Bookstooge's Reviews On the Road: Thriller

Showing posts with label Thriller. Show all posts

Tuesday, October 29, 2024

Mrs Pollifax on Safari (Mrs Pollifax #5) 4Stars

Title: Mrs Pollifax on Safari
Series: Mrs Pollifax #5
Author: Dorothy Gilman
Rating: 4 of 5 Stars
Genre: Thriller
Pages: 161
Words: 57K

Much like the Nero Wolfe books, I have come to realize, albeit much sooner than with Wolfe, than I am thoroughly enjoying these books enough to bump them up to a standard 4star level. They meet all of my criteria for 4stars and I realized I needed to stop being so stingy with my ratings. I’m not going to go broke if I rate a series higher for goodness sake. While I am not going to go all Fraggle and read these back to back to back, I can totally see myself re-reading these in several years. And that “re-readability” is usually the tipping point from 3.5 to 4 stars. Not always, but usually

Mrs Pollifax is roped into another assignment for the CIA and once again is promised it will be a cakewalk. All she has to do is go on a Safari in Africa and while taking pictures on the safari, take pictures of everyone on the safari. Because one of them is a ruthless, unstoppable assassin. So of course everything goes straight to pot and derails like a freight train plunging off a cliff and Mrs Pollifax does a LOT more than just taking pictures.

I know I say this for every book, but Gilman is an absolute master at upping the ante very organically for Mrs Pollifax. Nothing that happens is so outlandish that it makes me suspend my belief in the story or feel like it is Authorial Fiat/Machina Ex Deus. It takes a really good author to write that way and to go from Point A to Point Z, hitting the rest of the alphabet on the journey without making one feel like a lamb being led to the slaughter.

Thoroughly enjoyed this book and I continue to thoroughly enjoy the series. I don’t know how much more of a recommendation I could give. Thankfully, I’m not trying to sell this to you. I’m simply chronicling my enjoyment. If you don’t read this series, that’s fine. It’s your loss alone 🙂

★★★★☆

From Wikipedia.org

Synopsis – click to open

Mrs. Pollifax is called upon by the CIA to undertake another mission, this time to photograph members of a safari in Zambia, one of whom is an international assassin nicknamed Aristotle. She innocently posts an ad in the local newspaper trying to contact her old friend Farrell from the first book. This leads to major complications, as Farrell is involved with the freedom fighters across the border and has made some enemies. Another entertaining outing and with a bit of romance as a fellow traveler takes a fancy to Mrs. Pollifax.

All of my “Mrs Pollifax” Reviews

Thursday, September 19, 2024

A Palm for Mrs Pollifax (Mrs Pollifax #4) 3.5Stars

Title: A Palm for Mrs Pollifax
Series: Mrs Pollifax #4
Author: Dorothy Gilman
Rating: 3.5 of 5 Stars
Genre: Thriller
Pages: 170
Words: 58K

Absolutely delightful, again. I know I say this each book, but Gilman has given us a character and a story where the balance between taut thriller and cozy comfort walk hand in hand with neither overstepping their bounds. How she does this is a mystery to me but I am loving it.

This time around we’re talking plutonium, bombs, kidnappings and coups. And a completely useless Interpol. Which doesn’t surprise me at all.

This time around Mrs P knows she is getting into some really tricky business because it is plutonium, and enough of the stuff to make a suitcase bomb, and an agent has already been murdered. But like a true patriot, and a true adrenaline junkie, she doesn’t let any of that deter her but plows ahead and damn the torpedoes!

I found Gilman’s portrayal of the young boy and his grandmother to be very effective. He didn’t come across as a child genius, but a boy terrified of having his grandmother killed but who is brave enough to TRY something, anything, to get another adult involved. At the same time he wasn’t written as some cutesy little brat either, for which I was extremely thankful. Much like the story and Mrs P herself, Gilman does a masterful job of balancing everything and making him seem real, believable but not making the situation so grim.

I do feel that things are starting to escalate in terms of plot, and with 10 more books to go, I do wonder what Mrs P will encounter next? If she takes on Godzilla or King Kong though, I’ll be done 😉

★★★✬☆

From Wikipedia.org

Synopsis – click to open

Mrs. Pollifax is dispatched to Switzerland to find some missing plutonium: Mr. Carstairs of the CIA suspects the contraband has been hidden in an upscale clinic in Switzerland. Mrs. Pollifax begins a careful investigation of the guests at the clinic and rapidly befriends a young British man, a Belgian woman, and a young boy and his grandmother from an Arab nation. She soon discovers that very few of the clinic patients are who they claim to be, and she becomes involved in intrigue with men who plan to overthrow the government of a small country. She, of course, displays the courage and ingenuity which Mr. Carstairs has learned to depend on, and she leads her outnumbered friends into the adventure of their lives.

All of my “Mrs Pollifax” Reviews

Saturday, July 27, 2024

The Elusive Mrs Pollifax (Mrs Pollifax #3) 3.5Stars

Title: The Elusive Mrs Pollifax
Series: Mrs Pollifax #3
Author: Dorothy Gilman
Rating: 3.5 of 5 Stars
Genre: Thriller
Pages: 166
Words: 55K

Great, Mrs Pollifax gets involved with hippies AND commies. Just when you think the problem lies outside the USA, you find out that stupid and dumb as dirt hippie teenagers MAKE the problems wherever they go. Ahhhhh, if it had been up to me, I would have let all of them die the most horrible death. That would teach them. Thankfully, Mrs Pollifax takes pity and so the story doesn’t end right at the beginning.

It is incredible how Gilman organically increases the danger level without it feeling like she is forcing things. I never once was thrown out of the story with that “Oh please, THAT couldn’t happen” feeling. While this isn’t quite a “cozy”, it is adjacent to that genre but manages to avoid the pitfalls. I continue to be impressed with Gilman’s skill here.

A simple premise that is well done without being overdone. I appreciate that simplicity.

