Customer Reviews

Bureau 13 : #1 Judgment Night

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Big guns and big magic. Ruthless, bizarre villains who do NOT tell the hero their secret plans, and who will happily shoot him in the back. Sexy telepaths, ninjas, characters die, and lots of laughs. This book is as funny as it is exciting.
Plus, the main character is Latino. Nearly every book I read has just another white guy saving the world. Maybe with a black sidekick, or a Latino gal pal, but they're just along to get kidnapped (so the hero can rescue them), or carry the extra ammo. But not in THIS book. Ed Alvarez kick's supernatural butt all the way through, and leads his team to victory because he's smart AND the toughest SOB on the planet. All hail Team Tunafish!
Why hasn't this great book been made into a movie yet?

This book is just plain funny. As the inside cover blurb says, "X-Files meets the Marx Brothers". Not only is it a funnier version of Men-in-Black (which it predates) but it is a spoof on all those action-adventure titles, usually part of a series with names like "The Eliminator" or the "The Eraser". If you like your conspiracy theories laced with a strong dose of humor, try Bureau 13.

If you are a gamer you will REALLY enjoy this book. Nick Pollotta writes in the first person of the ex-FBI agent and while this can be a problem for the other characters you would never know it. The book is a breakneck race for Bureau 13 to save the world and you are with them every step of the way. It's a hard book to put down so expect to lose some sleep. It's not a big book and if your like me you can fly right through it. Don't do it, slow down and read it slow, it's well worth the time. Lots of nice quick comments that make you think.

Sean

This book simply rocks. My husband reccomended this book to me after my repeated attempts at getting him into the X-files. I now realize why he thinks why that show's main characters seem so clueless. This book involves a team of Federaly funded agents of the FBI busting monsters in style. It's all cleverly written and a whole lot of fun to read. I'm glad to see it's back in print so that my husband and I can order a new copy. Our old one has been re-read at least a dozen times.

The original paranormal investigators are back! This is the book that got me started in the realm of Sci-Fi/Fantasy. I have owned 3 copies of this book over the years and have allowed friends to borrow and lose every copy. Now, I can finally enjoy the story that got me started on my literary journey.

The Bureau 13 series is on my "buy on sight" list.

To date, I have loaned and lost three copies of this book, and will keep buying it as long as I find more friends who haven't read it yet. The movement of the plot keeps you on the edge of your seat, with well-placed surprises both large and small. Pollotta has a gift for creative uses for armaments, exquisite puns and in-jokes that are worth tracking down.

In short, this book inspired me to run a year-long game in the same universe.

Well, perhaps that is a little strong, but it did influence my choice about creating a convention persona. I personally own 5 copies of this book that I spent hundreds of hours scouring used book stores for. Now Nick has republished it! WONDERFUL! It is a very interesting story about a team of special US Government agents who work for Bureau 13, a super-secret agency charged with protecting America from Supernatural and Alien threats. The team consists of an Ex-Private Investigator, a Catholic Priest, a weapons specialist, a martial artist, a Mage, and a Psionic. They work together to save the world from an ancient threat that has lain dormant in the ocean for thousands of years. The book is written in a refreshing tongue-in-cheek style. You might be saying to yourself, "Why this is just Men in Black meets Ghostbusters" but you would be wrong. Bureau 13 predates both of these two excellent movies by many years.

I would definitely suggest purchasing this book.

I just discovered the Bureau 13 novels (there are only three of them) and they're fantastic! Laughed until my ribs hurt all the way through. Plus the heroes really have to pay for their victories, they get wounded and major characters die. But more importantly, the characters are a real team, each member gets their time to shine, and while each is a tough hombre, when working together as unit are they truly strong. Never seen that before in any novel and I loved it!

I understand this doesn't speak to everyone. Some people just don't get it. That's cool. But for those that do, you will latch on and love it.

This is some of the best Sci-fi/Fantasy pre-urban fantasy, fantasy, who cares what you call it, Good stuff. Read it. It's funny, it's interesting.

Follow it up with two authors that deserve lots of your money: Larry Correa (Monster Hunters International) and Chris Weedin (Midnight Snack).

The book is based on a Role Playing Game (RPG) and has a lot of potential. The only problem is that it reads like a radio annoucing a play-by-play of an actual game. The plot is loose and appears to form almost spontaneously as it progresses. The characters are stereotypical and two dimensional. I'm curious if the secons book improves on the first, since there doesn't have to be as much effort on side comments and more on the story line. It was reviewed as a parody of the X-Files. I disagree. There is almost no parody, but minor plagurisms of assorted myths and popular literary genres.