President Down [Paperback]

Terence Strong (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 1, 2010

Phil Mason, former intelligence officer and one-time instructor at the British Army School of Sniping, is struggling to make ends meet as a private investigator when he's contacted by his former MI5 liaison officer. The overstretched security service needs all the help it can get hunting down members of al-Qaeda terror cells in the UK—and Mason needs the cash. But in the murky intelligence world of smoke and mirrors, nothing is what it seems. As a routine surveillance operation escalates into a full-blown international crisis, Mason must come to terms with the unthinkable: there must be a traitor within Britain's security forces. Entering a desperate race against time to identify and avert a major terrorist threat, Mason must hastily rehone his counter-sniper skills as he returns to the business he swore he had left behind forever—the killing game.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

British bestseller Strong (Stalking Horse) delves into the murky world of espionage and terrorism as seen through the eyes of Phil Mason, a former Royal Marine sniper turned PI. A little surveillance on an easy target turns into an investigation of several people with suspected ties to al-Qaeda and other Islamic terrorists. With a team that includes his former lover, interpreter Jasmina Jazz Alagic, and a Pakistani MI5 agent called Popadom, Mason goes to work and soon stumbles upon an assassination plot of frightening magnitude. Strong predictably runs down the checklist of the world-weary hero's personal life—a checkered past, an acrimonious divorce, a stack of unpaid bills—but thorough research and ample details grant verisimilitude, and cutting-edge spy gadgets, topical issues, and a surprisingly nuanced understanding of world politics and Islamic tradition make this more than your basic anti-terrorist shoot-'em-up. (July)
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Review

"Possibly the best American/British versus Islamic terrorists book I have read."  —Bookseller magazine

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Product Details

• Paperback: 528 pages
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster UK (May 1, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1416522069
• ISBN-13: 978-1416522065
• Product Dimensions: 6.8 x 4.3 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.1 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,258,629 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4.0 out of 5 stars The spies in England, July 28, 2010

By 

wogan "the book reader" - See all my reviews
(TOP 50 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: President Down (Paperback)

`President Down' is an English book that unless you are familiar with some of the British military terminology you might need translations: DPM - disruptive pattern material - what we would call camouflage, when the agents talk about visiting Grosvenor Square they are going to the American Embassy, GCHQ is their intelligence headquarters. Terence Strong really does very little translating for his American audience and some are not easy to figure out or familiar to Americans, some like MI5 or MI6, the tube might be more well-known.

There are also some interesting insights to the British view of the war on terror and of President Bush, who is the president in the title. However there is very little of the president in here. Some of the statistics mentioned, like US aid to Israel are questionable - so know that some tolerance for these factors are going to be needed to enjoy reading this; as is a lot of the radical Muslim rants about "the most evil man in history".

There is really no mention of the president until page 286. There are over 500 pages in the novel, it is somewhat drawn out in places. There is a double twist at the end, that I never saw coming - either one, and usually they are pretty obvious to me. For most of the book the settings are realistic, however it ends at a non-existent RAF/USAF Airbase.

If you make it through the 500 pages and the British military information, you can still smile at the hero and main character, a former British marine sniper, who after a botched break in, waits for the authorities and makes a cup of tea for everyone.

So... for those of us that enjoy political/military/suspense you might appreciate this English author and this book.