Protect and Defend by Vince Flynn

Entertaining anti-terrorist thriller**** January 30, 2007

Another Mitch Rapp post- 9/11 thriller. No doubt loved by Bush/Cheney zealots, a bit harder to swallow for more rational types. Nonetheless a fast-paced riveting read for thriller lovers.

Plot Summary:

From Publishers Weekly, "After taking care of a loose end from Act of Treason (2006), Mitch Rapp looks into the destruction of Iran's secret nuclear weapons facility in bestseller's Flynn's predictable eighth thriller to feature the counterterrorism agent. Given the absence of any indication of either a U.S. or an Israeli air strike, Rapp takes the opportunity to persuade the U.S. administration to plot an operation to destabilize the fanatical Iranian regime by having an Iranian dissident group claim responsibility for what he suspects was an inside job by an Israeli spy. When the Iranian government sinks one of its own ships and blames the U.S., Rapp and CIA chief Irene Kennedy travel to Iraq to try to defuse the crisis, only to fall victim to an ambush (reminiscent of one in Tom Clancy's A Clear and Present Danger) that results in Kennedy's abduction. Rapp races the clock to rescue his boss before she's tortured into revealing what she knows. Despite a backstory replete with personal loss, Rapp comes across as a one-dimensional killing machine, willing to do whatever needs doing to complete the mission."

The Bourne Betrayal: a Jason Bourne novel by Eric Van Lustbader

The Bourne story has run its course*** August 22, 2007

I started this novel the day after viewing the latest Bourne movie, The Bourne Ultimatum. The movie was a fast-paced riveting action thriller. I cannot say the same for this latest novel starring Jason Bourne. The right elements are present: intrigue, Bourne's memory flashbacks, terrorists etc. But there is a world of difference between The Bourne Ultimatum and The Bourne Betrayal. Jason's friend,deputy CIA director Martin Lindros, is missing in the mountains of Ethiopia. He was there investigating the possibility that terrorists had acquired a nuclear bomb. But it was a set-up anmd he is abducted. Terroist leader Karim has facial reconstruction surgery and with one of Lindros' eyes implanted comes back to CIA HQ masquerading as the real Lindros. Meanwhile Jason is tracking the real Lindros. In the end the trrorists have virtually taken over the CIA and are poised to detonate their nuclear weapon. But Jason Bourne, with the help of some Saudi Special Forces, locates the missing real Lindros and the bomb. The plot is thwarted.

Lustbader is a good writer in his own right, having authored several good thrillers of his own about 20 years ago. This novel is not up to the quality of his own stand-alone novels. It appears that the Jason Bourne story has run its course.

The First Commandment: a thriller by Brad Thor

Entertaining Thriller*** August 21, 2007

This novel begins with Scot Harvath, former navy SEAL, now Homeland Security superagent, s at the bedside of girlfriend Tracy Hastings, who's in a deep coma after being gravely wounded at the end of Thor's previous novel. Unbeknownst to him, five terrorists have been released from Guantánamo Bay as part of a secret hostage deal forced upon U.S. president Jack Rutledge. When one of the terrorists starts targeting Scot's friends and family, Scot discovers that the president won't allow the assassin to be hunted down. Soon enough, Scot is on the run from his own government and in pursuit of the killer. Alone, cut off by the President for unfathomable reasons, Horvath enlists the help of some close friends to follow the killer of his closest associates but always a step behind until the rip-roaring conclusion when he guns down the master terrorist.

The Overlook: a novel by Michael Connelly

Short but Punchy**** June 30, 2007

Months after the confusion of Echo Park, Harry Bosch is back, this time on a different assignment with a wide mandate to investigate sensitive homicides. In his first case he gets a late night call re an apparent execution on the Overlook overlooking Los Angeles. Dr. Stanley Kent, radiologist, has been murdered. His wife is found bound in their home. Kent was contacted by the apparent kidnappers and instructed to steal cesium and bring it to the Overlook. Because of the suspected terrorism link the FBI gets involved and Harry is partnered again with his old flame, FBI Agent Rachel Walling. But Harry realizes that the FBI is unlikely to keep the LAPD involved as is their wont. So he pursues the investigation aggressively and uncovers the real villains while the FBI is left with mud on its face. This is a first-rate short novel by one of the best crime writers in the world.