★★★✬☆

From Wikipedia.org

Synopsis – click to open

Mrs. Pollifax is sent, as a tourist, on a routine assignment, to deliver the eight forged passports she is carrying, concealed in her hat, to the Bulgarian Underground. Unbeknownst to her, her boss, Carstairs, has been strong-armed into having her take other items along, sewn into her coat. On the way, she meets a group of back-packing college students at an airport, and offers to help when one of them is arrested by the secret police, upon arriving in Sofia. Mrs. Pollifax then leads both friends and foes on a merry chase, as she travels around Bulgaria, on a series of absorbing, and interwoven, adventures, including helping to rescue the student and several political prisoners from the seemingly impregnable Panchevsky Institute

All of my “Mrs Pollifax” Reviews

Tuesday, June 18, 2024

The Amazing Mrs Pollifax (Mrs Pollifax #2) 3.5Stars

Title: The Amazing Mrs Pollifax
Series: Mrs Pollifax #2
Author: Dorothy Gilman
Rating: 3.5 of 5 Stars
Genre: Thriller
Pages: 173
Words: 60K

Another wonderful adventure. Oh, I absolutely ADORE Emily Pollifax. She is the kind of person I wish I could meet more of in real life. She doesn’t ignore the horrible situation that she finds herself in in this story (chased by damned commies, governmental agencies of other countries and a rogue double agent) but through it all, she perseveres. If I had been in her situation, I would have crumbled into a smear of ash and blown away into the winds.

Another thing I appreciate about these stories, at least so far, is that nothing feels outlandish. I don’t feel like Gilman pulls authorial fiat just to increase the drama. Her story telling is real and organic and I could totally see things like this happening. Things go wrong in situations and when you’re dealing with spies, counter-spies and double agents, things going wrong is a very bad thing. It just felt “real”. Doesn’t mean it is, but as a casual reader, I was never taken out of the story. Mrs Pollifax doesn’t jump down a 10 story building, shoot 50 badguys and then flap her magical wings and fly to the moon. She puts her head down, she hides with gypsies and she simply tries to survive and do her best to get the woman she was supposed to contact out of the country. And she does it! Without whining or complaining. Amazing!!!!!! Authors today could take a page from Gilman’s style, that is for sure.

★★★✬☆

From Wikipedia.org

Synopsis – click to open

For this novel, Mrs. Pollifax is tasked by Mr. Carstairs, her CIA superior, to go to Turkey[2][3] and contact Magda Ferenci-Sabo, a known Russian spy and secret double agent[4] who is defecting to the Free World. Emily Pollifax is to give Magda money and a passport which will enable the former spy to leave Turkey. Although Carstairs gives Mrs. Pollifax only 30 minutes to get ready, the plucky widow is ready for another adventure. She flies to Turkey and sees Magda, but is unable to make personal contact before Magda flees. In pursuing her mission, Mrs. Pollifax embarks on a wild ride, matching wits with a diabolical double agent, traveling with Gypsies,[3][5] and again surviving imprisonment. However, characteristically, she befriends unlikely allies along her way.

All of my “Mrs Pollifax” Reviews

Tuesday, May 14, 2024

The Unexpected Mrs Pollifax (Mrs Pollifax #1) 3.5Stars

Title: The Unexpected Mrs Pollifax
Series: Mrs Pollifax #1
Author: Dorothy Gilman
Rating: 3.5 of 5 Stars
Genre: Thriller
Pages: 212
Words: 75K

First, I’d like to say that this particular post is being shared over at the Irresponsible Reader. He didn’t steal this, or clonk me over the head and hold it hostage. I willingly and of my own free will let it be cross posted. Just so we’re clear. None of you need to take vengeance on my behalf or boost his Lamborghini or steal all that money he’s got squirreled away. No, I can do all of that on my own, thank you very much. But I appreciate your willingness to do such nefarious things on my behalf, I really do. Ok, on to the actual book review.

I first read a Mrs Pollifax story back in 2000. I labeled it a “mystery” and accidentally thought it was written by Agatha Christie. I went close to two decades thinking Mrs Pollifax was just another version of Miss Marple and as such, I avoided the series. It wasn’t until I was getting the Hotel Bookstooge in final order that I realized that Dorothy Gilman was the author and that it wasn’t really a mystery series at all. I eventually tracked down the series and added it to my tbr pile.

Imagine my surprise when I found out this was a series about a little old lady named Emily Pollifax and that she works for the CIA. That immediately threw it out of the cozy mystery genre and straight into the cozy thriller genre. Only, as I read the book, it really wasn’t that cozy, so I decided Mrs Pollifax deserved to go straight to the big leagues and just get the “Thriller” label. I mean, she gets kidnapped by Chinese Commies, escapes their remote fortress and makes it out to sea to get rescue. AND she fulfills her original mission of picking up some super secret ultra superdooper important info. She does all of this without turning into the Black Widow and doing crazy acrobatic stunts that no real person could possibly do.

There are moments of genuine threat and while Emily doesn’t go all Black Widow on the situation, neither does she break down and fall part. She’s what I’d describe as a tough old bird. The world needs more people like her. I thoroughly enjoyed her as a character and am looking forward to see what else Gilman has in store for her creation.

This is also a good time capsule of the times and I enjoyed seeing what the 60’s were like from a non-commie-hippy viewpoint.

★★★✬☆

From Wikipedia.org

Mrs. Pollifax is an elderly widow who has come to find life dull and is almost ready to end it all out of sheer boredom. Inspired by a newspaper profile of an actress who began her career in later life, she decides to fulfill a childhood ambition and apply for a job as a spy at the CIA. Meanwhile, Carstairs at the CIA is looking for an agent who can pass as a tourist in order to pick up an important package in Mexico. Due to a slight confusion, he thinks Mrs. Pollifax is one of the candidates and decides that Mrs. Pollifax is ideal; Carstairs decided this assignment carries so little danger that even one who is relatively untrained may be sent. So with minimum explanation, Pollifax is ushered off to Mexico City to meet a bookstore owner/secret agent, exchange code phrases, and leave with the package. The courier mission does not go as planned, and Mrs. Pollifax finds herself imprisoned in the Socialist Republic of Albania, facing harsh questioning and possible torture. But she proves to be unusually resourceful, and with her companion’s assistance, manages to outwit the enemy and save the day.

