Field of fire by Mark Cameron

"Field of fire" by Mark Cameron - Should have been field of snow!

This book was published by Pinnacle in 2016 and has 448 pages. This is Book 7 of Jericho Quinn series. 

Jericho Quinn and Veronica (Ronnie) Garcia, now a couple, are travelling through Alaska. Jericoh's plans to propose Ronnie goes for a toss when a deadly nerve gas called 'New archangel' goes missing from Russia and is used by Islamist terrorists in America, twice. Multiple casualties. The Russian scientist, who invented it, and his daughter run away from Russia and land in Alaska. 

Two teams are formed. Quinn and Tibido's cousin FBI agent go after the Russian scientist and his daughter who go missing in Alaska. Tibido, Ronnie and August Bowen go after son of the Russian scientist, who is a cage fighter in America. 

Quinn almost dies of hypothermia in cold Alaskan landscape. There is another party after the Russian scientist. Quinn has to fight on multiple fronts. Other team does not have it easy either. 

The story starts well, develops nicely. Backdrop of Alaskan landscape is a novelty. Readers expect the climax to too take them higher.  But the climax is not good. It's abrupt, lacks action, lacks tension and doesn't heighten the graph.

Why did I read this book? Author. 

What did I like? Alaska. 

What I didn't like? Climax. 

Read, if you have spare time.

Dark Justice by Jack Higgins

"Dark Justice" by Jack Higgins - Run of the mill!

This book is published by Putnam Adult in 2004 and has 288 pages. 

A plot to assassinate President of America is foiled, but the white assassin prefers suicide to capture and dies with warning 'Beware wrath of Allah'. Dillon, ex IRA, now works for 'Prime minister's army', a secret organization answerable only to the PM of UK. He is tasked to handle the situation. Major Yuri Ashimov, right hand man of billionaire Joseph, is behind this. Joseph has Putin's backing. 

Who is behind the attempted assassination? How come a white man is recruited by Islamist terror group? Are there Irish links? How will Dillon handle? What price will good guys have to pay?

The story is easy. The start is catchy. An attempt to assassinate POTUS is a good beginning. One expects the story to be a complex plot with many twists and turns. But the story is relatively straight forward. Involvement of Russians is not a secret, so it's a situation of 'we know and they know that we know'. The climax is a bit anticlimactic. It happens between 6 people in a house. One expects the climax of an international plot to be very exciting, but that's not what we get. 

Dillon is the enforcer, he is also a legend of IRA, now with the establishment. Greta Novikova is GRU, loves Yuri and also moon lights for Joseph. She shows some liking for Dillon. Yuri Ashimov is Joseph's goon and head of security. Joseph is ex KGB and now Oligarch. Salim is British imam of Iraqi origin,  has a PhD, & is trying to recruit young British muslims. 

However, readers don't understand a number of things. Why Joseph is trying to kill US President? Why a fine angle created by author of spark between Dillon and Greta is wasted. Why Salim tries to recruit? He is not even shown as a hard core jihadi. Why does Dillon act solo when he should have a considerable power of PM to apprehend the perpetrators? Why 'Wrath of Allah' becomes irrelevant for the story? Why does the assassin use silenced AK47 to take shot at the President rather than sniper rifle? Too many loose ends.

Why did I read this book? It was on hand. 

What did I like? Irish angle. 

What I didn't like? Climax. Loose ends. 

Not a must read.

State of emergency by Mark Cameron

"State of emergency" by Mark Cameron. This book is published by Pinnacle. This edition was published in 2013 and has 416 pages. This is Book 3 of the Jericho Quinn series.

Dirty atomic bombs (very low intensity) explode in America and Russia simultaneously. College students are used as mule to carry radioactive material. Shady arms dealer Ivan Zamora gets hold of a Russian nuke. Jericho Quinn and Jacque Tibido are pressed into action by NSA, assisted by buxom Veronica Garcia and with support of the enigmatic Emico Miyagi.

What is Babayaga? Who will acquire the bomb? What is the target? Can Jericho save the day?

Marc has written a decent story for most part. However the pace is on the slowish side. With a nuclear bomb in question one would expect a more frantic pace. The climax also does not keep up with the story and turns out inadequate.

Motorbikes are constant feature of Jericho Quinn novels. This one has them too. To make matters interesting here Jericho and Ivan participate in Dakar really.

The story takes place mostly in America and Bolivia / Mexico. A new character of a female Russian spy has been introduced but if I remember correctly she does not appear in the fourth book. This books end is the start of next one.

You can give it a miss.

The Mark of the Assassin" by Daniel Silva

"The Mark of the Assassin" by Daniel Silva. This book is published by Signet in 2003 and has 528 pages.

A known Palestinian terrorist shoots down an American civilian airliner. 200 dead. The terrorist is also found dead, shot 3 times in the face. Michael from CIA is on the case. He has previously encountered an assassin who shoots his victims 3 times in the face. It's the mark of this assassin.

Who is behind the attack on airliner? Who is the assassin? Why does he have a mark? Can Michael catch him?

It's a classic tale of a high profile CIA operative and world's best assassin. Here both are hunting for each other. Author has also introduced a personal angle in the story that makes it more appealing.

Elaborate plot by the wealthy & powerful to become wealthier and more powerful, use of terrorists and assassins to achieve the goal, misleading, deception, campaign financing, espionage, love; the story contains everything.

Daniel has written a good story. It has a crisp pace. Doesn't slow down. Nails you to the book. Characterization is good. The book ends where the next book will start. It's not over yet, wait for the sequel.

