Customer Reviews

Hostile Contact

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

 

 

This was an exciting and enjoyable read. Although I read it before I read the preceding three novels, I had no trouble following the story, although I would obviously recommend prospective readers to start with the earlier novels first! A US Naval Intelligence officer, Alan Craik, has been wounded on a mission that went very wrong, in a which a fellow officier, George Shreed, was killed. Shreed was supposed to have been captured alive, since he is a suspected traitor. Craik is held responsible for the mission going bad, and has not met with much sympathy from his superiors, in spite of his injuries. Craik is given a chance to redeem himself, and the story takes off from therem with sizeable measures of intrigue and manipulation, both on the behalf of Craik's own side, and that of the Chinese, who were "running" Shreed when he was killed. I very much enjoyed the way that this father-son team of authors dealth with the Chinese in this novel! Oh man, Patrick Robinson could learn a ton and then some from this duo! And unlike Vince Flynn, these two get their airports and airlines right! While the characters are not particularly well developed, the plot is clever, action-packed, and fast paced, and remains exciting to the end. I recommend this novel with three-and-a-half stars.

US Navy intelligence officer Alan Craik and friend NCIS Special Agent Mike Dukas recover from a shoot-out with traitor George Shreed. Craik lost two fingers and was shot in the collarbone, which has led to his driving his wife navy pilot Rose crazy, as he is a terrible patient.

Not fully recuperated, Craik persuades his superiors to send him to Jakarta to evaluate a plan involving Chinese agents. However, Agent Jerry Piat is also part of the assessment and he wants revenge for what Craik did to his idol, Shreed. Piat firmly gives credence to someone as heroic as his mentor who had to be innocent and thus set up by Craik. The Chinese agents see this as an opportunity also for what Craik did to one of them, Colonel Chen. Suddenly Craik is caught in the crosshairs of the CIA erasing evidence of Shreed's treason and a Chinese espionage team communicating with submarines off the American Pacific Northwest that could lead to a terrorist strike against an American aircraft carrier in the Indian Ocean.

If this novel sounds complex it is because HOSTILE CONTACT is a multi-layered tale that comes together as few can. The key to the return of Craik is the combining of modern techno spying with pre IT espionage smoothly consolidated into an action packed thriller that never slows down until the final convergence. The cast is strong and real whether they are heroes, counteragents, or even tertiary players. Gordon Kent provides the espionage thriller crowd with a superb the spy who returned to the cold tale that should turn Craik novels (see TOP HOOK and PEACE MAKER) into bestsellers.

Harriet Klausner

This book took me back to by-gone realm when George Smiley battled his arch nemesis in Moscow Center. While the enemy is more up-to-date (the Red Chinese), the stakes nonetheless are the same.

George Shreed is dead. Long live George. Was he a double agent, stretching back over decades of deceit? Was a brilliant spymaster, who managed to land a master stroke against his enemies? Did Chen control Shreed or was it the other way around? And what was/is Chinese Checkers?

This book takes up where TOP HOOK ends. Only things are not going well for the good guys. I loved the tug of war and the not quite bad and not quite good characters.

The one thing I really don't like in this book is the hero Alan Craik. I think he's an over zealous hot dog that should have been yanked out of the Navy. Leaving that aside, the book has a marvelous pacing that keeps you reading well into the night.

Hostile Contact by the father-son writing duo Gordon Kent was well worth my time to read. I bought the book not realizing it was part of a series so I jumped in and initially wondered why they talked so much about a few injuries but never explained really how they happened. Turns out the injuries happened in a previous book. After my initial confusion this didn't affect my ability to read the book, as I was able to very easily pick up what I had missed. The book details multiple locations and how they all come to relate to one another. The novel does have complexity, which is a plus, as it keeps you coming back for more in an attempt to unravel the puzzle. I have heard criticism of the Asian culture elements, however I'm not an expert of Asian culture, so I didn't notice. Overall I recommend it to you and for myself I look forward to reading more Gordon Kent books.