Customer Reviews

Deep Black: Biowar (NSA Series)

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(8)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(15)

 

 

It's beginning to look like Stephen Coonts doesn't know where to take his career now that the Jake Grafton series has been pretty well tapped out. From his first book ("The Intruders") through "America", we've watched Grafton grow from a young naval fighter pilot to an Admiral, providing suspense and thrills certainly on a par with Clancy's Jack Ryan (except in much fewer words!), with possibly a little more spin on politics (e. g. "Cuba" and "Hong Kong") and a little less focus on the glamour of technology.

In "Deep Black", in which Coonts collaborates with co-author Jim DeFelice (himself with a half dozen or so books to his credit), we find a tale about National Security/CIA intrigue fostered by a possible coup in Russia. Our leading characters, Charlie Dean, a ex-Marine sniper, and Lia DeFrancesca, a former Delta Force trooper, spend most of the book deep in Russia ferreting out various evidence of mischief by the bad guys. Activities there alternate with command and control vignettes back at the "Art Room", some sort of conglomerate spy oversight agency. [Perhaps we know now how the co-authors divided their assignments.] At any rate, all are out to control world politics before the Russian President becomes an assassination victim, with most of the suspense leading up to the moment of truth re that event.

While the story was mildly entertaining at times, we thought the plot and writing skills on display were a departure from what we expect of Coonts. In particular the gender and sexual tension generated (or not) between the leads Charlie and Lia were barely beyond adolescent. Much of the technology used by the operatives, such as ear-embedded communications with an agency half-way 'round the globe, remote controlled drone fighters, and many other sensing and locating devices, were rather far-fetched, detracting from the credibility of the plot. It doesn't seem to us Coonts did his fan club any favor with this novel - perhaps it was just to keep his name out there while he gets ready to publish his next hardback? Our advice: wait!

I compare this series favorably with the "Tom Clancy" Op Center series... granted that is not sayng very much.

I am not sure who actually wrote this book, but would not be surprised if it were ghost written... In general I sort of liked the characters at least by the end of the book. A light, enjoyable read if read in the spirit in which it was written, although I admit the first time I tried to read it, I put it down after the first few paragraphs. In this genre, I have suffered through far worse, this actually was ok.

This is a complex and engaging thriller that weaves several different stories and plots together for a surprise payoff at the end. I especially liked Tommy Karr, a kind of fun-loving good ol' boy for modern times.

I rather enjoyed this book, but perhaps this is because I listened to the abridged version. In this version, some of the transitions are rather confusing, but I could still follow along just fine, and it did not spoil my enjoyment of the story.

If you want realism, this is not a book for you. However, if you want a fun, suspenseful, story with cool gadgets, worldly themes, interesting characters, and a lot of action, then I would recommend this abridged version.

Everybody CALM DOWN!!! Who cares if this book was ghost written, or why and how Coonts developed the story? If you like fast, furious action, with plenty of plot twists and turns, then read it. It's almost like watching an action movie--you DON'T always know exactly what's going on every second, but that's the beauty--you eventually find out through the action sequences. RELAX!!

Anyway, if you like this sort of thing--simple, yet action-filled, you will enjoy this book. Sometimes you just need comic-book stuff like this. Go for it!!

Let me start off by saying that both Coonts and DeFelice alone are terrific writers. However, put them together and it seems like they just tossed some nonsense together and called it a book.

They fall for the trite "deus ex machina" ploy when their main characters are in trouble. The "art room" will be able to see all and fix all. Of course this wears thin after a very short while, so the authors have to have the super techno stuff fail at the worst possible moments. (Think first Star Trek series when the transporter would fail just when it is needed to beam up the crew and you get the picture.)

The main characters are literally all over the map, with almost no explanation as to what they are doing wherever they happen to be. Poor plotting, extremely poor character development, and virtually no attempts at bringing all the disparite plot lines together leaves the reader with the feeling that they just wasted their money.

The only upside is the teaser in the back of the book for the upcoming "Liars and Thieves" looks like a good read. However it also seems to be a Coonts novel. Maybe he should stick to solo writing.

Don't bother. Don't waste your money. I wish I didn't.

I have read about 10 of Coonts' books and this was by far the worse! The storyline had no depth and the characters' dialogue was cheesy. Coonts was obviously out of touch with reality with this one. I only finished it b/c I was stuck in the middle of nowhere and this was my only book. Don't bother reading it.

This was my first Stephen Coonts book and I enjoyed it.This
book features the NSA.An American spy plane that is gathering
evidence of a new Russian weapon is shot down by a mysterious
MiG.The NSA dispatches to see what has happened to the plane.On
this team are Charlie Dean a former Marine sniper who was featured in "Combat".Also on the team is Delta Force trooper Lia
DeFrancesca.After the team's arrival a conspiracy in uncovered
about a coup and the assassination of the Russian President.Upon
arrival in Moscow the teams discovers a more far reaching conspiracy that they must help stop.This was a very readable book
that I enjoyed. Read it.

I generally like Coonts, and I have grown to know Jake Grafton. This book was a departure. I think there were too many gizmo, wizbang, gee-whiz kind of toys in this novel. The characters never really had to stretch themselves to accomplish anything, because the technology did it all for them.

The other thing I kept having trouble with was the character of Charlie. If he was a Marine Sniper in Vietnam and the book is set in about 2020, then Charlie would be pushing 70+ years. It just didn't hold together.

However, if you walk away from the need for a realistic, techno thriller and look at the book as Sci Fi, well it isn't too bad. The gadgets are kind of kool when you look at it this way, although, the characters need some work.

Today techno-thrillers are at the top of the heap and Coonts plus DeFelice pen them with the best. Add a triple threat voice performance by veteran actor J. Charles and you have a reading that'll make listeners' ears sizzle.

Gone - just plain disappeared. A famous scientist who knows all about germ warfare, Dr. James Kegan, has simply vanished from his New York State home. However, he did leave something behind - the body of a dead man with a hole between the eyes. The dead man's gone but not forgotten as he can be traced to a terrorist cell.

Enter Kegan's best bud NSA operative Charles Dean who has been assigned quite a task: ingratiate himself with Kegan's associates, translate the scientist's research into an understandable form. Further Dean must do this in no time flat as there's an old killer fever spreading, killing people one by one.

What do we have? A terrorist threat and biological warfare. Enough to set anyone's pulse pounding. Give a listen and see.

- Gail Cooke