cold blooded killer and assassin operating in Mexico who would work for both the cartels and the police depending upon the situation. Romero Cruz is the police captain on El Rey’s tail and with panoply of interesting side players adding to the thrill, we can only be smack into an exciting saga. Reading this book is like watching a Die Hard movie. It is extremely well- written, full of nasty stuff, fast-paced (I think I said this many times), violent, enthralling….
This thriller is an excellent cat and mouse game full of gritty details. I loved it.
