Thriller

Am not going to struggle on with this one. It's not a patch on his old Nicholas Linear novels and as a story in and of itself, it really does leave a lot to be desired. I got about half way through and found I was simply continuing in the hope that I could struggle through to the end. This is the point that a book should be abandoned.

Not good. I miss the days of Nicholas in Japan.
( )

Too many Russian names. I had a hard time finishing the book. It just seemed to go on and on. At least there was an explosive ending. ( )

It rather escapes me how a book - though, doubtless, a page-turner with a lot of action and language not even too dry for a political thriller - failed to impress me. The action takes place first in Moscow, then mostly all of it in Ukraine, as American president and his advisers are battling all kinds of Russian factions and adversaries. The protagonist, Jack McClure, the President's most talented adviser and friend is in the middle of the action, along with the President's daughter, whom, as I understand, in a previous book he saved from a kidnapper - this story line also continues.

What I found a little demeaning (though it's just a detail) was the author's choice to invent or make up Russian names for his characters - at least 75 percent of them are combination of letters pretending to sound like Russian names and surnames. I don't believe for a second that he didn't have a native speaker to help him with names, but this sort of thing came through as a mockery.

I know that Mr. Lustbader continued to write the Jason Bourne series created by the late author Robert Ludlum, so he must have an appeal. This book might make a good movie, but as a book I found it a bit shallow. ( )

It took me a little while to get used to van Lustbader's writing style--I've not read one of his books in quite a while--but after the first couple of chapters I settled in for the ride. And it was quite a ride.

There's so much action in this book it can really rock you back on your heels--which is a good thing. One thing though, you have to really pay attention when reading this book. There's wheels turning inside of wheels in the plot and nobody is exactly as they seem.

A very good book but one you have to pay attention to else you'll be hopelessly lost by the end. ( )