Meet the new enemy…same as the old enemy

Those who think that the Cold War is an artifact of history are in for a rude awakening with three new books, from master craftsmen of the thriller form. The war on terror is alive and well; and our old nemesis, Russia is borrowing a page or two from the terrorist playbook in these new outings.

Independence Day – Ben Coes (St. Martin’s Press)

A highly skilled, rogue Russian hacker is out to right what he believes to be wrongs from the past and settle a score with the United States. While they say that revenge is a dish best served cold this hacker, dubbed Cloud, has decided to go hot and deliver a nuclear warhead targeting America’s East coast. He enlists willing jihadists to deliver the blow and in the long haul take the blame.

Seemingly the only thing standing in his way is former special forces operator Dewey Andreas in the highest of stakes game. With Independence Day, Ben Coes continues to solidify his position as one of the top tier players in the thriller game with the fifth entry in the Andreas series.

In a game of beat the clock, Andreas must bounce back from the brutal murder of his fiancée and prove that he hasn’t lost his edge and is up to the challenge he is faced with. Coes knows how to pace the action, develop red-blooded characters and deliver just the right twists at just the right time. Andreas has quickly become a character that fans of Scot Harvath (Brad Thor) and Mitch Rapp (Vince Flynn) will gravitate towards and cheer on.

Radiant Angel - Nelson DeMille (Grand Central Publishing)

Veteran thriller master Nelson DeMille has squared former NYPD detective and current government alphabet soup contractor John Corey off against all form of terrorist, Middle Eastern and home grown domestic in prior outings. So it only seems natural that the wise-cracking Corey would one day face off with Russian thugs hell bent on doing damage to the homeland. 

In Radiant Angel, Corey has moved on from his contracting role with the Anti-Terrorist Task Force to a new assignment with the Diplomatic Surveillance Group. Tasked with openly following Russian diplomats, who in reality are spies, Corey grabs a tiger by the tail in the form of Vasily Petrov, a Colonel in the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service. Petrov is playing diplomat, but in reality he is an assassin who has been tasked with striking a blow for Mother Russia.

Corey track Petrov to the Hamptons estate of a Russian oligarch and ends following his well-tuned gut right into the middle of what is shaping up to be an international incident. Petrov disappears from the estate and the hunt is on for antique Russian nuke which could take out the Big Apple and more. DeMille delivers all we have come to expect from John Corey, a wise-cracking, everyman hero, hot on the trail of saving the day.

Palace of Treason – Jason Matthews (Scribner)

Author Jason Matthews spent 33 years in the employ of the Central Intelligence Agency’s, National Clandestine Service, working as an operations manager, specializing in counterintelligence and counterterrorism, among other areas. It is that been there, done that level of realism that he uses to populate pages of his thrillers.

Out with Palace of Treason, the follow up to his debut novel Red Sparrow, Matthews is once again ready to heat up the Cold War and make the case that espionage efforts between the two heavyweight superpowers is alive and well. Matthews injects a real world scenario with the Russians looking to curry favor with Iran.

Once again Matthews centers the story on CIA operative/handler Nate Nash and Russian SVR agent/CIA penetration operative Dominika Egorova. To borrow a line made famous by Liam Neeson; Dominka has a very special set of skills that she brings to the party. Palace of Treason crackles with an insider’s energy and pacing.

 

Not Your Usual DeMille

The Quest – Nelson DeMille (Center Street Publishing)

If you are a long time fan of author Nelson DeMille and you grab a copy of his latest literary effort, The Quest expecting his usual wisecracking characters, delivering his standard crackling dialogue, then you may be in for a disappointment.

In this updated version of The Quest, DeMille re-visits, revises and extends on a story that he first published way back in 1975 in paperback. Not sure what lead DeMille and his publishing house to offer up this re-do; the fact that most DeMille fans had never seen or heard of the original book, which was a limited release and hard to track down or if 38 years after the fact they thought there might be some life left in the saga of the ultimate quest, the hunt for the holy grail.

Hey it worked for Dan Brown and countless others and let’s face it DeMille was ahead of the curve back in 1975. Having never read the original version of the story, I don’t have any way of drawing a comparison between the two, so I have to work with what I have at hand. While DeMille won me over with his John Corey character a true master at cracking wise, I can’t say that I found any of the characters involved here has offering something I’d like to hear from again and again.

At times early in the book I found myself backtracking to try to grasp characters, settings and time periods which seemed overly difficult to track. Again not knowing where the old left off and the new began, I can’t pinpoint where the new story got on track. In interviews DeMille has stated that as he approached the project he expected it to be a quick project and even he was surprised that his writing style had changed dramatically, so there was some time needed to revisit his earlier style and technique. It is that process that may throw some fans for a loop.

Over all the story and the book hang together well, even with some segments being a tougher slog. Put up against the backdrop of DeMille’s standard fare, this would rate somewhere in the 2.5 out of 5 range; taken as a standalone it might benefit from a bump up to a 3.

Nelson DeMille – The Panther (Grand Central Publishing)

Nelson DeMille’s wise-cracking former,  New York detective turned terrorism fighter John Corey returns to working his way through the feline themed terrorists in the The Panther.

After finally dispatching the Lion, in a two book story arc, Corey and his FBI agent wife Kate Mayfield find themselves tossed into the role of bait for the terrorist who masterminded the bombing of the USS Cole in Yemen.  DeMille spins his cast of familiar players  including; Anti-Terrorism task force members, double and triple dealing CIA types and equally suspect Middle Easterners who’s allegiance seem to be for sale to the highest bidder.

Demille’s storyline loses a bit of punch as the book drags between action sequences. It is his attention to detail, character and setting authenticity and Corey’s punch line humor that will carry the reader through the progression.

While Corey plays the buffoon, it is his tack sharp eye to detail that helps him see through the carefully drawn plotting of his demise, not only by the terrorists, but also his alleged allies in the in the CIA. In the end it is the skillful twists and turns crafted by DeMille that make him the master of the thriller.

While Demille’s usual suspects make appearances, those new to his stories will find The Panther entertaining and engaging.