All of my “Mrs Pollifax” Reviews

Tuesday, April 02, 2024

Drop Shot (Myron Bolitar #2) 1Star

Title: Drop Shot
Series: Myron Bolitar #2
Author: Harlan Coben
Rating: 1 of 5 Stars
Genre: Fiction
Pages: 252
Words: 77K

Sigh, not the way I wanted to start the month’s reading. First, I won’t be continuing this series or reading any more by this author. For the usual immoral reasons, sigh. It was so flipping checkmark too. Then you had an almost rape scene. While I acknowledge that bad men do very bad things, bringing it into fiction as “entertainment” isn’t right. Finally, Myron lets a murderer kill herself to cover up what she did because she’s the mother of his big client and it would destroy his client and he (Bolitar) would lose all the money from being his agent. There are times I can see letting someone get away with murder, I really can. But not for a base motive like money. So all those things coming together made this a very unpleasant read.

★☆☆☆☆

From Wikipedia

A young woman is shot in cold blood, her lifeless body dumped outside the stadium at the height of the US Open. At one point, her tennis career had skyrocketed. Now headlines were being made by a different young player from the wrong side of the tracks.

When Myron Bolitar investigates the killing, he uncovers a connection between the two players and a six-year-old murder at an exclusive club. Suddenly, Myron is in over his head. And with a dirty senator, a jealous mother, and the mob all drawn into the case, he finds himself playing the most dangerous game of all.

All My “Harlan Coben” Reviews

Thursday, February 15, 2024

Deal Breaker (Myron Bolitar #1) 3Stars

Title: Deal Breaker
Series: Myron Bolitar #1
Author: Harlan Coben
Rating: 3 of 5 Stars
Genre: Fiction
Pages: 291
Words: 88K

This is the first book in a series about Myron Bolitar (hence the series name), a man who was an up and coming basketball star, only to have things come to a complete crashing halt when his leg gets shattered in his first game. So he goes to school, becomes a lawyer and then becomes a sports agent. He also apparently did some super-secret black ops stuff for the government with a man who is now one of his best friends and business partner. But this book isn’t about those events at all. They are just alluded to and form a bigger picture of who Myron Bolitar is.

This is a Harlan Coben novel through and through. It has all the elements from the standalones that I’ve read so far (except for the absence of the Witness Protection Program. I just kept waiting for that to pop up and it never did. I was surprised!) but reworked deftly enough that I was never quite sure what the picture was that I was looking at. It was like seeing things when your eyes are dilated. You can generally tell what you are looking at but even the middling details get a bit muddled.

I was generally happy with this read and as long as Coben can keep his stories original with the character of Myron, I’ll happily feed at the trough even if it’s not 5star material.

That does bring me to Myron himself though. He was one of the reasons this didn’t get to the 3.5star rating. He’s a semi-successful business man in his early 30’s I think, but he still lives in his parents basement and participates in their family life, ie, eating breakfast with them, etc. What a loser. I mean, what a complete and utter loser who deserves to have his face ground into the dirt for being such a loser. His parents don’t need his help, he doesn’t make their life better, he complains in his head about both of them, but he won’t move out even though he has the means to. What a scumbag. I hope in one of the later books some mobster shatters his other leg to teach him a fething lesson about growing up. In that same vein, there was also a page where he complains about his parents naming him Myron. What 30 year old is still worrying about his name? I can see a highschooler doing that, but not a grown man. And that is the crux of the matter right there. Coben has written Myron Bolitar as a mix of little boy and grown man and it grates on me, almost like Coben took a cheese grater to my washboard abs.

★★★☆☆

From Wikipedia and Bookstooge.blog

Click to Open

Investigator and sports agent Myron Bolitar is poised on the edge of the big-time. So is Christian Steele, a rookie quarterback and Myron’s prized client. But when Christian gets a phone call from a former girlfriend, a woman whom everyone, including the police, believes is dead, the deal starts to go sour. Suddenly Myron is plunged into a baffling mystery of sex and blackmail. Trying to unravel the truth about a family’s tragedy, a woman’s secret and a man’s lies, Myron is up against the dark side of his business—where image and talent make you rich, but the truth can get you killed.

In the end, facing down mob bosses, angry dead dads and corrupt sports stars, Myron figures out one of his sports athletes participated in the events that led to a young woman’s death and another of his athletes committed the crime itself.

All My “Harlan Coben” Reviews

Sunday, February 11, 2024

Enemy of the State (Mitch Rapp #16) 3Stars

Title: Enemy of the State
Series: Mitch Rapp #16
Author: Vince Flynn & Kyle Mills
Rating: 3 of 5 Stars
Genre: Thriller
Pages: 331
Words: 103K

The US President is tired of the Saudi’s continuing to fund terrorism while taking our money to supposedly fight it themselves. So he sends Mitch Rapp on a mission to start killing the Saudi Royalty as a way to show they can no longer be safe as terrorist proxies. Things go south and Rapp becomes disavowed by the US government. One of his old enemies is co-opted by a corrupt Saudi working for ISIS to hunt Rapp down. And just in case that isn’t enough, Rapp’s new girl wants to start working the logistics side of supporting him in the field.

Kennedy, the Director of the CIA and Rapp’s boss, is barely in this story. I don’t think Mills knows how to truly utilize her and so he just has pushed her to the background. He’s also turned Mitch Rapp into the crazy killing machine everyone thought he was (but wasn’t) when the original author Vince Flynn was writing him. Mills has a much heavier hand and there’s no nuance or suggestion. It’s not a terrible change but it makes Rapp a much less interesting character and limits the scope of what he is capable of.

