A. J. QuinnellCritiques

I am great fan of knight-errant type of stories. I like it from the perspective of bad guys (like Parker), men of action that get drawn into the combat against their will (but they excel at it - like Helm, Creasy, Tom Clancy's Clark, PoI John Reese and Equalizer and in SF area Storm from Shadowline and of course Takeshi Kovacs) and true forces of nature, almost mythical warriors roaming the world and fighting injustice (like Reacher).

In this novel I truly enjoyed the very transformation of main protagonist - Creasy. He starts as a man at the end of his road. After years of fighting and seeing the worst and without anything worthwhile and good on the horizon Creasy is at the very bottom. It takes a little girl willing to make him a friend, persistent as children are to pry open the Creasy's outer shell to let some sun and spirit of youth in. This very transformation from a introspective loner to man that gets opened to life again, sees what is possible and again feels like member of the [healthy side] of humanity, is very touching and we see how it slowly progresses - from first Pita's attempts to great camaraderie between child and old "warhorse".

As is usually the case characters like Creasy are destined for the tragedy - and tragedy that hits him is truly terrible. And as they say when silent man gets pushed around ..... well, in short beware of his rage.

What follows are rather realistic chapters where we see Creasy preparing for his vendetta. He takes time, heals and plans. Level of dedication is almost supernatural - he has no other goal but take vengeance on criminals that profited from the Pita's suffering. Level of details given here, actual investigation, working oneself to the top form required for combat ahead, are rather realistic. Nothing happens within hours, it takes days, even months (another parallel with Clancy's John Clarke in "No Remorse"). And when hammer falls - oh it falls with gratifying kablaaam!

Although some people consider this genre as obsolete I disagree. Even today, when one considers what goes around and the way people get forced and even brought to brink of social existence, stories of people doing the right thing, bring rays of hope. And here I do not think only about the Creasy but of others that decide to help him in this way or another - no action of Creasy's would be possible without ordinary people helping him. And this is other thing that this book shows - people are not stupid, they know right from wrong and while they might prop up their public persona to avoid external forces from affecting them, they will help the cause they know is just.

All the criminal enterprises from the novel are unfortunately still alive and kicking, from drugs to juvenile prostitution and ransom/kidnapping. Only thing that has changed is that criminals are more sophisticated in the ways they run their business - government level corruption worldwide remained the same.

At times hard to read book but in the end very satisfying one.

For fans of lone wolves and action adventure highly recommended.

Much better than the movie.

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Haca slo unos das que Jean Peabody haba asumido sus funciones como embajador de los Estados Unidos en San Carlos, pequeo pas tropical, cuando un grupo de insurgentes comunistas, que intenta derrocar al gobierno, toma varios rehenes, entre ellos, al propio embajador norteamericano. Jorge Caldern, hombre de Fidel Castro, trata de obtener informacin respecto del 'Operativo Cobra', que los Estados Unidos se disponen a desarrollar contra Cuba. Caldern debe sonsacar la informacin a Peabody, sin apelar a tormentos fsicos. Washington, mientras tanto, planifica una increble y audaz operacin de rescate.A. J. Quinnell es el seudnimo de un destacado periodista britnico, autor de una notable serie de novelas de accin, entre ellas El Guardaespaldas.

Advanced reading copy , good

La sospecha se ha convertido en certeza: un nuevo atentado contra la vida del Papa está en marcha y el hombre elegido para evitarlo es un renegado de los servicios secretos que tiene sus propias razones para evitar el atentado.

Creasy dejó Vietnam en 1968, hastiado de la salvaje carnicería, la corrupción y la incompetencia. Veintiséis años más tarde, descubre que uno de sus mejores amigos, a quien él creía muerto, pudo haber sobrevivido. Dispuesto a descubrir la verdad, Creasy decide regresar al sudeste asiático, acompañado por una bella oficial del Ejército, del Departamento de Desaparecidos en Acción. Pero cada uno de los pasos de su peligroso viaje ha sido previsto por el enemigo más astuto y maligno que Creasy jamás haya enfrentado...

Una joven viuda lleva una vida mundana y apacible en Nueva York, hasta que recibe la noticia de que su único hijo ha muerto, perdido en el mar. Pero ella sostiene que está vivo. Renuncia a su trabajo, abandona a su amante, vende el departamento y viaja al África en busca de su hijo. Allí traba relación con un apuesto canadiense, con un hindú que se ha lanzado a recorrer el mundo en su yate, y con otros muchos curiosos personajes. Las aventuras se suceden en el Océano Índico hasta culminar en un violento desenlace.

Inquietante exploración de la violencia, narra la historia de John Williams que en 1811 asesinó a siete personas en el East End de Londres. Publicado por primera vez en España, muestra el profundo conocimiento del autor sobre la criminología de la época.

