Friday, August 17, 2012

Ben Coes – The Last Refuge (St. Martins Press)


After reading The Last Refuge, I have to ask: Is it time to add the name Dewey Andreas to the list of tough, patriotic operators that include Scot Harvath and Mitch Rapp?

Andreas is the creation of author Ben Coes, a guy who would clearly fit in nicely with the likes of Brad Thor and Vince Flynn the creators of Harvath and Rapp. Coes works the street corner where politics and terrorism intersect.

While Coes comes from the political side of that equation, having served as a speechwriter during the Reagan and George H W Bush administrations and as Mitt Romney’s campaign manager during his successful run for Massachusetts Governor, he clearly grasps the danger that terrorists pose to liberty.

Andreas is your classic, self-reliant, rules be damned hero who cuts his own path in taking out the bad guys. The Last Refuge takes on a ripped from today’s headlines quality, with the storyline of Iran developing a nuclear weapon that it plans to smuggle into Israel.

The Last Refuge, moves at a blistering, race the clock pace as Andreas moves through exotic locales, crosses paths with characters who are most comfortable working the underbelly of the world, as he tries to thread the needle of not only derailing Iran’s plot to destroy Israel, but to free his friend, a Mossad agent from an Iranian prison.

Along the way clueless politicians and bureaucrats attempt to put roadblocks in Andreas’ way, all in the name of political considerations. All in all it adds up to a fun read and the hope that somewhere out there is a guy like Andreas looking out for us.  

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