The action/adventure side of things is definitely all there. It was good. It is what is keeping this series from descending into mediocre territory since Mills just can’t seem to handle Mitch Rapp as a character. I’m going to continue to read these book, I’m going to continue to enjoy them but I am definitely going to continue to complain about Mills’ handling of the characters.

After writing that, I thought about it for a bit. I realized that it isn’t so much that Mills doesn’t “get” Rapp, but that he doesn’t have the same sense of the political that Flynn did. It feels like Mills is colorblind in this regards while Flynn had an eye for various shades of the same color, thus able to subtly bring out aspects you’d never expect. Mills simply can’t do that because of his limitations. Part of me thinks I shouldn’t pick on the poor gimpo, but he is the one who chose to pick up the brush of the master and try to continue his work. I am never going to compare Mills to other books by Mills because I have zero interest in his other works. I will always be comparing him to Flynn, because Flynn started this and created a masterful canvas to work on. Mills just isn’t as good an author as Flynn was. In his defense, he never whines or complains in the forwards or afterwards. He has a cash cow and he’s thankful for every squeezing it gives him.

I just wish he’d make some of that wonderful caramalized onion cheddar instead of the straight up sharp cheddar.

★★★☆☆

From Kylemills.com/books/enemy-of-the-state/

Click to Open

In the #1 New York Times bestselling series’ latest installment, Mitch Rapp finds himself alone and targeted by a country that is supposed to be one of America’s closest allies.

After 9/11, the US made one of the most secretive and dangerous deals in its history—the evidence against the powerful Saudis who coordinated the attack would be buried. In return, King Faisal would promise to keep the oil flowing and deal with the conspirators in his midst.

When the king’s own nephew is discovered funding ISIS, the president suspects that the Saudis never intended to live up to their agreement. He decides that the royalty needs to be sent a message and that Mitch Rapp is just the man to deliver it. The catch? America can’t be seen moving against an ally. Rapp will be on his own.

Forced to make a decision that will change his life forever, Rapp quits the CIA and assembles a group of independent contractors to help him complete the mission.

They’ve barely begun unraveling the connections between the Saudi government and ISIS when the brilliant new head of the intelligence directorate discovers their efforts. With Rapp getting too close, he threatens to go public with the details of the post-9/11 agreement between the two countries.

Facing an international incident that could end his political career, the President orders America’s intelligence agencies to join the Saudis’ effort to hunt the former CIA man down.

Rapp, supported only by a team of mercenaries with dubious allegiances, finds himself at the center of the most elaborate manhunt in history. It’s only a matter of time before he’s caught or killed. Will it be enough to turn the tables on the Saudis and clear his name?

All My “Mitch Rapp” Reviews

Saturday, October 28, 2023

The Innocent 3Stars

Title: The Innocent
Series: ———-
Author: Harlan Coben
Rating: 3 of 5 Stars
Genre: Fiction
Pages: 338
Words: 105K

This wasn’t nearly as complicated as Gone for Good, and I’m very thankful for that. But at the same time, it is very obvious that Coben has a list of “include these plot points” and he just rolls a couple of dice to figure out which ones to put into the story. While not exactly recycled, there are just too many similar points for such a reader as myself. Not to brag (which usually means the person is about to brag), but I’ve read enough books, both good, bad, really good and really bad, to see this kind of thing coming from a mile away. And I wear glasses.
~buffs nails

At the same time, I’ve decided that I will start reading a series with a central main character instead of these standalone stories. They might work fine for those who read 5 books a year, but I’m sorry, I’m way out of those peoples’ league. And I need Coben to write at my level, not theirs.
~buffs nails again

Yep, letting my reading snob show here. I don’t care. I have standards. I really do my best to keep that snobbery from showing when it comes to other people, but when it is about the books “I” read on “my” blog, well, I get sick and tired of holding it in all the time. Darn this curse of good taste, it is a real burden on my shoulders.
~buffs both set of nails

Ok, I’m done now. The snobbery can go back in its box for another year or two. Maybe three if I can get on a good roll.

★★★☆☆

From Wikipedia.org

Matt Hunter is a seemingly ordinary man in suburban New Jersey with a pregnant wife, Olivia. But Matt’s past is not so ordinary. In his late teens, Matt tried to break up a fight involving his friend, and wound up unintentionally killing the other fighter. While his friends spent time in college, Matt was behind bars serving time for negligent manslaughter. Now nine years after being released from prison, Matt is a paralegal in his brother’s law firm and his life is looking up. However, the past won’t seem to go away. As Matt and Olivia try to buy a house in his old neighborhood, neighbors and local authorities make it clear he is not welcome. After Matt receives disturbing photos from his wife’s phone, a man who is tailing Matt ends up dead. Matt soon learns that Olivia also has a past that she’d like to forget. Unable to trust anyone, Matt and Olivia are forced to work outside the law to save themselves and their future.

All My “Harlan Coben” Reviews

Sunday, September 03, 2023

Gone for Good 2.5Stars

Title: Gone for Good
Series: ———-
Author: Harlan Coben
Rating: 2.5 of 5 Stars
Genre: Fiction
Pages: 319
Words: 120K

My goodness, this was more jam packed than a mexican soap opera. Let me see if I can summarize the utter madness.

