Customer Reviews

Rogue Warrior II: Red Cell

5 star:		(30)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

PLEASE BE WARNED, this is not a book that you will read every now and then over the next few months. This is a book that is guarranteed to keep you on the edge of your seat every second that you hold it in your hands. You WILL HAVE to continue to read this book unitl the very end, because it sucks you into the role, you become, think, and mentally act like Richard Marcinko, a thirty year veteren in the U.S. Navy's elite maritime commandos, and the creator of the Navy's legendary countererrorist unit SEAL TEAM 6. I personally took off a days work in order to read this book from cover to cover and I was not dissappionted at all. After reading this book I went through withdrawal pains waiting for his next book. I vow that if you even read one page of this non stop thriller, you to will become addicted to the unique writng styles of Richard Marcinko and John Weisman. For all of you modern day and wannabe warriors out there, read this book for it is the bible of Special Warfare, it will give you some of the unique mental and physical demands and outlooks of the worlds most deadly fighting force the Navy SEALS!!!! Trust me, just buy the book and enjoy the thing!! Page one of this novel list Richard Marcinkos 10 commandment of SPECWAR nad two of them apply right now to you dear reader, #1thou shalt never assume (This means you, do not assume that this is like any other book for it is not) and #2 Thou hast not to like it- thou hast just to do it (Just buy the book, you will love it

This one picks up shortly after Rogue Warrior ends. However, this is purely fiction. And, I tell you, the detail in which Marcinko gets is absolutely mesmerizing. You're there with ol' Demo Dick and his merry band of marauders as they conduct a number of field exercises intended to show just how fragile the security at some military bases can be. Later, you're dodging bullets alongside Marcinko and his deadly band of SEALS as they storm an oil platform to take down a group of terrorists as ol' Demo Dick can. If you're new to the series, start off with Rogue Warrior, then pick this one up, and keep reading the rest of the Rogue Warrior series. With the exception of Designation Gold, you won't get bored for a single page-turning minute.

Marcinko is a genius in SpecWar. Even his enemies would admit that he is one of the best warriors that the USA has ever produced. Marcinko has lived it, unlike Clancy or Coonts. He is a true warrior. This book and everyone in the Rogue Warrior series proves that he is a professional killer during conflict. If you are a whimp don't read his books, they are not for you. Go read something by Jackie Collins or Steven King.

Marcinko is a great writer as well as a killing machine, weeding out the traitors and the C2COs in Red Cell. The discriptions in this book are excellent and you can really tell he has done this stuff before. All in all a great book.

Is this guy ever in love with himself. If you can over look this, no small feat I might add, one of the better books out there of its type. I have to wonder even though this is a work of 'fiction' if this book isn't based of some truth. I live in Virginia, very close to where much of the story takes place. The attention to detail is uncanny. Road names and route numbers, towns, stores, inns, bars are right where he says they are. How do I know? I've been to most of them. So read the book, but be warned about his ego.

I waited for this book to come out after enthusiastically reading the original "Rogue Warrior." I thought Red Cell was good...well you might say it was "OK." But it certainly didnt have the drama of the very first Rogue Warrior book.

As a sidenote which might interest other readers, I was told by one of the characters of the first Rogue Warrior that "Red Cell was more true than the original Rogue Warrior." I was told this by Jim Watson when I was visiting the UDT/SEAL museum in Fort Pierce, FL in 1994. He didnt go into any specific details and I didnt ask. After hearing Jim Watson make this comment to me in his office, I have since wondered how much (or how little) is really true in ANY of the Rogue Warrior series of books.

Honestly, my advice is after youve read the first Rogue Warrior book, youve basically read them all.

I recieved this book from a friend and quickly became confused about whether it was fiction or not. I guess that is a good sign. I learned while reading the book that it was obviously fiction, and now that I know more about Marcinko I wouldn't be surprised if Rogue Warrior was also largely fiction. But I am torn on whether to give this book a good review or a bad one.

Early on, most people are going to put this book down. The "protagonist" (loosely used) is extremely cocky, stubborn, and egotistical (is that what cocky means). I would expect that with a member of an elite fighting team, so I suppose that is okay. It gets a little old on one hand and on the other it is part of the theme of the story. So it kind of washes.

Just like most military people I know, the author seems to be obsessed with over dramatizing the "cool factor" of what he is doing, what he is carrying and so on. Every weapon he carries seems to be "special made" or "customized". Every bullet is "custom loaded". Every abbreviation has to be defined (why use an abbreviation in the first place if you are going to define it every time). Every inside military joke or slang has to be used and then defined. And on top of that, everything has to go Marcinko's way. He's right 100% of the time, as it were.

All of this conflicts with my personality and my experience. So I can't believe I ever finished this book. However, I read it twice and then gave it to a friend and I now find that I want it back to read it again. Why?

Because despite the foul language, the overly "cool" character, the ego, and really the not that great writing, there is a decent action story in here somewhere. I actually....enjoyed it! Not only that, but in the end of this book, even Mr. Marcinko gets surprised by the twist.

This is far from the best fictional story you will ever read. FAR from it. It is far from the best fictional military story I've ever read as well. But for some strange reason, I enjoyed it despite all its flaws. I won't neccessarily recommend it to anyone, but you might give it a read sometime.

The bad news is that this is, let's face it, a very profane book rife with exceedingly bad language which adds little to the book except for "color". Marcinko fans are used to this (though he tones it down in later books), but someone unprepared is in for quite a jolt!

The good news is that this is a tightly-written interesting adventure novel filled with twists, turns and mysteries of plot. One must contemplate how the world might have been different had Bill Clinton read this with its clear emphasis of the security breaches at airports with reference to terrorism pre-9/11.

A fine surprisingly-cerebral action novel overall--with bad language throughout.

Marcinko packed a huge amount of action into this one. Although it's been a while since I last reread the book, it stands out as the best of the Rogue Warrior series.

The Rogue Warrior is tasked with putting together a team of Navy SEALs, and other "operators", to expose weaknesses in the security plans of military bases. They do a good enough job of it that the team ruffles the feathers of the base commanders, not to mention that "Rotten Richard" may have bent or even broken military rules or federal laws in the process. Once again, "Demo Dick" is in hot water with the higher ups. What else is new, right?

Along the course of their sneakin' and peekin' exploits, they discover that someone's been stealing military equipment. Some serious stuff, too. They can't just let that happen, can they?

There's also a "war game," that isn't as much of a game as it may appear. The villain has called in some heavy hitters that have it out for Mr. Marcinko.

If you've read Rogue Warrior, but none of the rest of the series, be prepared for this to be a real novel, and not autobiographical like the first book.

Buy the book if you are into serious action novels. This is at least my favorite book of that particular genre, if not my favorite novel altogether.

Some people dont like this guy and say he's full of himself. I agree, but at the same time he writes some very entertaining books. They are a bit over the top and boarder on cheesey at times, but for a simple -read a chapter before bed each night- kind of book, you cant beat his series.