El Círculo Azul es un cartel criminal que hace fortunas de las drogas y la prostitución. Su poder se extiende por todo el mundo. Entre sus víctimas figura la madre de Michael, hijo adoptivo de Creasy -legendario mercenario-. Michael está decidido a no detenerse hasta dar con los que destruyeron a su madre. Creasy, sin embargo, no se conmueve ante el deseo de venganza de su hijo, hasta que conoce a Juliet, una chica de trece años adicta a la heroína por obra del Círculo. Comienza entonces una cacería humana feroz y despiadada por desentramar y destruir El Círculo Azul.

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Col. "Cinco Estrellas" (93)

Grandes Novelistas

Sniff, sniff, the end of the Creasy books. 😢 And how will it end?
“I don’t know. But it will end in death. Theirs or mine. It always does...”
That’s my Creasy! To a T!

This was a good read. Creasy sets off to find out if an old buddy from Vietnam is still alive. And he enlists his usual crew of friends and they get their usual results.
This book wasn’t as personal as the previous four. Creasy doesn’t hang out in Gozo and his family there is barely mentioned. And I think his daughter only gets one line! Also, the ending is much too quick, too anticlimactic.
But the epilogue made me smile. And so does/did Creasy. I’m gonna miss him.

I just love Creasy! This book starts with a mission in Africa to find out who killed a young American woman. Lots of information about tracking in that part! Then it shifts to Hong Kong to go after the 14K, a Triad gang responsible for the killing of another young woman's family. And cold blooded Creasy, and his group of mercenaries, are more than up to the tasks! Well, most of them...

Creasy is the best! His support group is awesome! And his revenge is, as always, top notch! I'm sorry that there is only one more book. :-(

“I lost half a useless finger and gained a lovely handkerchief.” Ahh... Creasy... :-) I love that guy!

This story is also about revenge, but this time it is Michael, Creasy's son, who spearheads the mission. He is after the Blue Ring, a group that may have turned his own mother into a drug addicted prostitute, and countless other girls in the past two decades. Creasy, Michael, and their gang of friends/mercs take on the Blue Ring - with a vengeance! And along the way, the add Juliet to their family!

It's a nice, action filled story, and a good third book in this series. I really like Creasy, and I'd like to see him more on his own, but the group he gathers is fun too! I'm eager to read the fourth title soon!

On an aside, I was shocked at how much the prologue mirrors the plot of the movie "Taken", with Liam Neeson. That movie came out in 2008, fifteen years after this book was published. This book even has a bit about Albania, which is also in the movie. I wonder if Mr. Quinnell deserves a little bit of that movie money?...½

“Vengeance is not justice.”
The man’s voice was grim. “It is in my book.”

That man, “Uomo”, is Creasy. And the vengeance he seeks is for his wife and daughter who were killed when their airplane was blown up over Lockerbie, Scotland. And Creasy will collect his vengeance. As the FBI man said about him , “...that man is death on a cold night.” Or as Geraldine described him, “He’s just a machine created by hate.”

This is a very good book, and in some ways, better than its predecessor! Creasy does go after those who blew up his family, and he trains a young man, Michael, to be his assistant. They train, they prepare, and then they act! My kind of thing - for sure! The only thing I didn't like about this story was the character, Geraldine. She felt unnecessary to me, much like all of the background information about Guido in the first book. But her part was much, much shorter, and therefore, less "annoying". But I am super happy that I have found these books, and I really love Creasy Bear!

“A society that cannot provide the basics of life does not get its laws obeyed.” - A. J. Quinnell

This is tough to review for me. I LOVE the movie starring Denzel - love, love, love it! But until very recently, I had no idea it was based on a book! So I rushed to the library and dug in!

It is a good read! Creasy is just as bad ass as he is in the movie. The setting in the book is Italy, not Mexico, and Creasy has more assistance, but the plot is basically the same. My hard on for the movie made the background information about Guido a bit boring, and the story about Creasy's rehab just plodded along. I was not patient in waiting for the action!

The action is good, Creasy is awesome, and I'm glad I read it! I liked getting more information about Creasy, as the movie gave almost none. I also like that there are four more "Creasy Novels" to read, and I already have #2 on order from the library! I think that overall, I liked the movie better, but I am glad to have read where it came from!

very nice book.

