Customer Reviews

The Death Trust

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

You gotta read this. I loved it. Fast. AND funny. I gave my copy to my dad
who thought it was like Ludlum crossed with Chandler, whoever he is. The
main character in the book is a Special Agent in the US Air Force called Vin
Cooper whose life is messed up by his ex-wife - the way she dumped him is
classic. Think shower and wife and marriage counsellor...Anyway, it's a
little sick and dark in places, but then Cooper makes some comment and you
just find yourself laughing. And the conspiracy angle packs a punch too.
Looking forward to the next one.

I can assure you there are points of exaggeration in Special Agent Coopers, Air Force Office of Special Investigation... But Mr. Rollins catapults his Special Agent through a maze of investigative activities that loop his reader into moments of tragedy, suspense, humor, fright, misdirection, a dose of romance, and a dribbling of clues that truly inspire the turning of pages for more... Death Thrust is a Great Read.

This is David Rollins first book and it's real bad. Too much stock conspiracy mumbo jumbo with a protagonist who just can't be killed ....even by the most powerful people with access to all the military weapons known to mankind and the personnel to wield it. It's embarrasing.

A Knife Edge is real good, up until page 312.
The Death Trust is real bad all the way thru.

Just picked-up a copy of The Death Trust last week and it rivals anything by Clive Cussler or Robert Ludlum -- I think it's even better, but I guess that's a matter of taste. Not only is the story interesting and compelling, but the main character, Air Force OSI Special Agent Vin Cooper, is hilarious. I laughed out loud throughout the book. The good thing is that the humor enhances the story and doesn't distract. There are a couple of plot points that get a little confusing, but overall, a really great book to take on the plane or read on a rainy Saturday. I read this in one sitting. Couldn't put it down. Can't wait until the next book comes out!

Without boring you with the plot line (you can read that above) I can easily recommend this book to all who love snappy dialogue. The character, Vin Cooper, reminds me very much of Brian Haig's main character, Sean Drummond. Same type of wit. If you are not familiar with Haig's work, think Robert B. Parker's Spenser.

To go along with the one liners is a pretty good story with the requisite plot twist. All in all, worth the time.

THE DEATH TRUST, Australian author David Rollins's debut novel, is just seeing its publication in the United States in 2007, but he is already very well known elsewhere in the world for his work, which combines military thriller hardware with traditional and contemporary mystery elements. Once one has read this book, Rollins's worldwide popularity will become wholly understandable.

The novel introduces Special Investigator Major Vin Cooper, who is assigned to look into the apparent accidental death of Abraham Scott, a four-star general who died while hang-gliding in Germany. Scott's death has attracted attention, given that his father-in-law is the Vice President of the United States and his son had died in combat a year previous. Cooper has no such pedigree; he has been shot up in combat, chewed up and spit out in relationships, and flirts with alcoholism when not making a total commitment to it. Oh, and he is also afraid of flying, an unusual phobia for an Air Force officer.

Cooper's assignment is either going to keep his career on life support for a while longer or disconnect it entirely. It does not take Cooper long to discover that General Scott's death was the result of sabotage. As he begins his murder investigation, however, Scott's widow (whose post-mortem lack of bereavement is noteworthy) produces a suicide note. End of investigation.

Well, not really. Cooper and Special Agent Anna Masters smell several rats and are not about to give things up so easily. They begin following a shadowy and dangerous trail that leads them from the explosive streets and alleys of Iraq to the sensuous nightlife of Latvia to the harrowing, war-torn countryside of Chechnya, even as they themselves are pursued by an enigmatic and powerful group known as The Establishment. Trail's end for Cooper, however, takes him to the most surprising location of all where everything is revealed, even as those revelations may well cost him his life.

THE DEATH TRUST is an impressive debut, exquisitely paced and well-balanced between military and mystery. Rollins's characterizations are uniformly interesting as well; Cooper, in particular, is an impressive protagonist, not overly likable but reasonably so, an individual who oftentimes is his own worst enemy. Here's hoping that publication of the remainder of Rollins's books catches up on these shores soon.

--- Reviewed by Joe Hartlaub

I thought it was a good book until I got pass page 300. Then I became more and more disappointed as I continued to read things that I did not think would have happened in the real world. To make connections with some of the previous twists and turns now required contrived earlier happenings to make the plot plausible. The ending left an unanswered question, did "The Establishment" ever exist or not?

It was a thriller if you suspended your believe system a few times.

Not as good as later books of David Rollins but quite entertaining. I especially like the humour he incorporates throughout his stories. Worth a read.

This book was a pleasant surprise. Many twists and turns and a great ending. I now will read the whole series, Vin Cooper is a hard hitting main character that will carry many more novels in the future. If you like series as I do you could do far worse. I urge you to give David Rollins a chance to win your loyalty as a reader.

Vin Cooper is Joe Pike and Jack Reacher with personality.
This is a well-plotted, story. The best thing is this is the first
David Rollins book I have read. Can't wait to read more in the series.