Customer Reviews

Rules of Engagement

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

 

 

an excellent first novel showing a racy, narrative style and a credible storyline with finely-drawn characters. The novel starts out aboard a US carrier, moves to naval intelligence and a several year investigation into espionage, culminating in a chase over many international frontiers into a military denouement in Africa. Good understanding of military matters and inter-service rivalries and a few subtle touches of romance make this a very good read for those who like Clancy, Patrick Robinson, Michael diMercurio and Peter Deutermann

This was a refreshing change from the "traditional" action-oriented techno-thriller. The story starts as a war story and transitions seamlessly into a detective story. This reminded me somewhat of a P.D. James novel--we know who the bad guys are and we read to see how the protagonist puts the pieces together. Not only was this successful, but the authors manage to leave out the right-wing political drivel that so many techo-thrilller authors feel compelled to include. Not too deep, but very entertaining!

I loved this book. The technical information about naval aviation was fascinating. The only complaint I have is that the author should have included a glossary of all of the initials he used. Some were easy to figure out, others were a puzzle. The combination of mystery, intrigue and romance were perfect. The end of the book is like a James Bond movie ending but the author is forgiven for getting just a little out of hand at that point. It was a fast read due to the fact that the reader is always in anticipation. It was written with great intelligence and clever plot weaving. I have to give it my highest rating despite its several flaws because of its great entertainment value.

This is an outstanding book. I read it for two days nonstop. The authors know their stuff. They have great knowledge of US military and intelligence services. It starts out as a war story, turns into a criminal invetigation, and ends as an international spy hunt. I can't wait for their next book!

This is an outstanding debut novel! Fans of various techno-thrillers, espionage and mystery novels will love this book because it encompasses the best of all os these genres. The author Gordon Kent is really a father-son writing team with a list of common interests, not the least of which is shared service in the United States Navy.

This book contains a well-thought and delivered story line that is based in the history of the Persian Gulf War as well as in the imagination of the authors. I am a very critical reader and as a veteran and military historian, consider myself fairly knowledgeable on what happened and what is possible. The authors, aware that there are a great number of readers with military and intelligence experience have constructed a story line that is part military novel and part murder mystery. It is a very effective combination and one that I found entirely plausible. I think I was able to do so because the authors did not stretch credibility beyond the degree where most readers are willing to suspend disbelief. This is a novel that readers could imagine being possible in the real world.

Although the novel is a military mystery, the authors have done a fine job of developing the main characters, especially young Alan Craik, a naval officer who sets out to find out who killed his father, a Navy Commander and commanding officer of a A-6E Intruder Squadron in the days leading up to the war in the gulf. Throughout the plot, the writers provide additional characters that add to the depth of the story and these figures too, are well fleshed out and their presence is logical and necessary to move the story along.

There is a real villain in this story and he too, is well painted. As I read this novel and met all its characters, I marveled at the real talent I found between the book's covers. To be honest, I was actually very surprised that this was a first novel. My reason: it is so well done that it reads like a work produced by a writer with many books behind him. To find such well-written books and then, to find out that the book is a first effort, is a rare treat indeed. While I realize that this book is a collaborative effort, I still enjoyed it immensely and respect the talent of the team that produced it.

Whoever Gordon Kent is has won me as a fan. I don't know what their next project is, but I do know that whatever it might be, I look forward to reading it. Gentlemen, whoever you are and wherever you might be, keep up the great work! I am sure that I speak for all who will read this book and appreciate its quality when I say, "give us more."

Bravo Zulu!

Paul Connors

When Navy pilot Mick Craik's fighter jet is terminally damaged by an Iranian SAM, his son, Navy Intelligence Analyst Lt. (jg) Alan Craik, watches in horror from a refueling plane as his father's aircraft crashes into the Persian Gulf. While brooding about the circumstances of the incident, Alan comes to the conclusion that Dad was deliberately set up to take the fall by an unidentified traitor serving aboard a US aircraft carrier. But who's going to listen to a very junior IA?

RULES OF ENGAGEMENT spans several years as the younger Craik and his crackpot theory gain credibility within the Naval Intelligence community as pieces of confirmatory evidence fall into place. Finally, evolving events and opportunity combine to send Alan chasing across continents to capture his father's killer.

The jacket of this paperback lauds the novel as a "can't put down book". Although a solidly crafted yarn, it's not quite that until the last third or so when the plot picks up enough speed to justify the description. Until then, the pace is comparatively sedate as Craik matures both professionally and personally. And it isn't until then that this reader got very interested in the young officer's crusade. One major plus is the marriage of Alan to a fellow naval officer, helo pilot Rose Siciliano. It's a nice touch that Rose outranks her husband, and, furthermore, is overtly more ambitious than he to climb the command ladder. (You go, girl!) However, when the two cross operational paths at the very end, it seems too convenient a plot gimmick.

The successor to the USSR's KGB, the SVRR, plays a support role in an odd alliance with the CIA. The two spy organizations are represented by mid-level, female executives, Darya Ouspenskaya and Sally Baranowski respectively. The collaboration between the two was given too little print space, an expansion of which would have made the storyline significantly more interesting.

This is the debut potboiler by Gordon Kent, actually a pseudonym of a father-son writing team. I'll buy their next book with the expectation that it'll be even better.

Rules of Engagement by father and son team Kent was a little bit of a disappointment to me. I purchased the book thinking I was getting a Navy Thriller, but what I got was more of a techno-mystery book. The story was nonetheless doable, but a little confusing at times for me, I thought the story read as if the writers couldn't make up their minds as to which genre they wanted to be writing in, that distracted me, I'm sorry to say. But even so, Rules of Engagement is an interesting tale of mystery that will appeal to some just not someone like me that is looking for a different genre altogether.

Maybe I should have read the other reviews more carefully, but it was only when I bought them both that I discovered this is exactly the same book as Night Trap by the same author, published under a different title for some reason.

It's still a good book but don't make my mistake of buying both.

I really enjoyed the start and the ending of this book. The plot was well structured, the characters believeable, the settings well defined. However, the author spent too much of the middle of the book developing background which was not necessary, and quite frankly boring. As a Catholic I did not care abount Rose going to her old family priest, nor was I interested in what her family did in the summer. Take the equivalent of about 75 selected pages out of the middle and you have a 5 star book.

Look -- I do have a job, you know. I didn't need that many "4:00 AM" nights.

This is a great mystery novel... and it went really well with the article about life on an aircraft carrier that was in Harper's magazine.

I don't usually like this kind of stuff, but it was highly recommended by a friend, and I got hooked. When the next Gordon Kent novel comes out, I'll take it on vacation with me!