Review: Nick Heller takes me on another "Finder-Bender" ...
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 08 8, 2011
International best-selling author Joseph Finder has done it again: delivered up another story about dashing Nick Heller, a private spy with a difference! The difference is that Finder is taking his latest character to new heights by writing a series of books with him as the larger-than-life hero. Woo-hoo...I was afraid Heller would vanish after the first novelVanished, so was quite relieved when Finder came out withBuried Secrets (Nick Heller). This second in the series was just released by St. Martin's Press and I'll be reviewing that block-buster soon. However, I was so surprised to learn that Finder had written a short story about Nick that I couldn't wait to become involved with him again. Love that man!I just had to read"Plan B: A Nick Heller Story"NOW, and was dying to be first to review it, so I decided to move it the front of my review queue.But on with the high concept plot: "Plan B" opens with Nick speeding through the streets of Barcelona, Spain in an ambulance secured by a Basque man who is helping him rescue a young girl who was kidnapped. Her father hires Nick to rescue her and in his usual professional, highly trained manner, he goes about the job with gusto.Nick is one helluva confident, skilled man and knows exactly what he's doing, but is he a match for a billionaire who has the girl in a walled compound with state-of-the art security, surrounded by guards armed to the teeth with the latest high-tech weapons? And since his partner is not so confident, will he be more of a hindrance or a help?Nick is not overly alarmed because he's sure Plan A will work and if that fails, he always has a Plan B. Will he have to use it?Joseph Finder is not only a master of words, he's also extremely versed in the latest technology and weaponry. And it's obvious he knows the Spanish area, its geography and its culture. This makes for an exciting, page-turning read that is plotted to perfection. I roared through the pages of this book, eagerly anticipating each scene.This books speeds along at the same rapid rate as the ambulance in the beginning of the story, and has as many twists and turns as the hazardous road they travel. So much so that when we get to the satisfactory, yet surprising ending, I feel like I've been in a "Finder-Bender" myself. Wow!OMG, I just realized that now that I've read "Buried Secrets" and this short story I might have to wait another year to see Nick again. It was THAT exciting!I highly recommend this short story and all of Finder's novels. I would give this tremendously gifted author ten solid points if I could.Reviewed by Betty Dravis, August 8, 2011Author of "1106 Grand Boulevard" and other books