Zero Hour

Slightly confused as to how this blurb: 'A terrorist group is on the brink of obtaining a code that will jam every item of military hardware from Washington to Kabul. Jets and helicopters will fall from the sky. Communications and weapons systems will fail. The West will be brought to its knees. Only one man can find and stop the perpetrator -- but for the first time in his life Nick Stone doesn't want to play ball.', fits with this book.  I think Fantastic Fiction may have got an earlier version of the blurb...  The only thing that is vaguely the same is the last sentence, which is in the blurb on the actual book.  Just thought I'd make that observation, seeing as the book has very little to do with that, and is actually about a kidnapping and child trafficking (although I can see where the original blurb comes from, as there are aspects of it in the book, ish).

Right.  That out the way (I was only looking to check I had the title right), I'll get on with reviewing the actual book :).  I really enjoyed it.  Like all the Nick Stone books, it's a fast paced thriller with a main character who's a little deeper than he seems than first glance, but I think this one is really really good in terms of character development.  Unfortunately, I suspect it's going to be the last one, unless there's a sort of new phase in the series as it were.  Although it is a strong ending, I've really enjoyed these books.  They're fast paced, there're plenty of twists (particularly in this particular one), and they're incredibly realistic.

If you're looking for a fast paced thriller, that doesn't just offer guns and explosions but also a lot of depth both to the situation (rather than just having an excuse for plenty of action) and to the characters.  Very enjoyable read, and they're highly addictive.  Whilst not necessarily ones you'd read over and over again, whilst you are reading them they're all but impossible to put down (as my parents discovered when trying to get me to come for dinner yesterday...).

A great book.

Exit Wound

As promised, pretty much right after reading it. Okay, so maybe I didn't do quite so well with other books I've read recently, but it's a case of getting into a habit of blogging after reading.

Anyway, Exit Wound is brilliant. Fast paced action, featuring Nick Stone. It's the most recent thriller from Andy McNab, and it's well worth the read. I seem to have skipped out Brute Force, shall have to find that in the library. At the moment, I really cannot buy any more books. I have absolutely no space on any bookcase to fit them in, except slotted on top but that doesn't look very neat. I ramble. Nick Stone is a believable first person narrator, intriguing, not so shallow it may as well be third person, not so deep that you end up giving up because you can't understand the main character. Blunt, determined, authentic, Nick Stone narrates a gripping tale of espionage, dodgy dealings and revenge. The series just gets better and better. Unlike some thrillers you're not swamped with technology, terminology and acronyms. Instead, this highly readable book gives the bare bones of technical detail without being patronising, and allows the action and the plot to take centre stage. Up to date issues, realistic coverage of the war on terror, I guess this is what it felt like to read one of the 'classics' of the spy thriller genre when it first came out. Highly recommend it.

Nick Stone series

I am so far behind it's ridiculous. I'm afraid I can scarcely remember what happened in the individual books, which is why I'm going to lump Dark Winter, Brute Force and Deep Black all together. It seems a shame, because I did really enjoy them. If you want evidence of that, how about the fact that I read them all within a few days of each other, which takes serious dedication to a series. And also a succession of libraries which have those books in. They kept me up late a couple of times, and the description and action really is thrilling. For me, these are just about the best spy books you're likely to find. They're gritty, down to earth, and have such a realistic feel that it's hard to stop reading, and you sometimes have to remind yourself it's FICTION. So I would highly recommend this series. At times terrifying, others heart-wrenching, but mostly just utterly thrilling, they really are fantastic books, and if I hadn't got a list in front of me of eighteen other books I have read in the past few weeks that I need to get on with reviewing, I would certainly devote more space to them.

Last Light

Yeh, I really should've read this one before Liberation Day, because it kinda spoilt the ending a bit, but still. A brilliant book. Nick Stone is ordered to set up a kill in the middle of London, to encourage people to set things moving. The problem? The person he's been ordered to eliminate is a young boy. And when he has the opportunity to press the trigger, he can't. So begins a desperate race to complete the mission, because the life of a child he loves is at risk should he fail. And so he heads out to Panama, where he uncovers a chilling conspiracy which he must thwart... The action, again, is brilliant. Highly recommended.

Liberation Day

By Andy McNab, this is a fantastic book. It reads so realistically, and just has a completely genuine feel to the action. Absolutely captivating from the first moment to the last, and I'd highly recommend it (like I would with any of his books). Really really enjoyed it, and couldn't put it down.

I don't know what else to say about it. The narration is brilliant, the main character one of the best action heroes I've ever met, even though he isn't a hero in the conventional sense of the word. Wish there were more of these books that I've not read yet...