Tsar

This was another disappointment, and I didn't finish it. And it was a disappointment for almost the same reason as 8th Confession. But this went to an even greater extreme. I've enjoyed previous Alex Hawke books by Ted Bell. I enjoyed them enough to reread them. So when I noticed Tsar on the shelf at the library and realised it was a new one, I was overjoyed. Unfortunately, my cheerfulness was misplaced.

It starts out promising enough, with an intriguing prologue involving Hawke's ancestor of the same name (did confuse me for a moment I admit, as I'd previously thought Hawke too young to have been involved in the Cuban missile crisis) on a northern island, waiting to go up against the Soviets. They had some sort of new sonar, they had to know the capabilities for the US to negotiate properly and keep their naval blockade of Cuba safe. Sounded promising.

The first chapter opened with Hawke sunning himself on the beach. Fine. Followed by something of an information dump which read rather like a character profile put into sentences. Not so inspiring, but I figured it was just to get people up to speed who hadn't read the books before--although surely the aspects of his personality would've been better demonstrated rather than just told. My misgivings mounted somewhat when a mysterious Russian woman showed up on the shore where Hawke lay naked. Hmm... However, it was fine, nothing dubious developed. Then there was a break to what the 'bad guys'--Russians, of the wealthy and powerful variety, who employ hitmen. These sections, I admit, were what kept me reading for so long--a very good cast of villains to pit against Hawke was created. Meanwhile, on an island paradise, things were rather boring, and getting worse. Over a hundred pages in, besides a few bits where Hawke accepted a new job which was basically a desk job looking into Russia, all that was happening on that front was he'd been called up by the mystery woman and asked to be a model for a portrait. Fine, but he was to pose naked, and the novel basically descended into erotic fiction. Which was definitely not what I picked it up for. I don't mind a bit of romance, as I've said before. I generally skip over the descriptive sections where this romance is practised, but this was getting ridiculous. I gave the book up. I think it's safe to say that after reading over a hundred pages, the book should have at least gone somewhere. Humph. Another disappointment. At least the most recent Vince Flynn one was good, and the most recent Matthew Reilly one truly excellent. Have I reveiwed that one yet? I might not have done... I'll have to do that in a moment. Anyway, I suppose I can't make a full recommendation as I haven't read the full book, but based on what I read it was pretty poor.

Spy

By Ted Bell, this is a really good book. A sequel to Hawke, which I wrote about earlier. Saw this one in the library and went 'yay!'. Not too loud fortunately. The only thing is, I'm not exactly reading them in order. Which made things kinda confusing and gave me all sorts of complicated bits trying to work out what fitted where. Still, it's a fantastically good book. I actually like this one more than Hawke. Involves a conspiracy theory in the jungles of South America to wipe out the USA, sponsored by Muslim extremist groups. Quite exciting, although a tiny bit confusing at the beginning. I think this is a series you should read in order though...

Anyway, I'd certainly recommend this one if you've a bit of time to read it. It's enjoyable and fast paced, with a nice plot that's both believable and carries a realistic and satisfying conclusion (they tend to be either one or the other in thrillers...)

Hawke

I've still not finished with all the books I read over the Easter holiday...

Anyway, Hawke was a very well-written book. It was a thriller, but it's a bit difficult to classify it beyond that. Ocean based, which is always interesting (Dirk Pitt, Douglas Reeman). Quite exciting. I'm definitely going to try and get hold of the next book in the series, although it seemed like there should be a couple of prequels. Don't get me wrong, it was understandable enough, but the main character seemed to have a fascinating and rather well developed back story, which is usually an indicator of a previous book in the series, but it seems that Hawke is the first.

I enjoyed it thoroughly, struggled to put it down for sure. Hope you enjoy it too.