Customer Reviews

Deadly Straits

5 star:		(83)
4 star:		(24)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

This book was my first purchase for my new Kindle Fire and it did not disappoint.

I have always enjoyed books by the likes of Tom Clancy and Clive Cussler and Mr. McDermott did a fine job of following in their footsteps with this first book. Being ex-Navy Security Group, I found the storyline to be very plausible with a fine mix of both maritime action and the involvement of clandestine forces.

The characters were very believable and I particularly liked the portrayals of the female characters even though the author indicated that he felt less comfortable creating them than with the male characters. The attention to detail with shipboard descriptions was especially good.

I had written on Mr. McDermotts blog after reading the book and especially appreciated a response from him regarding my comments and suggestions. There is no doubt in my mind that readers seeking of a mix of action and adventure will appreciate this offering and I personally look forward to reading his next book, Deadly Coast, when he releases it this next year.

Buy the book and sit back to enjoy a great read.

R.E. McDermott has penned a great thriller in his first attempt out of the box. Written in a fast-paced style, McDermott's unique structure facilitates keeping the various locations and time lines clear. The plot is complex enough to keep the reader interested and the characters are realistic. As a proffessional in the maritime industry I can vouch for the technical accuracy. Would make an excellent movie. I highly recomment this enjoyable read.

With his debut novel, McDermott sets the bar high--very high. This ambitious novel will keep you turning the pages to get to the thrilling conclusion. This is a truly impressive first book. I look forward to reading more from him. His writing is polished, and he manages to handle multiple plot lines that cover the world over. I was impressed by how smoothly the story flowed. When I found out this was the author's first book, I was utterly amazed. If you enjoy action-packed thrillers that make you feel like you're actually participating in the action, make sure to read Deadly Straits.

Congradulations to RE McDermott on a great first book. As an avid reader of this genre I couldn't put it down and finished reading it in one long night. McDermott is up there with Clancy,Hagberg, and Flynn to name a few. The plot lines and characters gel with plenty of suspense, action amd personal interests. Tom, Alex, Jesse and Anna have a long career ahead of them. I am looking forward to their next adventure.

If you enjoy mystery and intrigue then McDermott's book is a must read. He takes the reader into the international shipping lanes and involves them in an intense struggle to stop the destruction of some vital choke points in the shipping industry. The characters he has created are believable especially the CIA political appointee who is more interested in his own career then in helping to stop the tragedies that are developing around the world.

Mr. McDermott takes the reader on a worldwide tour of the important tight spots that the large ships must navigate to keep the world's economy flowing. The person who is the headmaster of this scheme is one of the most clever and brilliant masterminds that I have run across my reading. He is ruthless and it is his bringing together various individuals who want control of different areas that keeps the novel moving and keeps the reader wondering if he can be stopped or not. The ones trying to stop the madness are often just reacting to occurrences and often left scratching their heads wondering why and where next.

I enjoyed the way McDermott ended the book by tying up all of the lose ends and showing what happened to the principals in the story. How some met justice after thinking they were free and clear and others found new jobs and loves. He also leaves the door open for a sequel with some of the same people working together to combat the ones who want to upset the balance of power or the world economy.

A very interesting and excellent read. I highly recommend it to anyone interested in thrillers. Good job.

Move over WEB Griffin, Clive Cussler, Robert Ludlum's Van Lustbader and Catherine Coulter's Sherlock series! ....there's a new writer who has it all... a creative mind, the technical knowledge, and the ability to make characters become 3D. He does not follow the cookie-cutter approach used by some of the currently popular authors.

Weaving together come-alive characters, McDermott takes the reader through an all to realistic plot involving oil tankers used to cause havoc to the worlds' shipping lanes with realistic impacts on the world's economy.

McDermott has good guys and bad guys, and even a self-serving dupe who used political influence to secure an appoint in the CIA. Interspersed with the action are tender moments that point out the human side of his action heroes.

I am anxiously waiting for McDermott's next novel...I want, no, need, to know how Alex Kairouz will rebuild Phoenix Shipping Ltd., literally from ashes, how Tom Dugan can serve both Alex and Jessie Ward, newly appointed head of the Maritime Threat Assessment Section.

I recommend this novel to you...you will have picked up a page turner.

This novel was not a freebee for me, I bought it after reading David Wishart's interview.

Get ready to be immersed in a realistic story of terrorism, economic and political schemes, intelligence services and technology, unfolded on the global scene. The author doesn't hold anything back, the story involves states on different continents, and at stake is the global economy. Yet this is just the background, because we get to know some great characters, heroes and villains.

What I have against this book is the way it is written. It's structured in short chapters, every chapter having a title describing the exact time and location. To me, it looked more like a movie script, especially because the action starts right away and you don't have time to get accustomed with the characters. While the events are taking place in chronological order, the place and characters change abruptly and, in the beginning, it is disconcerting. But after a while, after I got to know the important characters, the action was very fluid.

** Reviewed a free copy received courtesy of BookRooster.com

A great story and a great read. You could feel yourself being brought into the story with every turn of the page. My only criticism is that it jumped around a lot in the beginning to introduce you to all of the characters. This was confusing in the beginning but once the action started it was hard to put down. A great read and will read this authors next book.

In 1994 Tom Clancy published "Debt of Honor" where a jumbo jet was used as a suicide missile against the US Capitol. Seven years later in 2001 it happened for real when the Twin Towers were destroyed on 9/11. In 2011 R.E. McDermott published "Deadly Straits" where supertankers are used as terror weapons with deadly results. Let's hope we don't look back in 2018 and say R.E. McDermott predicted that 7 years ago. If you don't think a ship is a credible terror weapon, look at what happened in Texas City Texas on April 16, 1947 or Halifax Nova Scotia on December 6, 1917.

This is a book that is full of action and suspense. It has good guys, good guys who are coerced into looking the other way, evil guys, and dupes that are doing evil things that they think are for a good cause. It is well written and weaves multiple plots into one coherent whole. I have read several of the big selling action/adventure/suspense novels that are legends in the annals of kindle success and this book is as well done as them, if not better. I also found the threats of potential doom in this book to be very plausible, as opposed to some books I've read where it was a good story but I couldn't really buy into the threat that the protagonist was trying to avert. There was one quibble I had, but when I asked the author about it he had a very reasonable answer. The problem he was describing could be made to happen but it was too involved to explain in a fiction book. So he put in something that was simple to describe.

I highly recommend this book to anyone who enjoys action and suspense in a story.

This was a book that was filled with detail, action and a plot that was intriguing. It did take a few chapters to take in all of the characters and the storyline, and I have to say that I almost put the book down due to not knowing what was going on in the beginning of the story. I am glad I didn't because once you get further into the story you are able to appreciate the attention to details. I will be looking for more books from McDermott in the future!
I received a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for my review.