The Falconer's Tale [Import] [Paperback]

Gordon Kent (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback: 400 pages
• Publisher: Harper Collins (2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0007243081
• ISBN-13: 978-0007243082
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6 x 1.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #6,808,970 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Gordon Kent was (is, I suppose) two people, my son - Christian Cameron, author of TYRANT and WASHINGTON AND CASEAR and other books - and me. The reason for the pseudonym was the obvious one that two names on a cover were not thought as good as one. And of course the one needed to be anglo and male; my suggestion of Max Cohen got nowhere, as did several dozen others we trotted by the publisher. Eventually, we settled on Gordon Kent: Gordon was my father's name, my son's middle name; Kent, oh, well.

We wrote eight novels - the Alan Craik books - under this pseudonym, starting with NIGHT TRAP (RULES OF ENGAGEMENT in the US, probably one of the most overworked titles there is) and ending with the much darker (and more satisfying) SPOILS OF WAR and THE FALCONER'S TALE. The books were about the air side of the US Navy, mostly about intelligence, but with a lot of derring-do that real intel officers never get to play at. They were usually fun to write because we'd both been in the navy, my son a good deal longer than I; we had our differences, as any two people must, but it was a surprisingly workable relationship. Lots of long-distance telephone calls, occasional meetings to go fishing and use the time in the car to plan books. We worked from outlines made on those trips, then divided the scenes up - we quickly learned who did which sorts of scenes and which characters better - and then we wrote and exchanged files and bickered and praised and wound up with a book.

Is Gordon Kent finished? We wonder. We're both writing our own books now under our own names, but occasionally we feel a nudge to go back to that partnership. Maybe, maybe....

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars If you like espionage, read this, November 4, 2008

By 

Elizabeth McBrearty (Tucson, Arizona USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Falconer's Tale (Paperback)

Jerry Piat, a renegade CIA agent and small time dealer in bogus antiquities, has also been a bit player in this series of Alain Craik adventures by Gordon Kent. In this story he finally gets his chance to be a full time player in both avocations. One of his old bosses at CIA contacts him to recruit another former agent for a new assignment. Piat doesn't think this guy to be outstanding material, but he does as he's told (there's money in it). It turns out this new agent is an expert in falconry; all he can talk about are his birds. But he grows on Piat and on the reader.

Meanwhile Al Craik and his long time friend Mike Dukas of NCIS are trying to figure out why CIA wants Jerry. It turns out there's a rogue operation going on. I won't tell you what happens, but it's exciting and Jerry turns out to be a good guy after all. There's a hint at the end that Al may soon have to retire from Naval intelligence. I, for one, hope his retirement is long postponed.

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Not a good read, February 14, 2009

By 

R. Palmer (LA VERNE, CA United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Falconer's Tale (Paperback)

This was most certainly not an adventure in reading if you wanted a fast moving, interesting read.

I could not read more than a few pages at a time, and I normally read a full book every two days.

I am not interested in how to train a falcon, but at least finally in the last pages of the book, it became interesting.