Recommend reading.

Clear line of fire by Badrinath Nuggehalli

Mandar's book review (24th April 2014)

Completed reading "Clear line of fire", debut novel of Badrinath Nuggehalli. This book is published by Rupa and has 232 pages.

Czech republic has an agreement to provide Howitzer guns to India. America leans on Russia (after the break up of USSR) and Russia leans on Czech republic to cancel the deal.

There is no gun better suited for mountain terrain as it can fire from steep slopes. Uzbekistan has the technology to make the gun but does not have the requisite software (Fire control unit - FCU). A niche Indian software company headed by Satyan Sharma can develop the technology. Indian defense ministry ties up with Satyan to develop it. This joint Uzbek - Indian gun will be the best in the world. The gun is close to prototype testing. It will then be produced en mass and inducted in Indian army. The big contractors will lose out.

Now America wants it. Russia wants it too. Covert operatives from these countries are pressed into action. Politicians  want to  discredit the indigenously developed gun as there would be no kick backs from local contractors. Other gun manufacturers and Pentagon is also interested. There are attempts of sabotage, threats, physical violence, kidnapping.

Satyan doesn't know who to trust. Who is a friend and who's the foe. The only person he can trust is his fiancé and TV journalist Rubita. Can he save his software from bad guys? Can he save his company? Will he get caught up in red tape? Who is behind all this? Is there a traitor? Are the politicians really patriots? Is the army corrupt?

Author has tried to create a spectacular story with unimaginable twists and turns and make it grand. However in this what has come out is only an unsuccessful attempt at everything and success in only a few. Author has tried to cram in a lot of things thereby either not justifying them or making them unrealistic (even more unrealistic than fiction writers freedom)

He had not been able to decide if the protagonist Satyan Sharma should be portrayed as a technocrat, a hero or a businessman who does heroic deeds in a particular situation.

Politicians are all corrupt and traitors. So are the bureaucrats. Russians and Americans operate freely in India and Indian intelligence does not even know it. Satyan is backed by some powerful persons but acts alone as if he is the sole savior.

The end of this book baffled me.  Completely out of synch. It had little to do with the story and could have been avoided completely.

It would have been a good book if author had not tried to do too much. Avoid.

Taras Bulba and other tales by Nikolai Gogol

"Taras Bulba and other tales" by Nikolai Gogol.

Nikolai Gogol is considered one of the most brilliant Russian writers. My curiosity in Gogol was kindled after reading Jhumpa Lahiri's Namesake and I decided to read this book.

Taras Bulba is the first story (actually it's a novella) and occupies almost half the book. Taras Bulba is a Ukrenian cossack chieftian. The story paints the uninhabited lives of cossacks (Orthodox Christians) vividly. How women had no standing in their society, how they drank, how they waged brutal wars (against Catholics) etc. The story takes turn when one of Taras' son falls in love with a noble girl from enemy camp while in war. How Taras keeps fighting for his land and cause, dispite losing all the beloved ones, one by one. His cruelty and revenge. All for a cause. This story has many racial expletives, but such was the language of that time.

I could not comprehend what the author wanted to say in the second story 'St. John's eve'. 'The cloak' portrays life of a very simple and timid man, 'How two Ivans quarreled' shows how human ego can destroy a friendship, 'The mysterious portrait' is a dark tale and 'The calash' is an attempt at comedy.

In general the book has a very dark mood and there is little optimism in it.

Read if you want to know what Gogol wrote. Otherwise give it a miss.

Shadow Hunter by Jeffery Archer.

"Shadow Hunter", by Jeffery Archer.

The story is set in cold war era. A nuclear submarine captain, whose father is presumed dead in a submarine accident long ago,  learns about multiple infidelities of his wife; latest being a Russian spy. He learns this just before his departure with his submarine for a major NATO exercise near Russian waters, on a special mission.        

Can he cope up with the breach of trust? What can he do about the security breach on top of it? Has he a plan?  What are his intentions? Defect or destroy?  Can his best friend and captain of another nuclear submarine help?

What does it have anything to do with future of Russia and who rules her? What would happen to Peristroika and Glasnost?

The books explores life on a nuclear submarine, cutoff from outside world for weeks. The chain of command, technical details, submarine protocols are explained in detail and give us a sneak peak in another world.

Pace of the story is fairly uniform and you want to read till end, however you can guess the end.  International politics and Russia's internal politics is captured and used aptly. Climax could have been made more interesting.

A good book to read but not a must read.

Zero Percentile by Neeraj Chhibba

"Zero Percentile", a debut novel by Neeraj Chhibba.

Pankaj, Priya and Motu are childhood friends. Pankaj is destined to go to IIT, expected to achieve 1st rank in JEE i.e. 100 percentile. But fate makes him zero percentile and lands him in Volvograd, USSR whereas Motu goes to IIT.

USSR is a completely different country. Good people, lot of fun, everything in short supply, extreme cold, uncertainties, student groupizm & mafia.
         
Does Pankaj survive? Does he find just girls or love? How does he perform academically?  Is he reunited with his childhood friends?

Novel is narrated in first person by Pankaj. I thought that author has spent too many pages in establishing the story and characters but found himself short of pages for main story.

USSR and the lifestyle is picturized very well. Readers realise that changing Russia after the breakup of USSR, and opportunities presented by change can do wonders.

Neeraj has a different writing style. Its like a breath of fresh air in still atmosphere. Climax and end could not be guessed & leaves you perplexed, but I would have liked it to be elaborated more.

A good read. Recommend.
A sequel of this novel is already published and is on my waiting list.