Customer Reviews

Pressure Point

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

 

 

I love the technothriller. I love special operations type adventure novels. This one is a pretty darn good read. One of my favs of the genre. Terrorists seize a Washington state ferry to help seize a Trident nuke sub to threaten a China syndrome at sea. Delta Force, Army Rangers and a ' direct action ' SEAL platoon get activated to snatch it back and prevent a nuclear / environmental disaster. Great details and great action. Couch is a ex-Navy Seal / ex-CIA officer so his work has some backing to it. I would have loved to have seen it made into a movie. Is Jerry Bruckheimer listening???

Given the current troubles in the Middle East this would be an interesting book to read. It has a lot of the mainstays from this type of action novel, but the author still puts together a great book. I thought the sub capture plot was interesting but I thought James Bond did it once before? Anyway you can tell this guy has first hand knowledge because the action, devises and tactics are all believable - not the "oh come on" type you some times get in these books. The story is well constructed and has a nice flow. The one down side for me would be that I assumed that this would be a bit more difficult to pull off, but it was the story - so go with it. Overall this is an interesting and fun book for casual reading.

I've lived in Washington all my life and spent many a boring hour on the fine ferry boats here and when I read this book I just really couldn't buy that the plan would work. For one, ferries are too high profile a target. Why steal one when you could get a good sea going tug boat out of the ship canal, taking a couple of Norweigans from Ballard, or Fremont hippies as hostages while you are at it. Secondly, the Marines at Bangor are more on the ball than portrayed in this book. It is highly unlikely that a boomer would be able to be hijacked from right under their noses without more than a few pistol shots exchanged. Sorry Dick, I just didn't buy the premise.

Was it a great book? No. Could I put it down? No. Would I buy any more of his books? Yes (thank you Kindle!). The book is predictable, but quite entertaining and insightful. His characters are human -- not superhuman like some more popular books in this genre. I couldn't put it down once I started. Dick clearly knows his subject. It really sinks in when you realize he wrote it well before 9/11. It isn't about an airline hijacking but it is about terrorists taking advantage of our open society and striking within our borders. He has insight into the barriers and infighting between our services and between our intelligence agencies. I expect his non-fiction is better than his fiction -- I intend to find out... right after I read "Covert Action".