Customer Reviews

No Man's Land

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

 

 

G. M. Ford's new thriller, "No Man's Land," gets off to a rip-roaring start. In Arizona's maximum security Meza Azul penitentiary, a cunning prisoner named Timothy Driver manages to bypass the facility's state-of-the-art security features. He takes over the prison, releases the inmates, and nabs 163 hostages. Driver threatens to shoot one hostage every six hours until Frank Corso arrives at the scene.

Corso is a journalist and a recluse who previously had written a book about Driver. Members of the Coast Guard persuade an extremely reluctant Corso to leaves his boat in Seattle and fly to Mesa Azul. When he arrives at the prison, Corso quickly becomes a pawn in Driver's violent master plan. This psychopathic killer, whose partner is an equally frightening felon named Kehoe, engineers an ingenious escape and Corso is forcibly taken along for the ride.

Meanwhile, an ambitious television journalist named Melanie Harris risks her already shaky marriage when she goes to Arizona to cover the story. The slimy warden who runs Mesa Azul is more worried about his job than he is about the many lives that are lost during the uprising. After Driver and Kehoe make their escape, they meet up with a variety of individuals, both on the right and wrong side of the law. Most of these people are the worse for wear after their encounter with these two cold-blooded killers.

Ford has a no-nonsense writing style that I like very much. His black humor, crisp dialogue, and descriptive passages are all first rate. However, the plot meanders too much once the convicts leave Arizona. The book quickly degenrates into a lengthy spree of mindless violence.

Ford does effectively explore such themes as the predatory nature of the media, the randomness of fate, and the unspeakable conditions in America's prisons. However, the fatal flaw in this thriller is that Frank Corso, who has always been a savvy and tough man when the chips are down, plays too limited a role in capturing the criminals. Although he shows great courage when he confronts the volatile Driver, throughout most of the novel, Frank is little more than a horrified spectator. He also engages in a brief fling with Melanie that feels forced and artificial. There are too many scenes of excessive violence, and the conclusion is chaotic and unfocused. Although Ford is a talented writer whose books I have enjoyed in the past, "No Man's Land" is one of the weaker entries in the Frank Corso series.

Timothy Driver was once a Navy SEAL and the Captain of a Trident missile submarine. He came home unexpectedly and found his wife in bed with another man. Capt. Driver dispatched both wife and her lover to the great beyond. As a result (and somewhat unbelievably as the result of a crime of passion), Driver is sentenced to life in prison without parole. Anything but a model prisoner, Driver causes a major optical problem (blindness by puncture wounds) for another prisoner to whom he had been "sold" as a sex slave.

Driver becomes a a guest of the Meza Azul prison in Arizona, which is run by a private corporation. Within short order, Driver compromises the high-tech facility and takes over the prison. He promise to execute one guard every six hours unless Frank Corso, who wrote a book about Driver, is delivered to the prison.

Uh huh, Ford's plot and character development would, under normal circumstances, leave a lot to be desired. But happily Ford's idea of plot is a hyper-kinetic, utterly unpredictable series of events that would serve as a model for chaos theory. One by one, seemingly unrelated events come together to produce unintended and unexpected consequences, much to the delight of the reader.

Corso is actually a near-minor player in the novel, which is a plus. He's just sort of there, sometimes the victim of events, sometimes the beneficiary. Driver is a man on a mission who, incidentally, is a cunning operator. Corso is important to him for reasons that are not clear until well into the book.

Overall, a delightful read and a fine thriller. Thin plot, thin characters, but in Ford's hands, neither is a consideration. The man simply knows how to tell a hold-on-to-your-seat story.

Jerry

(Warning: a plot detail from the previous book, Red Tide, is revealed in the first paragraph)

In No Man's Land, by G.M. Ford, Frank Corso is finally on his own. In Red Tide, his companion, Meg Dougherty, finally left him for good. I found Red Tide to be a great book with one of its only faults being the way that Meg leaves. While her presence is definitely missed in No Man's Land, Ford manages to make the book gripping despite it. This book also continues where Red Tide left off in how we get into the minds of other characters as well as Corso, which enriches this book enormously. While it is still not perfect, Ford has written another gripping thriller that will keep you on the edge of your seat.

There has been a riot at a privately-run maximum security prison in Arizona. The leader of the inmates, Timothy Driver, has a special request. He wants Frank Corso to come to the prison, or he will have a guard killed every six hours. It seems that Corso wrote a book about the murders Driver committed, and Driver wants him to come along for the rest of his story and write the truth. This riot also attracts the attention of Melanie Harris, of American Manhunt, who races down to Arizona after being informed of this big news story, as ratings have been going down for a while. When Corso finally shows up, he finds a situation much more fluid then he imagined. Driver, a fellow inmate named Kehoe, and Corso escape from the prison and a massive manhunt begins. What is Driver's ultimate purpose in involving Corso in all this? Does he want to go out in a blaze of glory documented by the only writer Driver trusts? Or is there another motive involved? And will Corso survive to tell the tale?