We start out with the Main Character’s mother dying from cancer.
The main character’s brother, 12 years in the past, sleeps with his girlfriend and then either kills her or is killed and removed from the scene. The main character thinks he is innocent and alive, but has no proof.
MC’s current girlfriend disappears without a trace.
Her fingerprints are found at a double murder scene
Her body is subsequently found by the side of the road and identified by her parents
When the MC goes to the funeral, the body in the casket is not his girlfriend
the Girlfriend is alive but somebody else
The MC investigates things with the younger sister of his murdered previous girlfriend (12 years ago GF)
they uncover that the brother is alive and that some of his associates are high rollers and one is a big time assassin.
Witness Protection is involved
The older brother cut a deal, then ran to protect his current girlfriend and newborn baby
The assassin is after the older brother
WitSec is after the older brother
The Mob Boss is after the older brother
MC just wants to see and protect his older brother
MC and younger sister girl are kidnapped but escape, thus crushing the plans of both the Assassin and the Mob Boss
Everyone is happy
Everyone meets up for a secret meeting to welcome back the older brother.
IT’S A TRAP!!!!!!
The older brother turns out to be a murdering rapist
Who stole the MC’s baby from the old girlfriend
it was all witnessed by the younger sister
Assassin was in love with Older Sister and had vowed to protect her
Assassin then kills Older Brother
MC has a girlfriend who he doesn’t know much about and a 12 year old daughter who thinks he’s her uncle

TADA! No hablo burrito taca el grande mucho. Mucho mucho mucho grande taco burrito!!!

See, more drama than you can shake a big taco at. I was ready to quit this about 10 times, every time a new revelation happened. It didn’t help that the main character was a fething pansy. He couldn’t protect himself, much less anybody else. But he still kept bleating platitudes about protecting his girlfriend or the younger sister, while failing spectacularly every time. When it’s revealed at the end that he has a 12 year old daughter, maaaaaan, did I feel bad for her. Her daddy is a big fat wuss and she better learn to protect herself real quick!

And yet I will read more by Coben. Of course, if he keeps using pansy wussies for main characters, I suspect I won’t last many more books. He better write some better characters pronto. Mucho pronto in fact.

★★✬☆☆

From Wikipedia.org

As a boy, Will Klein had a hero: his older brother, Ken. Then, on a warm suburban night in the Kleins’ affluent New Jersey neighborhood, a young woman—a girl Will had once loved—was found raped and murdered in her family’s basement. The prime suspect: Ken Klein. With the evidence against him overwhelming, Ken simply vanished, spending the next decade as the elusive subject of rumors, speculation, and an international manhunt. When his shattered family never heard from Ken again, they were sure he was gone for good.

Now, eleven years have passed. And Will, who always believed in his brother’s innocence, has found evidence that Ken is alive—even as he is struck by another act of betrayal. His girlfriend suddenly disappears, leaving behind compelling evidence that she was not the person Will thought she was. As the two dark dramas unwind around him, Will is pulled into a violent mystery, haunted by signs that Ken is trying to contact him after all these years. Will can feel himself coming closer and closer to his brother… and to a terrible secret that someone will kill to keep buried. And as the lies begin to unravel, Will is uncovering startling truths about his lover, his brother, and even himself.

Sunday, June 11, 2023

Order to Kill (Mitch Rapp #15) ★★★✬☆

Title: Order to Kill
Series: Mitch Rapp #15
Author: Kyle Mills
Rating: 3.5 of 5 Stars
Genre: Thriller
Pages: 324
Words: 101K

From the Publisher and Bookstooge.blog

In the next thrilling novel in the #1 New York Times bestselling Mitch Rapp series, the anti-terrorism operative heads to Pakistan to confront a mortal threat he may not be prepared for. In fact, this time he might have met his match.

Mitch Rapp is used to winning.

But in this follow-up to #1 New York Times bestselling The Survivor, the CIA operative finds himself chasing false leads from continent to continent in an effort to keep Pakistani nukes from falling into the hands of terrorists. Together with friend and colleague Scott Coleman, Rapp struggles to prevent the loss of these lethal weapons, particularly because Russia is also interested in the nukes, though not for the same reason as Rapp and Coleman.

Soon, it becomes alarmingly clear that the forces in Moscow are bent on fomenting even more chaos and turmoil in the Middle East, and Rapp must go deep into Russian territory, posing as an American ISIS recruit. There, he uncovers a plan much more dangerous and insidious than he ever expected, one that could have far-reaching and catastrophic consequences.

At the same time, a younger assassin is hired to take out Rapp. The problem for Rapp is that this younger guy is even better than Rapp was at that age. So Rapp has to deal with a faster, more agile version of himself AND a bunch of ISIS jihadists who want to dirty nuke the oil fields of Saudi Arabia.

Being Mitch Rapp, he does it and he woos the widow of the man who tried to kill him in the previous books. Now there’s a lady who can handle Mitch Rapp.

Well, Kyle Mills has definitely made Mitch Rapp his own character and it’s slightly different from the version Vince Flynn created. And not for the better. This Rapp is angrier without cause and has a lot less control of his words and temper. I haven’t watched the movie “American Assassin” yet, but from the reviews of it, the version of Mitch Rapp in the movie is much more like the Kyle Mills version than the Vince Flynn version.

Confused yet? Yeah, it’s a mess and it is not making me enjoy this series more.

At the same time, this was a great story. I mean, dirty nukes and Russian hitmen and ISIS terrorists and a take no prisoners secret agent who is kicking all of their butts. How can you not enjoy that?

So I’m going to take a break from Kyle Mills and “his” Mitch Rapp for a couple of months and come back when I feel like I can treat it like a new character and series. I’ve also taken Vince Flynn’s name out of the info box and am not using his name as an author tag for this series either.

★★★✬☆

All My “Mitch Rapp” Reviews

Thursday, April 27, 2023

The Survivor (Mitch Rapp #14) ★★★✬☆

Title: The Surivor
Series: Mitch Rapp #14
Author: Vince Flynn & Kyle Mills
Rating: 3.5 of 5 Stars
Genre: Thriller
Pages: 336
Words: 104K

From the Publisher and Bookstooge.blog

When Joe “Rick” Rickman, former golden boy of the CIA, steals a massive amount of the Agency’s most classified documents in an elaborate betrayal of his country, CIA director Irene Kennedy has no choice but to send her most dangerous weapon after him: elite covert operative Mitch Rapp.

Rapp quickly dispatches with the traitor, but Rickman proves to be a deadly threat to America even from beyond the grave. In fact, mysterious tip-offs are appearing all over the world, linking to the potentially devastating data that Rickman managed to store somewhere only he knew.

