Customer Reviews

President Down

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`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.