No Man's Land claims to be a "cross-country journey" for Corso, but it turns out to just be a few western states. Still, Ford has once again branched beyond his native Seattle, and this time it doesn't feel as forced as it did in A Blind Eye, when the Midwest didn't really feel like the Midwest. This time, it feels more natural, as they travel from the deserts of Arizona to the mountains of Nevada and beyond. However, that could be because I'm not as familiar with that environment as I am the Midwest. Still, Ford seems to do a great job with the setting.

The best things about Ford's books are usually the characters, and he doesn't disappoint here, with a few odd exceptions. Corso is, of course, wonderfully done. It's unclear how long it's been since Meg left, but he clearly still misses her at the beginning of the book, and she even pops up in his mind occasionally during everything else. He's still the same man, though, always looking out for the underdog and not taking any grief from the higher authorities. His relationship with the FBI in this one is typically rough, and it predictably causes some dangerous situations as he is not believed when he finally does try and call them in. His relationship with Melanie is a little more unusual, as we're not used to seeing him in a casual fling (Meg has been around since the beginning for the reader of the series), but it does seem to develop in a natural fashion (at least as far as Corso is concerned).

Melanie is a bit more of a mixed bag. She's set up to be a mirror image of John Walsh (American Manhunt is basically America's Most Wanted), though she is given a few different characteristics (besides the obvious fact that she's a woman). When her daughter was killed, she began a crusade in a similar fashion as Walsh, ending up with the show. Unfortunately, she dragged her husband along with all this as she became a media star, but he's withdrawn into himself and doesn't want any part of this. Her time in Los Angeles has seen a chasm form between the two of them, and he moves back to Wisconsin while she's on assignment in Arizona. I kept wondering how much of her character was based on Walsh (just the history of a murdered child, or some of the subsequent events too?). On a side note, I was also a little uncomfortable with Ford stating that Samantha's death and Melanie's crusading resulted in the Amber Alert system. In a fictionalized world like this, I believe he should have called it something else, as the Amber Alert was named for a real Amber, and not changing the name seems to trivialize Amber's death a little bit (besides making it very odd that it's still called "Amber" instead of "Samantha").

Ford gets into the mind of the villain, Driver, very well, but he spends a little too much time there. Fans of Corso may find that he's not in the book enough, as we see things from Driver's point of view, Melanie's, and a few other bit characters. It's kind of fun to see the FBI agents and their internal reactions to Corso (rather than just what Corso himself sees), but I did miss Corso at times, wishing he'd come back onto the scene. Driver's motivation isn't firmly established either. The reason that seems to be given at the end of the book (which, of course, I won't tell you) doesn't indicate why Corso is so important to him, especially as he keeps insisting to Koher that Corso can't be killed because he has to tell Driver's story. It just didn't seem complete, especially given the way the book does finally end.

Even with that, though, No Man's Land will keep you turning the page, especially if you're already a fan of Corso's. Ford's dialogue is always wonderful, and he avoids the political statements that Red Tide was filled with. The plot is intriguing (even if Driver's motivation doesn't really work) and the characterization is great. No Man's Land is another winner.

David Roy

Look. For this genre this book is excellent. I give it 4 stars because for this type of book it excels. I'm not claiming its 'great literature' but if you want a nice, action-packed thriller with great characterisation, plot twists, and great setting G.M. Ford is your man. (By the way, this book is great to read if you happen to travel to some place like Texas in the summer 105f today. You'll appreciate the cold setting!)

While not a great work of literature, Ford has written another very exciting, suspenseful story. However, I wish there had more character development building of Frank, who seemed almost secondary in this book, and was put off by a credential attributed to the reporter. There were some relevant social statements made but, overall, it was a story high action and a real page-turner, but without much to stay with you at the end of the story.

We need to know a little more about Frank and Mr. Ford accomodates us novel by novel bringing more of him out in the daylight. Like Spenser, his past is revealed in snippits of conversation with or about third parties, or in mental meanderings solo voce.

Certainly the most interesting thing about him is just that, he's an interesting guy. Tall, well built, articulate. Earlier novels have gotten across the explanation of why he settled in the Pacific Northwest and a little more about his family and his tortured relationship with his father.

Here we meet Timothy Driver, Trident Submarine Captain and Harvard Graduate School, graduate, coming home from sea duty unexpectedly, finding Mrs. Driver doing some underwater drills of her own with somebody NOT Captain Driver. Captain Driver decides to off the Mrs., Lothario and his career all at once, hence the capital murder sentence, a book by Frank and incarceration in the private prison for the worst of the worst in Arizona.

