K. J. Howe

To be honest this one is 3.5 stars [for me] but it is not possible to mark it as such so i will leave it as 3.

I wont go into details of the plot - to say anything on the plot is to give away spoilers and I don't want to ruin anyone's experience with the book.

Book has all the markings of the good thriller, plenty of action, interesting locations and twists and turns all over the place. Chapters are brusque, short and to the point, author does not drag out the story by creating story fillers that lead nowhere.

What did not click with me are few things [note I say did not click with me, other people might not have problem with it] -

- Mentioning equipment pieces by name and type ID .... I don't know why but I don't like when suddenly equipment gets listed out in the novel because novel suddenly starts to look like an ad. I read thrillers all the time and I truly enjoy [a:Frederick Forsyth|36714|Frederick Forsyth|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1224097067p2/36714.jpg], [a:Robert Ludlum|5293|Robert Ludlum|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1208465267p2/5293.jpg], [a:Gayle Lynds|17526|Gayle Lynds|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1422827292p2/17526.jpg], [a:Tom Clancy|3892|Tom Clancy|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1407672935p2/3892.jpg] and [a:Lee Child|5091|Lee Child|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1377708686p2/5091.jpg] to name the few. These authors tend to show off various hardware (and sometimes software) used in their novels but they don't say it is model AAX 650 with such and such detail. They mention weapons and equipment but not as part of product advertisement. I mean even [a:Larry Bond|19636|Larry Bond|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1341181593p2/19636.jpg]'s novels don't do this and this guy is heavy on providing every possible technical detail on every piece of technology out there. From the beginning it is clear protagonists are rich - if you show that by listing the yacht and it's specs do I truly need to know what watch, suit, shoes and socks they war? I don't. If they own 50 feet yacht I don't expect them to wear I don't know ... wacky juvenile watch.

- Some parts read like what you might call "chick-novel". Again this is not my cup of tea in general. I am not purist by any degree and don't shy from the sex scenes in novels but it should follow the story and be part of it (e.g. Jackal's infiltration of duchess's home while hiding from the police or that Cuban spy from [b:Clear and Present Danger|32669|Clear and Present Danger (Jack Ryan Universe, #6)|Tom Clancy|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1291440438s/32669.jpg|5054704] that is courting personal assistant of the US AG). Here, some parts are pretty steamy but they feel like one-time sex fantasies - you have a woman and a man, they love each other and they do some very interesting stuff together ... but in the end it does not play any part in furthering the story line. E.g. Gabrielle's connection to one of the characters did not gain anything through steamy scene on airplane. Their feelings to each other were in the open pretty clear at their first contact in the story.

- Protagonists are presented as a little bit omnipotent. Although I was looking ahead to whodunit part
I did not see any great obstacles for our heroes.

- Too many deaths popping up after the character in question says something in line of "I know who did it! Gimme a sec to drive/fly/sail to you". After a third such incident I was giggling a bit because this looked like a scene from Naked Gun. I mean these are professionals that value information above all but it seems they don't give people much time to actually give them the information.

All in all good thriller. I am now on the lookout for the second novel in the series.

Recommended to all fans of thrillers and action.… (plus d'informations)

This book is a good vacation read when you do not want anything really challenging, but nice and engaging. The hijacking of the plane and the way Thea was able to solve that crisis were fun to read. It was interesting to read about the different techniques. I was puzzled by the first part of the book, but it does come back into the story in an interesting way.

The bad guys in this were scary as they were using biological weapons, which terrify me, so good job with that!

I enjoyed this second book in Thea Paris book series. It has action, and difficult scenarios that the main characters find themselves in. It also gave some hints at future trouble related to the incident with Thea's brother. I like the series and will continue to read them as they are very entertaining.… (plus d'informations)