Payback (Stephen Coonts' Deep Black, Book 4) [Mass Market Paperback]

Stephen Coonts (Author), Jim DeFelice (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 4, 2005

RECRUITED:
A crack team of cover agents.
Word is out to ex-Marine sniper Charlie Dean and his team of the National Security Agency: Infiltrate the highest stratum of Peruvian political power and derail a renegade general from acing an election. All Dean has to do is find a way inside an impenetrable bank vault protected by armed guards round the clock–it’s all in a day’s work for the men and women of Deep Black.

ENGAGED:
A violent political coup
But things get complicated when Dean and company discover the renegade general’s second plot. The military madman’s ruse—a nuclear weapon he claims is in the hands of Marxist guerillas, a bomb that only he can rescue…and control.

IGNITED:
A devastating terrorist plot.
When the general and his plot are exposed, the NSA concludes the greatest threat is over. But in fact, it’s only just beginning…

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Frighteningly realistic." --Maxim on Liberty

"Gripping...Coonts's naval background and his legal education bring considerable authority to the story, and the narrative is loaded with detailed information about terrorist networks, modern weaponry, and international intrigue...the action is slam-bang" --Publishers Weekly on Liberty

"This master of the techno-thriller spins a bone-chilling worst-case scenario involving international spies, military heroics, conniving politicians, devious agencies, a hijacked nuclear sub, lethal computer hackers, currency speculators, maniac moguls and greedy mercenaries that rivals Clancy for fiction-as-realism and Cussler for spirited action. . . . [Coonts] never lets up with heart-racing jet/missile combat, suspenseful submarine maneuvers and doomsday scenarios that feel only too real, providing real food for thought in his dramatization of the missile-shield debate." --Publishers Weekly (Starred Review) on America

"A high-octane blend of techno-wizardry [and] ultraviolence . . . [Coonts] skillfully captures the postmodern flavor of Hong Kong, where a cell phone is as apt as an AK-47 to be a revolutionary weapon."-USA Today on Hong Kong

"Coonts knows how to write and build suspense. . . this is the mark of a natural storyteller" -- The New York Times Book Review on Flight of the Intruder

From the Back Cover

RECRUITED:
A crack team of cover agents.
Word is out to ex-Marine sniper Charlie Dean and his team of the National Security Agency: Infiltrate the highest stratum of Peruvian political power and derail a renegade general from acing an election. All Dean has to do is find a way inside an impenetrable bank vault protected by armed guards round the clock–it’s all in a day’s work for the men and women of Deep Black.

ENGAGED:
A violent political coup
But things get complicated when Dean and company discover the renegade general’s second plot. The military madman’s ruse—a nuclear weapon he claims is in the hands of Marxist guerillas, a bomb that only he can rescue…and control.

IGNITED:
A devastating terrorist plot.
When the general and his plot are exposed, the NSA concludes the greatest threat is over. But in fact, it’s only just beginning…

“Chilling yet exhilarating…riveting.”--Midwest Book Review on Deep Black: Dark Zone

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 480 pages
• Publisher: St. Martin's Paperbacks; 1st ptg. edition (October 4, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312936982
• ISBN-13: 978-0312936983
• Product Dimensions: 6.8 x 4.2 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #275,598 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Thriller in Peru, April 13, 2006

By 

Douglas De Bono - Author of No Safe Harbor (Minnetonka, mn United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Payback (Stephen Coonts' Deep Black, Book 4) (Mass Market Paperback)

This a well written book that follows the Deep Black format of short chapters, frenetic action and high technology. Unlike some of the previous books in the series, this one did not rely so much on gizmos and concentrates on character development.

That said (but coming), I'm not sure I buy the whole plot and these books rely on plotting to an extreme.

The story involves Peru's presidential elections threatened by a General descended from Incan rulers. To add modern spice to the mix, a Russian arms dealer has a nuclear bomb that he wants to detonate in the USA.

In a world with Iranian nukes, Chinese war lords and Russian arms merchants, there are certainly more compelling stories to be told.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Action Packed, April 3, 2006

By 

K. Townsend "Avid Reader" (Des Moines, IA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

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This review is from: Payback (Stephen Coonts' Deep Black, Book 4) (Mass Market Paperback)

This book takes the "Deep Black" series to a new level not only in action, but also in character development. One of the main characters suffered a rape in the prior book, and some of this one shows how she deals with that along with continuing with her job as a deep black agent. Crossed over with faults in other characters and a nuclear weapon and this is a book that is worth picking up and reading. If you are into the Technothriller style of books, give this series a try. You will not be dissapointed.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars FUTURISTIC PLOTS., January 5, 2007

By 

P. King "Askar." (Norfolk, England.) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

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This review is from: Payback (Stephen Coonts' Deep Black, Book 4) (Mass Market Paperback)

As stories go it is good, but you have to have a very active mind to cope with things like thought transmitted conversations! His air stories are better.