Melanie Harris is a TV crime reporter who lost her daughter to a pyschopath seven years earlier and now loses her husband to a change of fortunes. So in a way, Harris and Corso are both emotionally exiled to their own Elba when Driver leads a brutal revolt amongst the inmates in the private Arizona prison.

Ford, who often has a political agenda of some sort as an undercurrent, lambasts the prison system and the new "for-profit" privatization move, and the adventure, a little disturbing but mostly hair raising, begins.

Frank is wise, compassionate, arrogant with authority, well heeled, get's shot (what's new?), and is caring. Melanie Harris is hot and confused.

It is difficult to accept the etiology of Captain Driver's descent into hell, and Mr. Ford doesn't help us much with either reviling him or feeling sorry for him. It seems unlikely that a proud extremely educated man who carries the armament to destroy the entire world for a living, would find his wife in coitus with SOD (* some other dude) and react that way. And, if he did, that he would end up in the worst prison in the world outside of Iran. For that required suspension of disbelief, Mr. Ford really deserves a 4 1/2. But the book is a true to life page turner that you can't put down. And Meg Dougherty and her nasty, nasty comments, gratefully are on vacation. Or in therapy. 5 stars. Larry Scantlebury

This is the 5th Frank Corso book. Frank is a disgraced journalist who somehow over the series has become rich - writing crime novels and/or true crime books - and I believe has grown, (He's 6'4" and 200+ lbs in this book). He's a tough guy with a penchant for violence and a reluctant hero; law enforcement authorities dragging him into tracking and catching the worst of the worst of the criminal element. (There's usually some quirky coincidence that makes Frank's presence in the hunt mandatory).

No Man's Land follows this formula exactly. A maximum security Arizona prison - full of the worst of the worst - is taken over by one of its inmates, an ex-Navy submarine captain, who frees his fellow prisoners within the compound and takes the prison staff hostage. Now for the quirky coincidence - Said convict/captain demands that our hero be located and brought to the prison. If not, hostages will be executed. It seems Frank has authored a book on said villain. So while on his houseboat fishing for crabs Frank is helicoptered to the stand-off at the penitentiary and the story begins.

The first 100 pages of this book - although not intellectually challenging - are exciting, as the reader is introduced to all the characters - the good guys, including FBI agents and the army, the bad guys inside the prison, and an overly ambitious, but drop dead gorgeous female TV news reporter. Hence the proverbial stage is set with Frank right in the middle of this grisly situation.

Unfortunately, after this opening the story-line grinds to a standstill for the next 200+ pages, including a patently predictable climax drawn out over the last 50+ pages. Characters, dialogue and even the "twists and turns" are all vanilla thriller. This is unfortunate because although No Man's Land is better than its predecessor in the series - not saying much - this book is nowhere near as engaging as the author's previous Leo Waterman series, which is full of quirky characters and humor and are good mysteries to boot.

It's difficult even to recommend No Man's Land as a mindless thriller, i.e. beach or crowded airport reading, not only does it lack plausibility - the book is tiresome.

Pass on this one.

I liked most of the eight GM Ford books already on kindle, and this last one looked promising.

However, I only made it 20% of the way in. Then it became clear that graphic violence and implausible actions were the rule, and I wasn't in the mood for popping eyeballs and dopey, greedy Federal agents. Characters are either good or bad. I should have listened to my friends who warned me to stick with the earlier, gentler and funnier books by Ford.

I wasn't sure about this novel before picking it up, but it sounded interesting, so I decided to give it a go. I'm glad I did. This novel was suspense from beginning to end, with a few clever twists thrown in for good measure. The story highlights that, no matter how secure we may think a facility is, there will always be a need for vigilance. The characters are well-rounded and demonstrate that, while convicts have made some wrong choices and may be dangerous men (and women) who need to be incarcerated for the safety of society, the majority are not completely evil. We all have some good inside us somewhere (though admittedly buried deep in some people). This is definitely worth taking a look.

I'm a hard grader, the book is worth reading. There is a lot of originality in the book and the story keeps moving. The prison breakout would probably not meet the realism test from a 20 year Bureau of Prisons guard but it was a fun read. A good cast of characters. Just one comment. The author's photo with a shaved head and goatee makes him look like the guy at the end of the bar telling SEAL war stories who doesn't know what BUDS stands for. He's just trying too hard to look tough. He also doesn't know beans about the military although he pretends to. He has one of the characters getting his Masters at the Naval Academy (no the academy doesn't have a grad school, the navy grad school is in Monterey CA and has nothing to do with the USNA). Also at the prison he has Bradley Fighting Vehicles with 50mm guns. No, Bradleys have 50 calibre machine guns but the US doesn't make a 50 mm cannon. Does the rough tough author know what GOOGLE is?