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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The best thriller of 2003!, September 16, 2003
This review is from: An Echo of War (Briggs Tanner Novels) (Paperback)
I read Blackwood's first two books (The End of Enemies, The Wall of Night) and loved them, so I was happy to hear his third one had come out. Honestly, though, I was nervous when I started reading An Echo of War. Having watched some of my favorite thriller authors decline with each successive book, I didn't want to be disappointed. Well, I wasn't! On the contrary: Blackwood gets better with every book, and An Echo of War is no different. From the back cover:
Dinaric Alps, Bosnian region of the Austrian Hungarian Empire, 1918. Four allied soldiers stumble across a biological weapon that could wreak devastation on the world - and take a vow to keep it from falling into the wrong hands. Ever since, the deadly substance, code-named Kestrel, has been guarded by the descendents of those four brave men - each with the mission of keeping its existence a secret. Chesapeake Bay, August 2003. The wife of former CIA director Jonathon Root has been kidnapped - and no one except Root himself knows who carried out the crime or why. His grandfather had been one of the soldiers responsible for stealing Kestrel - and now a group of Bosnian terrorists are trying to force Root to hand it over. Enter agent Briggs Tanner. His mission follow a trail through the alps, to the heart of where it all began - before millions of lives are lost. A few reasons why I think Blackwood's An Echo of War is the best thriller I'll read this year: 1) Great plotting. Blackwood weaves a story like no one else, taking seemingly unrelated events and threads and winding them together in a exciting plot that makes the pages fly by. 2) Great hero. Briggs Tanner is my new favorite fiction hero. Resourceful and tenacious; sympathetic and human; larger-than-life and daring without being "superhuman". 3) Great characters. I loved the good guys, hated the bad guys. All the key players have a history and motivation all their own, so you feel like these a real people, doing real things that matter to them and the world. I loved An Echo of War. It's a great suspense-thriller with heavy doses of espionage, intrigue, adventure, and mystery.
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Grant Blackwood Just keeps Getting Better!, April 15, 2004
This review is from: An Echo of War (Briggs Tanner Novels) (Paperback)
The highest compliment I can pay Grant Blackwood is that I don't ordinarily read novels in this genre, but I can't put his books down. Simply put, this is a page-turner with a brain and a heart. An Echo of War continues the adventures of Briggs Tanner, the dashing but gallant protagonist of his previous volumes, The End of Enemies and Wall of Night. Tanner is no cardboard cutout of a hero, but a three-dimensional man of his times whose courage, ingenuity and physical prowess are balanced with a sharp wit and consistent moral center. Tanner's compatriots and enemies are complex characters as well. Blackwood's world is fully realized, leavening espionage, action and politics with humor, familial concerns, and the odd touch of romance. Most worthy of praise is the fact that he manages to provide enough detail about the necessary trappings of such matters as geography, weapons, and both military and quasi-military procedures to give the reader a clear understanding of what's hapeening without ever drowning the reader in minutae or appearing to simply be showing off (yes, I'm looking at you, Tom Clancy!). There is more mystery and suspense here than in Blackwood's previous efforts, and An Echo of War really benefits. Blackwood deftly weaves the acts of diverse characters and seemingly unrelated events spread across time and earth into a swirling plot that packs twists and turns to the end but never veers into artifice or strained coincidence. Great stuff, and I can't wait for the next one! Do yourself a favor -- make Grant Blackwood the new writer you discover this year.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
AN ECHO OF WAR THUNDERS WITH SUSPENSE, September 12, 2003
This review is from: An Echo of War (Briggs Tanner Novels) (Paperback)
I finished his last one "The Wall of Night", and found it to be one of the best spy, suspense novels I've read in QUITE A WHILE. Tom Clancy should read Blackwood's books to learn how to make a TECHNO-SPY THRILLER EXCITING! An Echo of War starts out with an allied raid on a German bunker during World War One, when the soldiers find this biological weapon too dangerous to let anyone know about, let alone release. The plot thickens, as it races along to it's fantastic conclusion, at a pace that keeps you flipping through the pages, wondering what's going to happen next. Blackwood continues getting better with each successive book! I am proud to reccomend him to anyone who likes a book that really moves!
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