Customer Reviews

Kill Zone: A Sniper Novel

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(11)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

I wasn't sure what to expect when I started this book; it had been purchased for me as a gift. If the author was intending the book to be a James Bond-type affair, with technology and gadgets that are completely implausible, then I understand. However, it seemed that it was written with the tone that it COULD happen, ala Tom Clancy. In that regard, it was uneasily poor.

The first thing I had difficulty with was the blatant inter-service rivalries being espoused. The only heroes in this book were Marines, and everyone else was Army or Navy. Alright, I get it.

Second, the author writes as if he has an authoritative knowledge on Special Operations, yet just about everything written about the organization, deployment, and training of Special Operations soldiers is either exaggerated or wrong. Most transparent is his use of the term "Special Forces". Everyone under the SOCOM or JSOC umbrella knows that Special Forces refers ONLY to the US Army Special Forces. Everything else is "Special Operations". Period.

A super rifle named Excalibur, which is a computer-heavy, whisper-quiet, suppressed .50 caliber? The idea that a .50 BMG bullet could be suppressed to "whisper-quiet" defies the laws of physics, and a Scout Sniper should know that. Let's not forget about the SCRAMJET ride, set up somehow by a Marine Master Sergeant through the "Sergeant's Network". Even if such a plane existed, the idea that an enlistedman could pull in a few favors to secure his CO a ride strains believability to the point of breaking.

When I read military novels, the one thing I assume will be correct are all the little military details that reveal to the reader that the author has done his homework. The 82nd Airborne does not conduct static line jumps from 5000 feet. A "small little dirtvbike" does not have a 1200cc engine. A GPS receiver can't be tracked. Why? Because it doesn't transmit anything. Some of these are small, and some are fulcrums of the plot itself.

Not recommended.

A highly successful military/political thriller set in today's world, Kill Zone is hard to put down---in fact, I read it in a day: couldn't stop reading. Just the right amount of military background, political intrigue, action, and characterization. Well worth reading. It also shows some strong feelings that I suspect are common in the military regarding the increasing use of unregulated and legally immune mercenaries.

Aside from military issues mentioned in other reviews (F14 wings may swing but don't fold, the extractor of a rifle bolt would withdraw the cartridge rather than leave it seated in the chamber to be "checked") this book had more editing errors than most commercial fiction I've read. To list a few, a product made in Britain or Europe (such as the "Excalibur" sniper system) would be calibrated in meters, not yards. It mentions the fact that on Carrier On-Board Delivery aircraft the seats face the rear but then claims the passengers are thrown against their seatbelts when the tailhook catches the trap wire - how could that happen if they face rearward? The sniper uses a rangefinder function to see that one of his targets is over 500 yards away, but then only has to crawl "1½ football fields" to reach the body after shooting him. So while many of us are bothered by ideas such as a completely suppressed .50BMG rifle, one who's optics are "gyro-stabilized" rather than firmly mounted to the action, F16s landing on carriers, Senior NCO's arranging flights for field-grade officers aboard experimental NASA aircraft, GPS "trackers" - indeed, the whole idea of having a GPS receiver built into a sniper rifle (why?), there are plenty of gaffs to interrupt the reading pleasure of just about anyone.

For anyone who can tune out all those distracters and ignore the rip-off of Stephen Hunter's "Swagger" novels, this book could be a pleasant read. And I'll admit I'm going to read the next book in this series (checked out from my local library) just to see if the editing has improved any.

Dispatched on a top-secret mission to Iraq to rescue a hostage general who has noticed that his captors speak perfect American English, Marine Corps sniper Kyle Swanson is the only survivor of an attack on his unit and comes to realize that American mercenaries are working with the White House for total control over the military. BT.
A fascinating and rip-roaring thriller. As a thriller reader I was both enthralled and entertained all the way to the end. It pulled me in to where I didn't want to stop reading. I hope we see another from this duo.

