Review - "Scarecrow Returns" by Matthew Reilly

It feels like I have been hit by a train, thrown into the air and landed in a rollercoaster, bullets flying and a muscular James Bond-like hero just beyond reach coming to save me. The adrenaline is pumping and I think - WOW, I'm definately alive!

No, I haven't watched a movie, I have just read Reilly's new action novel. In one day. Yesterday. And my heart is still racing!

A bit about the book (from Amazon)

Deep in the Arctic, a long-forgotten Soviet military base enshrouds a weapon of unimaginably destructive force, a Cold War doomsday device with the power to obliterate the planet.

When a mysterious and brutal terrorist group known as the Army of Thieves seizes control of the remote base and unleashes the weapon upon an unsuspecting world, there is only one team close enough to sabotage them: a ragtag band of Marines and civilians led by Captain Shane Schofield, call sign “Scarecrow.” Outnumbered, outgunned, and with the fate of humanity hanging in the balance, Scarecrow has only a few short hours to bring down the Army of Thieves, or see the Earth go up in flames.

Filled with nonstop action and told in Matthew Reilly’s characteristically white-knuckle prose, Scarecrow Returns is a work of gripping suspense and complete exhilaration.

My evaluation

Reilly strikes again! No one writes hard core action thrillers like this author! I am thoroughly amazed and gets totally blown away! This novel contains non stop explosions, bullets flying, rocket launchers boom'ing, a litte bit conspiracy, a touch of romance and our hero Scarecrow handles it all. People with heart problems should be warned about this book, and action junkies should definitely try out this one. There are no slow parts in this book anywhere! I couldn't stop reading this book. I started and ended it yesterday - in one go. And I want more! Much more!

There are no author who manages to pump my adrenaline as Reilly with his Scarecrow hero. I have to admit I am very hooked on James Bond-, Mission Impossible- & Die Hard movies to mention just a few. If you have the same tendencies - buy this book! If you love action you should definately not miss this novel. Keep them coming, Reilly!!!

My rating

of 5
No one above, no one even close when it comes to action thrillers!!!

Other novels in the Scarecrow series

Ice Station (1998)
Area 7 (2001)
Scarecrow (2003)
Hell Island (2006)

I addition Reilly has written three books about Jack West Junior. These are even better than Dan Brown's! Conspiracy theories on a high level combined, of course, with action. This series is also very very good:

The Seven Ancient Wonders (2005)
The Six Sacred Stones (2007)
The Five Greatest Warriors (2009)




Scarecrow Returns:

Format: Kindle Edition
File Size: 1229 KB
Print Length: 370 pages
Page Numbers Source ISBN: 1416577599
Publisher: Simon & Schuster (January 3, 2012)
Sold by: Simon and Schuster Digital Sales Inc
Language: English
ASIN: B004T4KWYM

.

Very good and FREE ebook: Sci-Fi/Action-Thriller!!!

I've got to share this Christmas gift :-) One of my favourite authors, Michael R. Hicks, will give away his "Season of the Harvest" for free! If you haven't read anything by this author earlier, this is the time to get one of his very best novels! The genre is a mix of Sci-Fi/Fantasy & Thriller/Action.

Click HERE to read my review of the novel. I gave it 5 of 5 stars!

The offer is only valid December 21.st through 23.rd, so you have to decide quickly :-) You'll find the e-book on Amazon!

Happy read!

.

Review - "The Race" by Clive Cussler

Genre: Action/Adventure

Why can't I learn a simple lesson? Clive Cussler writes superb action/adventure books. Clive Cussler when using co-authors, in this case Justin Scott, does not write superb action/adventure books! This is all for the money.. Baahh... It gets me every time, and I make the mistake again and again - hoping, maybe this time, that things have changed. Well, they haven't..!

A bit about the book

The story takes place in 1910 and we are at the beginning of the aviation era. A news publisher, Preston Whiteway, offers $50.000 to the first aviator/aviatrix who is able to cross the States in less than 50 days. Whiteway even sponsors one of the favourite candidates, a tough and highly competitive girl - Josephine Frost - and this is where Cussler's/Scott's chief investigator Isaac Bell gets into the game.

Josephine's violent and convicted husband has just killed her lover and have tried to kill Josephine as well. There is no doubt that he will continue trying till he has succeeded. Isaac Bell has met Harry Frost before and he knows that Frost has built his fortune on gangs with thieves and murderers in every city and state accross the continent. Bell also knows that Frost not only will come after his wife, but also the news publisher Whiteway. And if Bell takes the case, well - then he'll also be on the list.  

Spoiler alerts...

The aviation race starts and what must happen happens. Isaac Bell manages during the whole competition to prevent every attempt of killing Josephine and himself. The attempts aren't even specially creative, and Bell - who has never been in an aeroplane before, manages to fly his own (!) as he hasn't done anything else in his whole life but flying. No instruction, nothing. Fantastic! He even wins the race! Yeeyyhh...

At the beginning of the story it is clearly visible that Josephines lover who is killed by Harry Frost will survive the attempt and somehow reappear. And of course he does. You'll find so many obvious subplots that it is pathetic. At the same time the novel is slooooooow. When has ever a true Clive Cussler novel been slow?!? 