In een onstabiel (gefingeerd) Centraalamerikaans land wordt met de hulp van de Cubanen een coup gepleegd. Van de kersverse Amerikaanse ambassadeur is bekend dat hij betrokken is geweest bij de voorbereiding van een CIA-aanslag op Castro. Daarom wordt hij vastgehouden en door een jonge Cubaan geestelijk gefolterd. Het overgrote deel van deze thriller beschrijft de psychologische confrontatie tussen deze twee figuren. Allerhande tactieken worden aangewend om de ander te ondermijnen. Het inzicht dat ze geleidelijk in de geest van de tegenstrever verwerven leidt tot een soort lotsverbondenheid. Het verhaal wordt opgevuld met een reddingsactie vanuit Washington. Deze overval was verhaaltechnisch nodig om tot een oplossing te komen en om wat vaart in de gebeurtenissen te brengen maar is het minst geslaagde deel van het boek. Deze nieuwe thriller van Quinnell van wie al verschillende boeken vertaald zijn, boeit door de ongewone aanpak ervan. Hier staat immers niet het doen maar het denken centraal. Een redelijk geslaagde psychologische thriller voor wie houdt van het gevecht met de grijze hersencellen.

I was introduced to AJ Quinnell books after reading Man on Fire when it was re-released at the same time the movie featuring Denzel Washington was. As usual, the book was 100 times better than the movie, and I searched for more from Quinnell. I was disappointed to see that all his other books, four FD featuring mercenary Creasy, were out of print. Last week I was happy to discover that all of Quinnell's books are now available for Amazon Kindle.

The Perfect Kill is the second of the four Creasy novels. It jumps ahead several years to the bombing of Pan Am flight in Lockerbie. On board were Creasy's wife and four year old daughter, with whom he has lived in peace and contentment on the Mediterranean island of Gozo after his last act of vengeance years earlier. Of course, their death awakened the call for revenge and justice that he thought had died many years earlier. Plans for the Perfect Kill are set in motion, and Creasy works methodically and coldly to accomplish his task.

Like Man on Fire, I enjoyed The Perfect Kill. It was well balanced between action and story and the character of Creasy. A reader could tire of the coldness of him, or at least of the emphasis of it, only to find that he's not so cold after all, but it was only a minor detraction from a well told and action packed story.

Creasy, noting his advancing years, also begins work on a protégé who can not only help with this mission but carry on after Creasy can not. In doing so Creasy learns, in part as a result of what he has caused, that he does not have a, "monopoly on vengeance."

I had never heard of this author before picking up this book and then only did so to help my personal 2012 A-Z of authors challenge. It was a hard decision whether or not to award it 2 or 3 stars but finally decided to plump for a 2.

A group of Cuban backed terrorists overthrow a Central American Government and take the US Ambassador and his staff hostage. The Ambassador is an expert on Cuba and has information about a possible coup attempt against Fidel Castro, a Cuban interrogator is on hand to try to extract the names of the conspirators from the Ambassador. Meanwhile the American Government must decide whether or not to make a rescue attempt before the Ambassador cracks.

Each chapter is told in the 1st person by the three main characters which I found an interesting technique. Some of the psychological battles between Peabody, the Ambassador, and Jorge, the interrogator, are fascinating and the story is told at a fast pace. Those are the plus points. On the negative side there is a lack of meaningful action, Jorge seems more interested in his lovelife than his objective and overall I found it all pretty predictable pandering to the American jingoistic mass market. There is also the question of whether or not the US President would really believe that a rogue Army Officer could mastermind a better rescue attempt than the combined Heads of his Armed Forces. Personally I'm not convinced.

An interseting read but not one that will live long in the memory quite frankly

Creasy is back in the second novel featuring this merciless but just mercenary. Story begins with fall of Pan Am 103 over Scotland. Creasy's wife and daughter were on that plane and he decides to avenge their death (after hearing that terrorists were responsible for the plane crash). He gets in touch with another mournful husband that has lost his wife on that same flight and together they begin to plan their vengeance.

When it comes to Creasy his enemies tend do classify him as just one of those "soldier-boys", "gun-for-hire". He is best described not as mercenary but man of war (quoted from Dickson's Dorsai; by the way Creasy could just as easily be Graeme brothers ancestor). He knows nothing else but to fight and wage war on anybody foolish enough to attack him or those close to him. But he does not do it like a brute but in a calculated manner, taking time to plan everything - in other words acting like a true professional.

Although he starts his mission trying to act without feelings his emotional side surfaces as the story progresses (as it happened in "Man On Fire").

Although somebody may say that there is no depth in the story (due to the fact that Creasy and his comrades are all battle hardened veterans and as such are sure to win in almost any conflict) I like it - what is more important this is one of those stories [rather rare these days] where good guys are good guys (even if they have done something bad in their past) and are willing to sacrifice themselves for the good cause (again, whether revenge is ever to be considered good is to be debated, but Creasy and his men act like heroes of the past - no peace for the wicked, no compromise with them).

I hope more Quinnell's books will be made available in the future.

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