Review: A rollicking good yarn!
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 03 15, 2012
Move over Indiana Jones, Rambo and Jack Reacher - here comes Chuck Brandt, survivor extraordinaire! From the moment I started reading this wild, action packed Boy's Own adventure, I knew I had to finish it. In all his "blokey glory"the hero, Chuck, takes on an army of assassins and single-handedly disarms and kills them all - as you do.The pace never slackens, and sometimes the action jumps around without explanation. I couldn't figure out why Chuck doesn't realise they have him covered with bugs in his truck or car - or perhaps its doesn't matter, but then why would he use a wide variety of disguises when he is seeking information? Chuck never seems to question why the crooks turn up everywhere he does. Got to be a reason! Likewise, one of his friends is killed, but there is no indication of how the baddies knew Chuck was even speaking to the man. These are the only weak spots I saw in this story.The plot concerns a plan to force members of the American Government to vote for a massive defence budget, to the detriment of essential services. The senators are coerced into voting for the funding in a variety of ways - blackmail and their families being threatened are the least of it.The head crook wants to set up a space station which will harness solar power direct from the sun and use this to control the world. The secret company for which Brandt once worked, has taken Chuck's lady and whisked her off to a mysterious place called Jin Mountain. The premise is simple - Chuck sets out to rescue her and nothing is going to stop him. Interwoven with the main plot is an experiment in seeing how far a man like Chuck Brandt can be stressed without breaking - but the worse the provocation gets, the slower Chuck's stress levels fall, to the consternation of the experimenter.This is not a woman's book by any means, so all you men out there, download this one, you won't be sorry. However, I have to say that I enjoyed it, even though it felt as though I was clinging to a pole, strung out like a flag in a gale force wind all the way through!!!