Customer Reviews

Cat and Mouse

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(6)
1 star:		(7)

 

 

I wanted a good Coyle book and was sorely disappointed. I expect better from Harold Coyle, but my nits may not be his fault except for the big long build-up to a quick short battle. It seems this story was thrown together to make a comment on the current Iraq situation (as well as army careerists, liberals, "real" soldiers, etc.) and then was passed to an editor whose first language isn't English. Or worse, run through some inane software program. Wrong words are used (phantom for fathom, winched for winced, etc.) throughout, sentences run on forever and the lack of proper punctuation, especially commas, will have you re-reading sentences to make sense of them. The errors truly detract from what could have been a good summer read.

I can only assume Tor-Forge/Tom Doherty Associates Books tossed this one out quickly for the money. The lack of effort shows in the little quality contained therein.

If you're a fan, add a star. If not, your reading experience may be truly disappointing. I hope Coyle forces the publisher to do better next time.

One of the reviews below says exactly what I was going to say. I have always enjoyed Harold Coyle's books, particularly "The Ten Thousand", an excellent retelling of Xenophon's "The Anabasis." This one, however, was a deep disappointment.

The story is a pretty good one, but having to wade through the miserably edited text killed it for me. I started bookmarking every elementary grammar, syntax, and word choice mistake, just to see how many there would be. There were a lot.

I cringed every time I saw the word "absconded" used for "ensconsced." And referring to a unit of Rangers as a "caulk" instead of the proper term "chalk" or the caliber of a weapon fired by an American character as 7.62mm (the AK is 7.62mm, the M-16 is 5.56mm) are mistakes someone of Coyle's experience should never make. When you write military thrillers, the military details better be correct, or the reader will suspend belief quickly.

It appeared to me that the editing of this book was outsourced to Bombay. And please, for God's sake, whoever edited this book should learn to use some commas! I had to read some of the sentences multiple times to divine the intended meaning.

This terrible example reflects badly on Coyle's previous excellent work.

I haven't read Coyle for a few years. I wish I hadn't decided to revisit via this miserable example of military fiction. Others have said it: the editing is pathetic. This book reeks of disdain for fans of the genre. This book reminds me why I decided several years ago to move on to something else. In addition to the sixth-grade editing, the substance of the book is weak. The author dallies through 7/10ths of the book describing in detail how marionettes wreak havoc in our military services, then rushes through the climactic battle in a few pages. Weak, unsatisfying, insulting.

Just go ahead and skip this one. It's terrible. Reading this book gave me the sense of going to see an awful movie. You feel like getting up and leaving but decide not to because you have already paid and keep hoping that something interesting will happen. Regrettably, nothing interesting ever happens. I had to force myself to finnish the damn thing. Everyone else has said it, the editing is atrocious. Aside from that, the story sounds as if it were construed by a book writing machine...or a precocious 7 year old. I do not suggest reading this book.

For crying out loud use a spell checker and get an editor who speaks English as their primary language! A great yarn was ruined because the finished text reads like Coyle dictated the book to a typist in Bangalore. Referring to an elusive enemy as "illusive" is ridiculous. Then there's the gaping "maul" of a C-17. A maul is a type of sledgehammer; what gapes on a C-17 is a maw. "Caulk" for chalk, "absconded" for ensconced - the list goes on. I finally got a pen and started editing the book myself. At more than fifty corrections halfway through I stopped and threw the book away. What a disappointment from a previously stellar author.

Coyle usually writes well constructed, clear, concise novels. In this presentation, "Cat and Mouse", such is not the case. His twists and turns make the book interesting although he seems to end his story rather abruptly.

The battle scene leaves much to be desired after such a long and interesting introduction. Word usage is a problem in a nunmber of instances and causes one to stop and try to reconcile what has just been read. In short, the whole plot in not truly reflective of Coyles' ability as a novelist and storyteller.

E.J. Walden, author of "Operation Snow Owl"

I have enjoyed almost all of Coyle's novels, and especially those utilitzing the Dixon's. not this one. Way too slow on devloping,
"bad gys" as enemies or on "our" side, that are too stupid/blind/
etc., to be considered real
save your $ for another novel, and better luck next time,
Mr Coyle.

Spell-binding jungle combat against masterful strategist employing updated Dien-bien-Phu guerilla tactics. But Captain Dixon eventually outwits the foe at his own game, orders from a ticket-punching bataillon commander notwithstanding. A neat plot - worthy of four stars - were it not for the dismal (if not absent) proofreading that forces you to look back in the midst of combat, trying to figure out what's going on.

As the author, a seasoned military careerists, must have had drilled into him from the very start: combat/marching orders should be precise and utterly unambiguous. Even the best of plans may (and probably will) not execute as envisioned at headquarters; most certainly not if the troops in the field must halt to second-guess their orders in the heat of engagement. For instance: I'd be far less likely to get in harm's way fighting an 'illusive' foe, than be up against an 'elusive' opponent; or 'fathom' the meaning of 'phantom'. Other gems of sound-alike words, missing 'and's, and other language atrocities suggest that this manuscript was machine-laundered by a spellchecker, but never ironed out by human editorial staff that would have caught the disfiguring wrinkles - turning this book into a frustrating, rather than a pleasurable, read.

Great story, but sloppy publishing, will have me check out this author's next best-seller from the city library before committing to hard-cover purchase.

I will never buy or read a Harold Coyle book agein after he killed off his hero LT Gen Scott Dixon he has lost the plot.

Harold Coyle usually writes a good book. He always captures the dilemmas facing troop commanders and gives us ordinary folks insights into the difficulties of fighting insurgents.

This book was ruined by poor editing. There are long, torturous sentences. Commas are either misused or simply AWOL. The text appears to have been used to illustrate every common incorrect word choice for an English class. "Affect" for "effect" and then vice versa. "Caulk" for "chalk". "Wit" for "whit". Perhaps they outsourced the editing to someone who doesn't speak English.

The editing put this book in the category of bad fan fiction, which is widely available for free. Unfortunately for me, I paid $8 for the paperback. Unfortunately for Harold Coyle, I won't make that mistake again.