Book 2, in the Nick Stone seriesThis series follows Nick Stone a very clever, ruthless and effective EX-SAS trooper hired by the British Intelligence on the most dangerous operations. In this mission he is tasked with finding and eliminating one of their operatives, Sarah Darnley. Reading this book we have to keep in mind that it was written prior 9/11. This is a story filled with lots of action and suspense as well as death and betrayal. A glimpse into the story:Nick hunts Sarah down in the wilderness of America and soon finds himself involves in a scheme masterminded by Osama bin Laden targeting U.S. President Bill Clinton, Israel’s Benjamin Netanyahu, and Palestinian Leader Yassir Arafat while the three leaders are going to be in Washington for a peace summit. Nick is no more than a few days in on his mission that he is smack in the middle of a cat and mouse game that can only turn deadly…Welcome to the gloomy side of Special Operations.My thoughts:In his plot the author shares his military knowledge at great length, explaining in minutia every action, tactics, types of ammunition, etc. Some may find this interesting although I did for most part, I thought this was overly stretched enough to have hindered the pacing making this story not as exciting and far less captivating. If I ever wanted to evade surveillance, track someone or ever extract an individual this book provided all the information needed. If you like a plot which is heart stopping with violence and has a lot of insanely scenes and even dubious one, you are well served here. But if you expect great characterization, you will miss out. The players IMO have flat personalities and their actions are not particularly credible especially towards the conclusion. But again this is a fiction meant for entertainment and it does so in many ways. I particularly love the first person narration and Mr. McNab uses it perfectly with all the characteristics we expect from a macho operative…Good book although not my favourite in this series so far.
Andy McNab is definitely my new favourite in the genre action thrillers - move over Lee Child! This second installment of the Nick Stone series is brilliant - a mixture of physical action, patient puzzling, and a sense of humour that I really like! And a great sense of verisimilitude (for instance, what DO you do when you have to go to the bathroom when stuck in a snug surveillance hideout?). And I'm dying to know if the quip about the ties of the US Secret Service agents is true! :)Nick Stone is a great character, more down-to-earth, not so "super-manly" as Jack Reacher, even though I suspect Stone's unusually good at what he does...And the hairraising end game made me miss my stop on the subway - it IS that good!Only drawback is McNab's sometime overzealous descriptions of field craft details. But in this book, we also get short pieces of wisdom that are "just right" - motivated by the situation, yet quite philosophical and universal. A few examples: On planning to enter a house with hostiles (p.253): "James Bond? More likely James Bone. Add to that the fact that the people we are working against are also fallible, and it isn't a formula for guaranteed success. THE ONLY TRUE MEASURE OF HUMAN INTELLIGENCE IS THE SPEED AND VERSATILITY WITH WHICH PEOPLE CAN ADAPT TO NEW SITUATIONS." (my caps).Again, on planning an action (p.270): "If you worry too much about these things, you never get down to starting the job; just get on with it and half the battle is won. Then hope that experience, knowledge and training will get you through the rest." p. 335: "Once you allow yourself to get angry, you stop concentrating on the aim".I could add some of the jokes too, but that would take too long... Just read the book!
What do You think about Crisis Four (2000)?
This book took me a while to get into. I left it for a while and finally got back to it a week ago. The storyline is brilliant, Stone has to hunt down an ex lover. You are introduced to her in the first chapter and you already start to dislike her. McNab later makes you start to like her, and think that she is a good person for Stone. I won't say anymore as it ruins the ending as this book's second half focuses mainly on their relationship which isn't all birds and bees since neither of them are that type.I would recommend this book to anyone who is in to thrillers and the regiment type books as they are really interesting and you even get a tour of The White House. :)
—Brendan
I thought I knew what type of character Nick Stone would be, but I actually kind of liked him.It could very easily have gotten too stereotypical, macho male lead, damsel in distress/kick-ass female that the macho male lead falls in love with. It was a little bit of each, with emphasis on "little". It wasn't too bad.There was however A LOT of details, and I assume McNab added those to show that "yes, I have done this, several times" and that his former job was NOT easy, if I ever thought any such thing.Could have lived on without knowing what Saran-wrap is used for in the SAS, though.
—Sarah
While I wouldn't go as far as to call a 1999 book in which the Big Bad is Osama Bin Ladin as "prophetic", it is one of the indicators that McNab knows what he's talking about. And this isn't even why I love this book. McNab understands people. I have rarely felt as in sync with the way a character functions as I felt with Nick Stone, even though on the surface I am nothing like Stone whatsoever. There's something universal about being human, the uncertainty, the duty, the fear and the drive to somehow keep on going despite of all that; and this is what Stone is all about and this is what McNab captures. At times it's an uneasy read, especially if you are also someone who struggles with wanting to do the best for the ones you love yet is so hopeless inept at it. But damned if I don't try. Damned if we don't try.
—Big Shell
