Customer Reviews

Ghost Force

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(9)

 

 

I personally lost count as to how many times the SEALs (in enemy territory) were quoted as 'yelling'. That personally amazed me. Then we have the same SEALs and SAS operators using 'flashlights' in enemy territory again. Then they placed explosive charges in 'Both' A4 Skyhawk engines, when they only have one. Then they placed their initiating daisy chain for all the explosives on the tarmac connected to each other on a four hour time delay. Wrong Wrong Wrong. You just do not do that. Next you have the SATCOM communication gear being 'direction finded' by the enemy radio operators. That doesnt happen. They use a narrow satellite beam and it is directed directly at the satellite. Another big wrong situatio was when one of the operators was wounded, and they are ripping shirts and other items to dress the wound. Nope! the SEAL corpsman would have broke open his London Bridge trauma bag and dealt with it.
There were just too many errors in the technical and tactical operations of this book, they simply distracted from the story (over and over again) I usually run through a book in a day or so, but this one, I had to put down over and over until I forced myself to get through it.
I am ranking this 3 stars based upon Patrick Robinsion's past novels. If it was a stand alone, it would rate 1- 1.5 stars, max.

Robinson needs a new technical editor. He has SEALs stumbling around in the dark without night vision devices, A-4 Skyhawks with 2 engines, a SEAL team that turns into a SAS team after 40 pages, SEALs carrying the tripod for a M60 on a long mission, a long time SEAL with no parachute experience, and a poorly thought out campaign by the British to retake the Falkland islands (apparently the British do not have any stand off weapons such as cruise missles).

I gave up on Robinson while reading Scimitar because he had Iranians speaking Arab to each other. As most people know, Iranians speak Farsi because Iranians are not Arabs, they are Persians - the original Aryans.

I gave this book a try because the jacket made it interesting but I will not be reading any more of his work.

This book wasn't even worth the eight bucks I spent on it buying it used. Robinson continues to write the same kind of material, with the same cast of characters, with the same plot lines. The true mark of an author is to spin a story that's not already been told, especially by the same person! This story would have been no different if General Ravi Rashood appeared as a mercenary for the Argentineans. There are no real-life characters in Robinson's books - just caricatures of how we expect people to be: Presidents, Prime Ministers, politicians, SEALs, what have you...

I suggest a summer writing camp for Robinson to sharpen up that old pencil, and learn how to write a decent book that's not a copy and paste of the ten books that have gone before it.

This has to be the worst "thriller" ever written. Robinson has apparently never heard of the writer's rule to show, not tell. There is no chance for suspense to build. There are no believable characters. There is no ear for dialogue. There is simply nothing to recommend this book. I bought it at an airport and read the first 100+ pages on the flight. I'd have been better off sleeping, but I don't sleep on airplanes, sadly.

The story, set in 2011, is about Russians plotting with Argentina to attack the Falkland Islands, where the British have discovered vast new oil fields, because renegade Siberians are threatening to seize rich Siberian oil fields for themselves and sell the oil to the Chinese. Everyone in the book is a cartoon character oozing testosterone and gulping strong coffee.

I had some hope at one point that it was meant to be a spoof, when we learn that the Russians have no hope of making a deal for Middle Eastern oil because George Bush had done such a great job bringing stability to the Middle East. Sadly, that was the only funny thing in the first 100 or so pages, and it's not really that funny when you think about it.

Don't waste your time or your money. It's that bad, really. No, it's worse.

I've been a big fan of Patrick Robinson's books -- until now. Adm. Morgan's my kind of officer and the writing was, up until now, quite good. Ghost Force, however, feels rushed and stilted. The writing, sentence structure, and general feel seem almost like a basic high school creative writing exercise gone awry. Even the military action, usually so well-crafted, feels wrong. As a former U.S. Army SF Medic, I know a little about combat action and this just doesn't come off as well as Robinson's other works. A good novel doesn't have to be hurriedly shaped around current events and most of us don't read this type of story for political edification but for a good old-fashioned, kick butt escape. Better luck with the next one, Mr. R.

There is no doubt that Patrick Robinson can spin a good tale. Unfortunately, it appears he's never met a right wing politican he wouldn't praise (even George W. Bush a couple of times in this work) or a liberal cause that he could not caricature.
Although not in the "can't put it down" class, this almost-war story of the near future was a fun read. I did have a problem with Mr. Robinson mixing his British characters with American baseball and football metaphors; having the British Prime Minister "step right up the the plate" or the "so far as the MP's were concerned, this was Super Bowl II".
A couple of other items caused the hackles to rise. Contrary to Robinson's narrative, the Distinguished Service Cross is not the "second higest decoration" - at least not in the Navy. That is the Navy Cross. Also at one point, a supposedly experienced Naval officer utters the communications faux pas "over and out".

I concur with Richard Wood's review overall, and have a few additions:

The character development is so corny it's unreal. So they're going to pull a rusty SEAL operator out of mothballs at the age of 40? Right.

The author needs to hookup with somebody who knows something about land warfare. I was an active duty US Army soldier in a non-combat job skill and even I can blow holes in many of the passages. I know SEALS have their own doctrine but I highly doubt it's represented by what you'll find in this book. At least I hope not.

The UK would give up the capability to project air superiority at sea? I somehow don't think so.

Additionally, the author really seems to have an axe to grind with the political left.

The list goes on, but you get the idea.

The reason I bought this book is that I've always been interested in the Falklands conflict and believed that we should have told Argentina to go fly a kite and put a carrier group at UK disposal. We didn't. What would happen in a rematch after they've unwaveringly backed us in the Iraq debacle and were unable to take care of their own real estate? The Aussies and the Brits are not fair-weather allies and should be afforded appropriate respect. Back to the book:

If it's the ONLY thing you have to read on a long flight, okay. Otherwise, forget it.

I could not finish this book simply because the main character, Ramshawe, is written with a totally unbelievable Aussie style of speech. I have lived here as an American for over 20 years and I have heard few if any of the younger generation which would presumably include Ramshaw use the terminology that this character does - "bloody" in virtually every sentence and "strewth", an archaic expression that went out after WWII are ridiculous. I am prepared to suspend belief for stories such as this and generally lap them up, but this failing was so jarring I could not read on without my blood pressure going up. Do some research next time, Robinson.

I liked Patrick Robinson's earlier submarine warfare novels but I left the author years ago. Out of desperation for some new books I picked up three of his recent novels, including this one.

I am very tired of Mr. Robinson's sidebar negative comments or hints about the left wing and on-going praise for the right along with the current administration. It distracts from the story and just comes across as unprofessional and childish.

And this adulation for the retired Admiral Morgan saving the day, over and over and over is just riduculous and laughable. There are so many inaccuracies in this novel that suspending disbelief becomes nearly impossible.

This was my last Patrick Robinson novel.

I usually look forward to reading the newest Patrick Robinson book when it hits the shelves. So when I received Ghost Force in the mail (I'm stationed in the Middle East right now) I was excited to see how Admiral Arnie was going to save the world this time. About an hour into the book I had to check the cover again to see if Patrick Robinson's name was on the cover. That's how horrible I found this book to be. I hoped it would get better the more I read; It didn't! I've read all of Robinson's previous books and enjoyed them, however Ghost Force was a disappointment!!