It’s a deadly race to the finish as both the Pakistanis and the Americans search desperately for Rickman’s accomplices, and for the confidential documents they are slowly leaking to the world. To save his country from being held hostage to a country set on becoming the world’s newest nuclear superpower, Mitch Rapp must outrun, outthink, and outgun his deadliest enemies yet.

In the cold of Russia, Rapp finds the hacker who has been releasing the info. He kills the Pakistani’s who are trying to recover it and recovers it himself. Director Kennedy then sends him on a mission to destroy the head of Pakistani Intelligence Agency, as he was the one trying to make use of the data. Rapp kills him with a poison meant for another, thus making it look like a complete accident.

This was the first book after Vince Flynn, the original author had died from cancer. His name is prominently on the cover while Kyle Mills is in tiny little print. With this being the first book, I have no idea how much was already done by Flynn or if Mills had to do the bulk of the work. Considering this book was a direct sequel to The Last Man, I’m leaning toward Flynn having done most of the work before his death and Mills stepping in to maybe write the ending and polish it up.

Overall, I’m satisfied with how Mills did. There were a couple of times where Rapp acted a bit more crazy than usual and not as rational and it made me go “oh, there’s Mills’ interpretation of Rapp”. Hoping I won’t have more of those moments with future books.

And that brings me to another issue. The passage of time. It’s not super apparent with each book, but over a decade has passed since the first book. Irene Kennedy’s son is now a 17 year old boy. Mitch is in his mid 40’s. It’s about time for him to retire from active field operations and either take over the training of new recruits or to get a desk job looking at data and planning ops. There are currently 22 books in this series, so I know that Mills keeps up writing. Which means that Rapp doesn’t just retire and we the readers get “the end”. My guess is that several of the books will be prequels, much like what Flynn did with American Assassin, which showcased Rapp’s origin. I guess I’ll be finding out over the coming months! 🙂

★★★✬☆

All My “Mitch Rapp” Reviews

Friday, March 17, 2023

The Last Man (Mitch Rapp #13) ★★★✬☆

Title: The Last Man
Series: Mitch Rapp #13
Author: Vince Flynn
Rating: 3.5 of 5 Stars
Genre: Thriller
Pages: 377
Words: 127K

From Vinceflynn.com & Me

The head of clandestine operations in Afghanistan has been kidnapped, his four bodyguards executed in cold blood. With the CIA plunged into crisis mode, Rapp is dispatched to find his missing friend, Joe Rickman, at all costs. He isn’t the only one looking for Rickman; an FBI special agent is at his heels, determined to blame Rapp for the bloody debacle. Rapp is, however, the only one who knows certain things about the vanished black ops master—secrets that in the wrong hands could prove disastrous. With elements of his own government undermining him—and America’s security—at every turn, Rapp must be as ruthless and deceitful as his enemies to complete this razor’s-edge mission. And it turns out Rickman planned the whole thing and tried to kill Rapp because he knew Rapp was the only one who could catch him out. So when Rapp catches up to Rickman, he puts a bullet in his head. Because that’s how you treat traitors. Period.

Sadly, this was the last Mitch Rapp book written by Vince Flynn. Flynn succumbed to cancer after this and that was thought to be the end of the matter. Thankfully, another author took up the challenge and Flynn’s estate allowed it to go forward, so we do get more Mitch Rapp stories. We’ll see what they are like when I get to them. But to this book.

I KNEW Rickman was the jackass scumbag from the get go. I was hoping Flynn wasn’t going to go the obvious route and that we’d be getting something really tricky and twisted. C’est la vie! It was still a great thriller with tons of action. The assassin who killed Rapp’s wife and unborn baby gets involved and that really upped the stakes. It also showed the difference between a free lance assassin for hire and someone like Rapp.

The political side of things are touched upon but they wrap up so quickly and so neatly at the end that I wondered if Flynn did it that way just to finish the book. I was kind of hoping Rapp would pay the traitorous Senator a visit and maybe even kill him. You don’t sell top secret secrets to countries like Afghanistan and NOT be a traitor. Sadly, the CIA Director, Kennedy, makes the most of it politically and pretty much tells the Senator he is now her plaything or she’ll reveal everything. That makes sense but it’s not as cool as what I wanted 😀

I was pretty happy with this read and it helped to wile away a couple of days. That’s all I can truly ask for from a book.

★★★✬☆

All My “Mitch Rapp” Reviews

Wednesday, October 12, 2022

Kill Shot (Mitch Rapp #12) ★★★★✬

This review is written with a GPL 4.0 license and the rights contained therein shall supersede all TOS by any and all websites in regards to copying and sharing without proper authorization and permissions. Crossposted at WordPress & Blogspot by Bookstooge’s Exalted Permission
Title: Kill Shot
Series: Mitch Rapp #12
Author: Vince Flynn
Rating: 4.5 of 5 Stars
Genre: Thriller
Pages: 336
Words: 116.5K

★★★★✬

All My “Mitch Rapp” Reviews

Tuesday, September 20, 2022

Hunting Zero (Agent Zero #3) ★☆☆☆☆

Title: Hunting Zero
Series: Agent Zero #3
Authors: Jack Mars
Rating: 1 of 5 Stars
Genre: Thriller
Pages: 293
Words: 102K

Synopsis:

From the Publisher

“You will not sleep until you are finished with AGENT ZERO. A superb job creating a set of characters who are fully developed and very much enjoyable. The description of the action scenes transport us into a reality that is almost like sitting in a movie theater with surround sound and 3D (it would make an incredible Hollywood movie). I can hardly wait for the sequel.”–Roberto Mattos, Books and Movie ReviewsIn HUNTING ZERO (Book #3), when CIA operative Agent Zero finds out his two teenage girls have been kidnapped and are bound for a trafficking ring in Eastern Europe, he embarks on a high-octane chase across Europe, leaving a trail of devastation is his wake as he breaks all rules, risks his own life, and does everything he can to get his daughters back.Kent, ordered by the CIA to stand down, refuses. Without the backing of the agency, with moles and assassins on all sides, with a lover he can barely trust, and being targeted himself, Agent Zero must fight multiple foes to get his girls back.Up against the most deadly trafficking ring in Europe, with political connections reaching all the way to the top, it is an unlikely battle—one man against an army—and one that only Agent Zero can wage.And yet, his own identity, he realizes, may be the most perilous secret of all.

