Jack Grafton, après une longue carrière dans la Marine américaine, est maintenant détaché dans une force conjointe anti-terrorisme. Quand on apprend que des ogives nucléaires russes auraient été vendus à un groupe islamiste, le président des USA lui donne plein pouvoir pour empêcher le pire.Le résumé est court, mais c'est du techno/mili-thriller de base, bien dans l`ère du temps, comme n'en fait plus Clancy (et heureusement, vu ses dernières livres : enfin, je me suis arrêté en 2000, je vois que d'autres sont parus.. mais je garde un si mauvais souvenir de l'Ours et du Dragon (ou même Rainbow 6)...). Enfin, on parle ici de Stephen Coonts, qui fait dans le même genre, mais de façon subtilement différente : moins d'opérations spéciales, un peu plus d'humanité, et une envergure moins importante (on ne risque pas la troisième guerre mondiale à chaque livre).Dans cette dixième aventure de Grafton (et comme pour une série TV, on finit toujours par s'attacher à un personnage à force de le fréquenter...),le début est foisonnant d'intrigues et de personnages, tout finissant par se réunir sur une tête d'épingle (métaphoriquement et presque physiquement). Après l'avoir fini, j'étais plutôt enthousiaste, mais une semaine plus tard , mon ressenti est plus.. pas mitigé, mais terne. Bref, un livre plaisant à lire, mais sans suite.
Liberty by Stephen Coonts is exactly what you would expect it to be. It is an espionage thriller with terrorists plotting the downfall of the United States and Jake Grafton and the crew are all that stands between them and destruction. I started reading Coont's Grafton books back in middle school and enjoyed them quite a bit. I had not read one for nearly two decades. His writing is what I remembered it to be. The characters are cynical and matter of fact, the language is coarse, and the banter is very politically incorrect. None of this bothers me, but some could be put off by it. This book was written shortly after the attacks on 9/11 and you can feel the anger in this book's words. Coont's is obvious upset and he really takes it out on Muslims in the plot. The Muslim characters have almost no redeeming qualities except for one minor character in Egypt. Just some context in case you were wondering why the writing is the way it is. Some of the plot is pretty thin and some of the characters' motivations are fairly unbelievable, but the story is entertaining and the pacing builds nicely throughout the book's progression. If you know what the book and you expect to be entertained you will be. This isn't a deep thinkers book. Read it, enjoy it and then move on.
What do You think about Liberty (2004)?
It's been too long since a good tight author could write an intriguing novel in the vein of Tom Clancy or Robert Ludlum. Stephen Coonts does it. The characters are well developed, the plot and subplots are well-paced and easy to follow. It's one of those books that when I read, I lamented that it was late and my eyes were burning - I wanted to keep reading. It's a story that accurately portrays America's enemies and the good ol' American individualism that will keep America strong against second-world nations.
—Mike
This series had grown progressively more simplistic with each volume, and in this final volume of the Jake Grafton series, Coonts attempts to return to the more complicated themes of his late 1980's Jake Grafton stories. The book has it's merits but isn't quite up to the level of Under Siege or Final Flight. In moments of nostalgia, Coonts makes sure to drop one reference or another to all of the Jake Grafton stories that came before this one. A good read, but the story which came before it "America" is overall probably better.
—Seth
