Review: Good story, Poor hero
Rating: 3 out of 5
Date: 01 27, 2014
I bought three of the O'Brien series, based on the good reviews. But the three volumes all disappointed me. I always want a competent hero; he can make mistakes and be human, but he must learn from his mistakes - otherwise he is a fool. And for me, O'Brien is the latter. He is extremely competent in many ways, but he relies on his fists and one pistol for most situations - this is frequently insufficient. Consequently he gets shot, captured, beaten up, or tortured, and is only saved time and again by impossibly unexpected allies. But his worst fault is that he never makes a plan or reconnoiters the area. He just waltzes in without knowing if the prey is alone or has 40 others waiting, or is even there; and he says "I'll decide what to do when I get there". That is not my kind of hero - in fact it is the mark of an idiot.The actual plot and the writing are extremely good. There is plenty of action and most of the baddies get what they deserve. But O'Brien's incompetence often gets friends (including women) killed and himself captured or injured. I thought of two stars but decided the action and writing style deserve a bit more than two.