Customer Reviews

Carrier #20: Hellfire: Hellfire

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

 

 

I read this book over the weekend. The storyline was ok, though I think this series may have run its course. The editing was terrible.

I was really disappointed at the end of this book. I am wondering if they had published a draft version instead of the final version. One page has a 'Insert Techno' sentence, meaning they intended to describe some tech information, but never put it in.

There were also several starts at storylines that just ended. Several hints that Tomboy was on the russian carrier for some reason didn't go anywhere.

The worst part was that the end of the book as two badly conflicting sections. In one section, Tombstone lands on the ship after being shot up. In the other section, he sees Tomboy's russian bomber shotdown. It was very confusing. I think he was trying to work the Tomboy character into the book, then left for vacation without finishing.

Not his best work.

I've been reading both of Keith Douglass' series since their inception so obviously I'm a fan. But there's one thing I hate when reading a book: a bad ending. And this one was probably the worst I've ever read.

I was actually intrigued with the bulk of the story. Who's missile actually hit the cruise ship? What will Ambassador Wexler do about about United Nations resolution against the United States? Will Pamela Drake get the upper hand against Cary Winston?

But as the other reviewers stated, the last part of the book makes little sense. It seemed that after Chapter 17, another author took over but apparently used the wrong outline to complete it and the plot just went out into left field.

The story is supposed to take place in the Pacific between California and Hawaii where the Russian's have a battle group centered around an amphibious transport that only carries vertical take-off aircraft and helicopters. Yet, in the final battle, the Russian fighters not only outnumber the American jets, they also have Backfire bombers!

The improbable event that precipitated this battle was having Pamela Drake, an internationally known news personality, steal a piece of hardware from a top-secret Russian laser weapon! With the help of her cameraman, no less! And in the ensuing escape, her helicopter is shot down and Pamela ends up in the water with the two chopper pilots. Her cameraman just disappeared from the story!

I'm not one of those sticklers that have to apply logic to a fictional story. I go with the flow and enjoy it for what it is: entertainment. But when the story changes abruptly from one page to the next, adding in plots that just don't make sense and not even trying to tie up the plotlines that were started in the beginning of the book . . . well that just ticks me off!

Keith, I like reading your books but you messed up on this one!

It's definitely better than the last 2 or 3. The editing isn't as sloppy although it still needs improvement. Like the last few in the series there are some important plot lines that never got resolved (did they discover the bug in the fire control computer, whose missile hit the cruise liner, what's a sponge, what happened in the UN, what happened to the trigger happy Russian commander?) and it ended sort of abruptly. The air battle started on cue but for no apparent reason and the character development was superficial this time. The Tomboy bit was confusing. But it was still fun to read.

I have read most of the books in this series and have rather enjoyed them. But how did we go from an unfortunate series of events that led to the sinking of an American cruise ship by either a Russian or American missile, to the rest of the story? The book attempts to find out whose missile actually hit the ship, then drops it. Why did the Americans all of a sudden want Pamela Drake to steal the crystal from the Russian laser, and for what reason? How improbable is it that Tomboy would be on the Russian ship, then ejecting from a Russian bomber with no further development. Then the President appears out of nowhere on the carrier to present Ms. Drake with a metal(book's spelling), for what??? Not a really coherent plot for the last third of the book.

This was one of the poorer books I have read. I really wish I hadn't paid 25 cents for it, and that I had back the hour I spent reading it.

Tech stuff just happens for no reason. There were two endings, neither of which made sense and both were rushed. Terrible editing, including the reference in the last sentence to a reporter wearing the 'defense metal' she was just awarded.

William Keith started the series as 'Keith Douglass'. The publisher fired him off the series for wanting money after 7 books and farmed the work out to whoever was cheap. It seems that at number 20 no one cared anymore, including the publisher or the author.

If you just enjoy fast pace fun without overbearing techno or lengthy character development these last two put Carrier right back on track. I enjoy the ongoing Tomboy saga, you don't need to always end tight and clean. For those of us who have been here since day one it all works keep em coming Keith