I was plugging along, enjoying this story, until I came to page 54, where I learned that the United States Senate has only fifty members and that Thomas Jefferson wrote the Constitution. I don't know from Armani trousers and Louis Vuitton Tambour chronographs, Prada boots or Panasonic PV-GS250 video cameras, but I do know a little bit about the government and history of the United States. I know it's simply a thriller, but glaring errors of this order of magnitude really put me on red alert. Now I know why Lee Child's cover blurb says "just about perfect."
The question remains, do I cautiously make my way through the remaining 276 pages, wondering when I'll stumble upon the next literary Claymore, or do I move on to my growing backlog of books by Daniel Silva, Michael Connelly, John Burdett, Louis L'Amour, Lee Child and the amazing Neal Stephenson? Gunney Coughlin, thanks for your service to your country, but you've been done a disservice by Mr. Davis, who should have had your back. Hasta la vista, baby...

I'll skip running the plot, the back cover copy lays it out pretty well. It is a great story, full of action and intrigue, but...

The book has some editing errors, most notably several changes of tense and an occasional lapse into first person, but more troubling for me was the distracting level of brand name-dropping. It's almost like the authors were getting paid for product placement. Do we really need to know model and brand of battery in the sniper's scope? Wouldn't it suffice to say the bad guy drove a BMW? Even a BMW 7 series, but "a BMW 735il SE" just distracts from the story. There is a specific brand name mentioned in every chapter, and often several on a single page. It is like a literary version of those product placement movies. The detailed descriptions are unnatural and forced.

But the plot held my attention anyway until...(spoiler alert, but who cares. I wish I had known this before I bought it).

They kill off the main character's love interest. After spending pages getting the reader attached to this character and her relationship with the hero, building our empathy for her, she's killed off 3/4 through the story. Maybe that's supposed to be clever. Maybe it's supposed to "make the story real". All it did was make me throw the book in the trash in disgust. If I want real, I'll walk outside.

Mr. Coughlin, you have my utmost respect. It's obvious the story came from your heart.

Mr. Davis, what you did to Mr. Coughlin's story was criminal. I'm not sure how this got published, other than out of respect for Mr. Coughlin's service. The story (which I assume came from Mr. Coughlin) is good, but the writing is just plain bad. It's books like this that keep the video industry in business.

The authors seem to think
- There are 50 senators
- Andrew Jackson is on the ten dollar bill

sigh

Matthew Reilly's 'Ice Station' was that. But this one is up there in the top three or so. Somebody read Stephen Hunter, Vince Flynn and Dick Marcinko then ripped all of them off as often (and badly) as possible.

Okay...so we have the evil but somehow almost supremely powerful politicians with no respect for anything but their own blind ambition. Check. Then we have the almost superhuman Marine sniper who could probably throw the bullets more accurately than a mere mortal could shoot. Check. The alluring and intelligent female officer who has somehow fallen in love with the previously mentioned SuperMarine. Check. And last, but certainly not least, the slathering, rabid monster military contractors (think Blackwater here) who are masters of the many crafts of war, but not of their own particular appetites. Okay! No...wait...I am one of those contractors and think I will take issue with the characterization.

The plot, as predictable as any, is also way too farfetched for my tastes. Even the epilogue is so trite as to make me groan audibly. And there is, apparently, a sequel! And I will buy a copy...really I will...if only someone will promise NOT to turn 'Kill Zone' into a movie starring John Cena.

I won't argue the "top-rated sniper" part of Mr. Coghlin's resume, but I would suggest he (1) stick to what he does well, and (2) fire his ghostwriter who, it seems, doesn't know much about the military.

But that is just my opinion; I could be wrong.

Trite, banal, cliched,stereotypical characters and unbelievable interplay,,etc. If you are going to hire a ghost writer please have the courtesy to use a competent one. The typos and grammatical errors, overuse of hackneyed similes, obligatory sex scene all point to a shoddy piece of writing. What really ticks me off is that this "book" received 4 out of 5 stars in the Kindle book description review. I won't be utilizing that criteria in my next selection. Having read thousands of books, this is one of a handful that I had to stop reading as it was so infuriatingly insulting to the readers intelligence. Avoid all "works" by these "authors" and save your money!

This wasn't way over the top like I thought it was going to be. I read Shooter when it first came out and enjoyed it. I also enjoyed this book as well. The author also let a bit of realism intertwine with fiction when he doesn't allow Swanson to be the end all and super-savior of everything that could go wrong. Often the main character is this superhuman who can stop everything and rescue everyone, which isn't always bad. However, swanson wasn't presented like this and it worked out to make the book that much better.