My opinion, and

...my advice? Use your money more wisely. I was at least very disappointed - again! As mentioned, I used to find Cussler a very competent action/adventure storyteller, and his Dirk Pitt books are among the best in this genre. They are up to speed, are very exciting although easy to read, but creative and highly infectuous. Cussler mixes past "history" with present activities and has always a couple of parallell stories and subplots which always blend perfectly together in the end. There are always exciting twist & turns when you least expect it, and this fantastic mix has made Cussler to one of my favourite action/adventure writers. In the past, that is....

Cussler HAS written some good novels with another co-author, but he is the exception. This is the NUMA files with Paul Kemprecos. The first 8 books in this series holds in my opinion Cussler standard. However, I see that the 9th book "Devils Gate" he has swapped Kemprecos with the new Graham Brown for some reason, so here we go again...

How can Cussler accept this? He has now celebrated his 80th birthday, and yes - he is getting old. But why not end his career while on top? Why drag his own name through this co-author mud of destruction? I have now bought my last Clive Cussler novel! An era is over, I salute the author he used to be, and will probably re-read the whole Dirk Pitt series at one point in life. You were great, Cussler!

For you who want to read his good novels, check the list of his series HERE. I recommend all 21 novels in the Dirk Pitt series, and the first 8 NUMA files. The rest you can safely leave!

Pic of the day which goes with the novel: The de Havilland dual wing
Source: http://www.rafmuseum.org.uk

.

Review - "Those in Peril" by Wilbur Smith

Genre: Adventure/Action

Hazel Bannock is heir to the Bannock Oil Corporation, one of the major global oil producers. While cruising the Indian Ocean, her yacht is hijacked by Somalian pirates and her nineteen-year-old daughter, Cayla, kidnapped. The pirates demand a crippling twenty-billion-dollar ransom for her release, and complicated political and diplomatic sensitivities render the major powers incapable of intervening.

With growing evidence of the horrific torture to which Cayla is being subjected, Hazel calls on Hector Cross to help her rescue her daughter. Hector is the man behind Cross Bow Security, the company contracted to Bannock Oil Corporation to provide all their protection. He is a formidable fighting man. Between them, Hazel and Hector are determined to take the law into their own hands.

Wilbur Smith himself introduces his new book

A book teaser

My evaluation

I cannot disagree more with the hype of this book - I am very disappointed! I had never thought the day would come when Wilbur Smith was able to disappoint me with one of his books, but this one did the deed.. And I have been a life long admirer of this author through all his many books about the Courtney and Ballantynes of South-Africa, the Egyptian series and all his other novels.

I sit with a bad feeling that this book isn't written by Smith himself... The way of writing is wrong, the characters are not developed well at all, and where Smith has always been a wordsmith and artist with words he is now not more than an average amateur. Something's wrong!

What another reviewer has said with a perfect choice of words...

"I can not believe that Wilbur's support team of publishers, editors and managers would allow such damage to be done to his brand by releasing this amateurish & vacuous drivel...

If Wilbur Smith has come to the end of his writing life, fine, and thanks for all the great reads over the years; well done, you were a true wordsmith! But to plod on in this fashion? Please, someone who knows him, throw a bucket of icy cold water over him. Did he and his support team really think that no-one would notice?"

I couldn't agree more...

My rating

of 5

Format: Kindle Edition
File Size: 690 KB
Print Length: 400 pages
Page Numbers Source ISBN: 0312567251
Publisher: Thomas Dunne Books (May 10, 2011)
Sold by: Amazon Digital Services
Language: English
ASIN: B004OA641Q

Pic of the day: Abstract

Review - "Scarecrow" by Matthew Reilly

Genre: Action/Thriller

The seemingly indestructible Marine captain Shane "Scarecrow" Schofield returns in this high-octane adventure from Reilly (Area 7, etc.). This time out, Schofield finds himself, along with 14 other members of the world's most elite military units, being hunted by a seemingly endless army of bounty hunters. 

The prize for the hunters is $18.6 million per head, and all 15 heads must be taken within six days. The search for the person behind this bounty hunt takes Schofield and his loyal band of marines around the world and in and out of one life-threatening situation after another. Reilly knows exactly what kind of book he's writing. 

His heroes are brave and self-sacrificing, his villains are bloodthirsty and ruthless, and the fate of the world hangs in the balance. Narrator Sowers is in perfect synch with Reilly's storytelling. Obviously enjoying himself, he knows just what words to punch in order to get the most out of each action-packed sentence, and he supports his Clint Eastwood-like delivery of Schofield's dialogue by giving each of the numerous secondary characters their own distinct voices and accents. Those who like their adventures fast and furious will not be disappointed by this energetic production.


A book teaser:

My evaluation

This is Reilly at his best! Very fast action, densely packed with plot and strong characters with Scarecrow as the natural born hero. This is James Bond style - on steroids! It helps to read the other two Scarecrow-books to fully understand the relationship between the characters from the beginning, but it' definately not a necessity! The story is outrageous and entertaining to the end!

My rating

of 5


Format: Kindle Edition
File Size: 1673 KB
Print Length: 416 pages
Publisher: Thomas Dunne Books; 1 edition (April 1, 2010)
Sold by: Amazon Digital Services
Language: English
ASIN: B000FC1BQU

Pic of today:The sun sets over Sua Pan, Botswana