Hey Jack…Tel Me a Story

The Russian – Ben Coes (MacMillian Audio)

Lethal Agent – Vince Flynn and Kyle Mills (Simon and Schuster Audio)

My new daily work commute has me delving back into audio books to pass the time; the longer trip allows me sit back and have someone tell me a story. My two most recent jaunts into audio thrillers come from two of my favorite thriller writers; the late Vince Flynn’s Mitch Rapp character carried on by Kyle Mills, who I was a fan of in his own right, and a bit of departure from Ben Coes.

The Russian, tells the tale of Russians who are trying to impact and interfere in the U.S. Presidential election, but its not what you might think. The departure for Coes comes in the form of his normal tip of the spear character Dewey Andreas, taking a back seat to his second fiddle Rob Tacoma.

The Russians Tacoma goes toe to toe with aren’t hackers but, are members of the Russian mob who assassinate a high profile, Presidential candidate at a campaign rally and a powerful, mob-busting Senator by poisoning at a New York steak house. While the numbers are clearly lopsided, Tacoma is a man on a mission and that keeps that action boiling on the front burner.

Narrator Ari Fliakos deftly handles multiple Russian accents that really raise the production bar and the feel of the book.

Lethal Agent, once again finds Flynn’s Mitch Rapp character going at it with middle eastern terrorists hell bent on the destruction of the United States and the seemingly inevitable Washington, DC swamp dwellers hell bent on his destruction.

The lived in feel of the story, while comfortable, also ends up with a I’ve been here before and maybe one too many times tinge. Veteran narrator George Guidall even comes off a bit tired; his voice noticeably changes at points in the proceeding, moving from strained to strong and back again.

The bio-terror attack storyline is wholly believable, but ends up just short of the normal direct hit target.

The Masters of Thrill

Eye For An Eye – Ben Coes (St. Martin’s Press)

There is an almost built in inevitability that author Ben Coes work will draw comparisons to that of authors like Brad Thor and the late Vince Flynn. All three have succeeded in creating larger than life characters who not only are at the center of their storylines, but who literally drive the action that takes place in their thrillers.

Pace is what separates the men from the boys when it comes to writing a great thriller and Coes once again does a masterful job of delivering pages that demand to be turned. Coes lead character, Dewey Andreas is back in full force, delivering the dish that is best served cold; revenge!

 

While he’s not the first author to use the revenge factor, and he certainly won’t be the last, Coes’ Eye For An Eye serves up tit-for-tat exchanges between Andreas and the head of China’s ministry of intelligence Fao Bhang.  Picking up the thread from The Last Refuge, Coes last outing, Andreas breaks a terror mastermind during an interrogation and delivers a Chinese mole to the Israeli Mossad. When the Israeli’s turn the mole into a special birthday surprise for the Chinese premier’s granddaughter, complete with a large ribbon and an ax to the skull, the story is off to the races.

Some may complain that Eye for An Eye stretches its grip on reality, but in the end this is a thriller, it’s supposed to be chock full of super human action, cool spy guy and heroic feats. Coes delivers all that and more and earns his spot among the masters of thrill.

 

Brad Thor – Full Black

When it comes to recommending authors who never disappoint, two names come to mind; Vince Flynn and Brad Thor. I have often, wholeheartedly, endorsed the works of these to guys to friends and co-workers.

I always find it interesting and often entertaining to gauge the reactions of those I pass the recommendations onto, when they make their first foray in the scary world of Flynn and Thor. They tend to range from enthusiastic fist pumping agreement to tight-assed, butt puckering comments like, “well I don’t know about the politics.”

If you are among the mind-numbed who think we need to “try to understand our enemies” or think that “we must have done something wrong for them to hate us” then don’t waste your time or hard earned money buying Flynn and Thor’s books. Oh and do me a favor, keep your opinions to yourself, I really don’t want to engage in the empty debate. If you are like me and think that there are evil people in the world who hate this country simply because we exist, then what are you waiting for?

Thor’s new book, his eleventh, Full Black features the latest installment in the ongoing Scot Harvath series. Full Black picks up the story thread where Foreign Influence left off. Thor once again exercises his ability to quickly grab you by the throat and set you off to the races. Think 24 on steroids without the short guy hero.


Full Black has a ripped from today’s headlines quality with characters that parallel many of today’s newsmakers; most notably the character James Standing, who seems similar to another famous, evil billionaire who seems bent on the destruction of the U.S. economic system and way of life. Sound familiar?


The thing that makes Thor’s wild storylines more believable is the “been there, done that, got the T-shirt” authenticity to his writing. He clearly has spent some time around and learning from the special operators of the U.S. Military. Stack the adventures and actions of Harvath up against the non-fiction accounts of Special Forces types and you’ll see a lot of similarities.


Here’s hoping that Thor continues to crank out engaging thrillers not only for my entertainment, but also for the butt puckering they cause for those folks who live in the land of the shades of gray.