My Thoughts:

I am so done with this series now. Agent Zero acts like an angry dad without one ounce of professionalism and breaks every rule even though he knows the rules are his best bet. He acts stupid, emotional and the man I read about would never in a million years have become a top agent of the CIA, or an agent for anything other than a Jihad. His emotionally driven reactions reminded me EXACTLY of jihadi’s in other books I’ve read.

So goodbye Kent Steele, you’ve wasted enough of my time with your lying ass claims to be a secret agent. You’re a dumbass, that’s it.

Not Even Going to Link to the Other Books So You Don’t Waste Your Time On This Garbage

Saturday, September 10, 2022

American Assassin (Mitch Rapp #11) ★★★★☆

Title: American Assassin
Series: Mitch Rapp #11
Author: Vince Flynn
Rating: 4 of 5 Stars
Genre: Thriller
Pages: 381
Words: 125K

Synopsis:

From the Publishers

Before he was considered a CIA superagent, before he was thought of as a terrorist’s worst nightmare, and before he was both loathed and admired by the politicians on Capitol Hill, Mitch Rapp was a gifted college athlete without a care in the world…and then tragedy struck.

Two decades of cutthroat, partisan politics has left the CIA and the country in an increasingly vulnerable position. Cold War veteran and CIA Operations Director Thomas Stansfield knows he must prepare his people for the next war. The rise of Islamic terrorism is coming, and it needs to be met abroad before it reaches America’s shores. Stansfield directs his protÉgÉe, Irene Kennedy, and his old Cold War colleague, Stan Hurley, to form a new group of clandestine operatives who will work outside the normal chain of command-men who do not exist.

What type of man is willing to kill for his country without putting on a uniform? Kennedy finds him in the wake of the Pan Am Lockerbie terrorist attack. Two-hundred and seventy souls perished that cold December night, and thousands of family and friends were left searching for comfort. Mitch Rapp was one of them, but he was not interested in comfort. He wanted retribution.

Six months of intense training has prepared him to bring the war to the enemy’s doorstep, and he does so with brutal efficiency. Rapp starts in Istanbul, where he assassinates the Turkish arms dealer who sold the explosives used in the Pan Am attack. Rapp then moves onto Hamburg with his team and across Europe, leaving a trail of bodies. All roads lead to Beirut, though, and what Rapp doesn’t know is that the enemy is aware of his existence and has prepared a trap. The hunter is about to become the hunted, and Rapp will need every ounce of skill and cunning if he is to survive the war-ravaged city and its various terrorist factions.

My Thoughts:

You know, I think this was one of the best Mitch Rapp novels so far. His college sweetheart is already dead, his future wife hasn’t entered the picture yet and we get to see the forging of an unparalleled weapon.

THIS is what I wanted from the get-go. A man unfettered by human connection, touched by tragedy but with an uncorrupted moral compass. A weapon with a conscience, as it were. If Mitch has to have a companion, he needs someone compatible. He’s a Desert Eagle 357 Magnum. His dead wife was a glass of whiskey. Those 2 things aren’t inherently compatible. What Mitch’s gun needs is either a matching gun or a security case where it can rest until needed. I don’t think that’s going to happen though.

Being a prequel, we know that Mitch isn’t going to fail and as such some of the tension is gone but the action keeps up the tempo and this is a thrill a minute. I also wondered if it would be a good thing to start the series here, but I am in the camp of reading a series in which the author wrote it and despite how good I think this book is, nothing about it changed my thoughts on the reading order.

All My “Mitch Rapp” Reviews

Friday, August 12, 2022

Pursuit of Honor (Mitch Rapp #10) ★★★✬☆

Title: Pursuit of Honor
Series: Mitch Rapp #10
Author: Vince Flynn
Rating: 3.5 of 5 Stars
Genre: Thriller
Pages: 402
Words: 129.5K

Synopsis:

From Wikipedia

The book opens days after Muslim extremists have blown up a power lunch restaurant filled with members of Congress and staffers. After that, a second squad attacks the National Counter Terrorist Center killing dozens more until Mitch Rapp and his partner Mike Nash send the bad guys off to paradise. With nearly 200 dead, the nation is in no mood to negotiate with the Islamic extremists. The President has given Rapp a green light to be the judge, jury and executioner. The sharp edge of the CIA’s sword has been let loose with few strings attached. The story takes place over the following week.

Rapp is on the trail of a liberal lawyer inspector general of the CIA who has been giving out information that some consider to aid the enemy. Meanwhile, three of the cell that helped carry out the DC attack are hiding out in rural Iowa, waiting for the heat to die down. Hakim is the mastermind who knows about the US after living here for a long time while Karim is the hotheaded soldier who wants a legacy as The Lion of al Qaeda. One day, a dad and son walk up to their farmhouse asking for permission to hunt nearby. Hakim gave them his permission because he knows that’s all they want, but Karim is convinced they are undercover police and kills them both. Now they are on the run, trying to stay a step ahead of the police. Neither trusts the other and they ended up splitting. Hakim to Nassau to get money and hide somewhere while Karim and Ahmed, their loyal servant went to Washington to wreak more havoc.

After the President award a medal to Nash (set up by Mitch for Nash to give Nash a better life), Karim kidnapped Nash’s daughter while Nash and his wife have dinner in a restaurant. Karim and Ahmed brought Nash’s daughter to the Lincoln Memorial and decided to make a deal with Nash. At the exchange point, Mitch successfully killed Karim.

