Diplomacy Directive

Have to say that normally I really enjoy this guy's titles but not here I struggled to finish it and can't believe how long it took me to finally finish it. I thought the plot was ordinary but I guess a couple of kudos as it wasn't a Nuke of the Month story. A couple of my pet hates with this tile also where the reader has no bloody idea what is going on as the author does not divulge what the plot is actually all about. I have no problems with surprise endings at all but to wait until the last few pages to divulge why one of the main characters introduced and has been relentlessly pursued throughout the title is crap and the reason itself is not much better. Well I don't want to add anything further as I have said I normally like this guy's stuff but not with this. I reckon you could do vastly better than this one. Not recommended reading in this series.

I found this to be Prime Guenther, as compared to the last review. Bolan hits Puerto Rico to stop Al-Qaeda from gaining a beachhead in attacks on America...or so we think. Bolan does his thing and attracts a reporter, whose involvement is more than meets the eye. Then it's classic Bolan Blitz when he hits a terrorist stronghold in the Georgia swamps. There's even a very tense scene where Brognola and Grimaldi have to protect the reporter from hit squads...without Bolan's help. Great action in the swamp and good supporting characters made this a solid effort.

Uniformly mediocre from start to finish, but it goes so far off the rails near the end that I won't bother finishing the last 30 pages. A first in a Bolan book for me. The author pushes along banal plot points with little or no writing devoted to atmosphere or Bolan's thoughts. It's humorless, and suspenseless - we are told that characters are in danger, but I never felt it. One of the escapes in particular is so ridiculous, you could argue that the book is not humorless afterall. Way too much time spent on the author's high school concepts of a budding romance between the two reporters. These scenes are cringe-inducing, but luckily are always cut short by grenades and machinegun fire (!). Speaking of action, he loves using medical detail as often as possible: intestines protruding, 5th lumbar severed, etc. This doesn't make your book 'gritty'; it's clunky and distancing. Dear Gold Eagle: Bolan dialing a cell phone every other chapter to get the full resources of the US Govt dropped in his lap on a moment's notice is boring. Stony Man always working the problem in the background is boring. SPOILERS BELOW In this book the US cut an arms deal with Hezbollah to get them to fight the KGB twenty years ago. WTF. Are you serious?