Customer Reviews

Shadow Project (Ben Hope 5)

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

 

 

Ben Hope is an ex-SAS hero who now runs courses in personal security. He takes a short assignment to provide protection for Maximilian Steiner, a Swiss billionaire who has been the subject of kidnap attempts. Hope realizes that the kidnappers are trying to get hold of some secret Nazi documents that Steiner possesses. As he starts to investigate, he discovers that there is a plot to resurrect a mysterious technology that was first developed under the Nazis. The group have been targeting and eliminating a select number of scientists who are experts in this technology. Hope also realizes that the stakes are intensely personal for him.

This is an enjoyable, fast moving thriller. It has no literary pretensions: it's just written to entertain, and entertain it does. Yes, the plot is silly, yes the characters are one dimensional, the villains remain shadowy and the storyline is highly derivative. None of these things detracted from my enjoyment of it. It's relentlessly paced, with short chapters designed to keep you reading and it's very hard to put down. I probably won't remember much about it in a month's time, but I thoroughly enjoyed it.

This is the first Scott Mariani book that I have read. I gather that there are others featuring the hero, Ben Hope, but it didn't seem necessary to have read them. It reminded me in several ways of The Day After Tomorrow, which I think is one of the best thrillers in the genre. A perfect airplane read.

This is by far the best Scott Mariani book to date in relation to the Ben Hope storylines. In today's world where power corrupts and corruption is rife, the Ben Hope character is one who utilises his skills to help the unfortunate and the underdogs against all odds. He is a character that can be likened to a maverick but he seeks power in order to help others.

This book has it all and will keep you on the edge throughout.

I don't know if there is a problem with the Kindle version as I have not read the physical book as the prologue has nothing whatever to do with the rest of the book (It actually comes from "Uprising" by Scott G Mariani) fortunately if you download the sample it starts at chapter 1 so you do not get a false impression of the book.
Although this is the 5th in a series it reads well as a standalone book it is the first I have read but I will read the rest. The story is about an ex SAS soldier Ben Hope who is now running a training school for bodyguards and the like through an unfortunate set of circumstances he has to take a contract to protect a billionaire Maximilian Schneider from this the story is fast moving with many twists and turns until all is resolved satisfactorily. This book has everything for lovers of this type of adventure yarn with long lost relatives, kidnapping, with Nazi involvement and even a bit of science fiction thrown in for good measure.

The packaging for this book, from the jacket artwork to the blurb, is first rate. That, along with the boast that it's a "Sunday Times Bestseller" gives you the impression that it's a terrific read.

It isn't. To my disappointment, I had found by page 50 that the main character was unlikable and unrealistic, and that the writing itself was unimpressive. I found myself having to skip pages in order to find the desire to keep reading. By page 100, I realised that the story itself is implausible. I won't reveal any spoilers, but a few of the major plot features were just laugh-out-loud, ridiculously implausible.

The story COULD have been great. The general theme had promise. But the actual fleshing out of the idea was really two-dimensional. Not happy at all.