My Thoughts:

Once again, the author gets a family involved and I didn’t know how it was going to turn out until it was all over with. It certainly adds a lot dramatic tension but at the same time I don’t like it. Children being in danger, in one form or another, is not something I want in my entertainment.

This alternates between Mitch Rapp’s point of view of the story and the terrorists who survived the attack from the last book, Extreme Measures. The terrorists are a study in contrasts and there is as much conflict between them as there is between them all and Rapp. It made for an alphabet soup of tension and story telling and I rather enjoyed it.

Director Kennedy (head of the CIA) continues to play a very small part and I have to admit I miss her not having as much to do with the story as in the earlier books. She’s smart as a whip and I always enjoyed reading about her as she maneuvered the politics of whatever situation was going on while Rapp dealt with the physical side of things.

Taking a little break and limiting myself to 3 Mitch Rapp books at a time seems to be the right move.

All My “Mitch Rapp” Reviews

Saturday, August 06, 2022

Target Zero (Agent Zero #2) ★★★☆☆

Title: Target Zero
Series: Agent Zero #2
Authors: Jack Mars
Rating: 3 of 5 Stars
Genre: Thriller
Pages: 285
Words: 97.5K

Synopsis:

Kent Steele, aka Reid Lawson, aka Agent Zero, is trying to piece his life back together after the events of the last book. He hasn’t made a decision about returning to the CIA or not, his relationship with his oldest daughter is getting rocky as she is smart enough to realize things don’t add up and Lawson continues to get back old memories, all of which throw doubt on everything he thought he knew about himself and his wife.

A terrorist group weaponizes a small pox strain and it’s up to Agent Zero and his team to stop it. At the same time, the assassin from the previous book escapes and goes hunting after Zero’s daughter to use as bait.

Zero stops the plague from destroying the world but the book ends on a cliffhanging concerning his daughters and the assassin. We also find out there is yet another vast and worldwide conspiracy about “something”, again and that Zero’s current love interest might be involved.

My Thoughts:

This has some really nice action scenes, but there are a couple of jarring notes that I suspect will doom this series for me.

First, stupid actions by smart people to drive the plot on. For example, the team needs one of the terrorists alive to interrogate him (enhancedly if need be) but one of the other team members shoots him dead “because he might have been a threat”. Oh my goodness. These are supposed to be highly trained professionals but they act more like characters on a tv show, sigh.

Second, the family drama. Lawson has been hiding his secret identity as Zero all these years and it’s only NOW, in the worst imaginable time, that he begins to wonder how to deal with it? And he’s stymied by his 16 year old daughter? Should have thought of the future Mr Agent Man before getting married and trying to pretend to be normal. Once again, it came across as Hollywood’esque.

Thirdly, the liberal guilt tripping and gun hate. Every time Zero can’t save everyone in a situation, he starts bad talking himself and blaming himself. Now, guilt is a natural thing but the phrases used and the word choices are straight out of Liberal Guilt Tactics 101. The person doing the killing isn’t the bad guy, YOU are the badguy because you didn’t stop them. It is the most illogical and stupid piece of rhetoric and it makes me angry, because it is deliberately dishonest. The gun thing is all about Zero having memories of his wife finding one of his hidden safe guns (he had 11 around the house) and she totally trashes the very concept of gun ownership. Couple that with his daughter’s question about her learning to shoot after the incident in the previous book and Zero’s active avoidance to teach her, well, it left a bad taste in my mouth.

With all of that, the book was still really interesting. Like I said at first, the action is really good and that is what carried me through despite everything else I’ve mentioned. I’m going to read the next book but if any of those 3 things I mentioned above show up, I’ll be done. If I want to watch a tv show, with all the attendant weaknesses, I’ll go do that. I don’t need that in my books, thank you very much.

Agent Zero (Book 1)

Friday, July 15, 2022

Agent Zero (Agent Zero #1) ★★★☆☆

Title: Agent Zero
Series: Agent Zero #1
Authors: Jack Mars
Rating: 3 of 5 Stars
Genre: Thriller
Pages: 322
Words: 115.5K

Synopsis:

Kent Steele is getting over the death of his wife and is doing his best to provide stability for his 2 daughters. One night he is kidnapped and told he’s a secret agent for the CIA, the most lethal agent the world has ever known. Kent, a history professor, knows this isn’t true and is convinced the kidnappers have the wrong man. Then they remove a small module from his head and suddenly he’s having memories that seem impossible.

Turns out Steele WAS a secret agent going after a organization that was so scattered that no 3 members knew more than 3 other members. They had penetrated governments and security agencies and it was obvious to Steele that the CIA had a mole or 3. So he chose to have his memory suppressed, faked his death and was trying to hide in plain sight.

Now that he’s back, Steele means to see the job done. He hunts down the organization and puts a stop to them killing hundreds of world leaders and business moguls. Now Agent Zero is back.

My Thoughts:

Jason Bourne meets John Wick, with kids. This was a decent story. However, this was originally published in 2019 and right now, in 2022, the series has ended at book 12. That’s 4 books a year. I know that output doesn’t HAVE to indicate quality (as evinced by the Galaxy’s Edge series by Anspach and Cole) but it usually is a good indicator. This was well written and I really hope the quality stays this high.

While I did enjoy this, we’ll have to see if the author has the imagination to keep the story interesting for 11 more books. What concerns me is that Kent Steele has a dead wife, 2 young daughters and in this book gets a potential love interest from his past. That’s a LOT of drama potential. The kids especially worry me because most authors either kill them off OR end up making them non-entities. Neither of those options is enjoyable to read about nor does it ever indicate a skill level that is above average in terms of story telling.

I realize I’m being pessimistic here but sometimes it is hard not to be. I’d like to end this by saying I did enjoy the story and the main characters name just made me laugh. If you’re a comic fan, you might have already picked up on it. Kent is the last name of Clarke Kent, who is also known as the Man of Steel.