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7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Decent but not spectacular, January 10, 2009
This review is from: Six Seconds (Mass Market Paperback)
I think I read more books than most people, which can be both a blessing and a curse. The blessing is that I'm exposed to a lot of different writing; the curse is that I'm also exposed to a lot of the same writing. Among the many thrillers I read, it gets harder and harder for one to stand out. For example, Rick Mofina's Six Seconds is a decent suspense novel; if you don't read that many books in the genre, it will probably be a thrilling read; on the other hand, if you're really familiar with the genre, you'll find it offers not much that is new, even if it is a pleasant diversion.
The hero of Six Seconds is Daniel Graham, a recent widower who bears a degree of responsibility in his wife's death. Graham is on leave from his job as a Canadian Mountie when he almost saves the life of a little girl trapped in a raging river. She dies, but her dying words hint that the event that killed her family was no accident but murder. For Graham, clinging to any reason to go on, this gives him a mission that borders on obsession, as he tries to determine what happened.
Meanwhile, Maggie Conlin is also on edge; her husband, suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder after a stint in Iraq, has disappeared along with their young son. He has hidden out in Montana with a new woman, Samara, who once saved his life. Samara, however, has an assassination plot in mind, one that involves the Pope's upcoming visit to Montana. It will take a while, but eventually, these two storylines will intersect.
For suspense novel veterans, a lot of the standard devices are here, and Mofina does an okay job with his material. There is nothing really wrong with the story and it moves along (even if the story is mostly suspense and very little cliffhanging action), but it also lacks anything that makes it truly special. If you don't read many thrillers, this is worth the read; if you do, it may still be worth it, but don't expect too much.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Six Seconds is so taut with tension you won't be able to put it down, January 22, 2009
This review is from: Six Seconds (Mass Market Paperback)
Hold your breath while reading the latest thriller by Canadian author Rick Mofina. The opening prologue of Six Seconds will give you chills and sets up the novel for a relentless, mind-blowing resolution.
Samara is an Iraqi nurse who witnesses the brutal slaying of her husband and young son. Overwrought with grief, she is easily influenced by a terrorist group and becomes a willing pawn in an assassination plot. Samara manipulates Jake Conlin, an America contract driver suffering from post-traumatic distress, and convinces him to leave his wife and take his son to start a new life with her in Montana. Little does anyone know, she's planning on `going out' in a blaze of glory¯and she plans to take others with her.
When Maggie Conlin discovers her husband and son have disappeared, she teams up with Corporal Daniel Graham of Canada's RCMP. He's investigating the strange disappearance and subsequent murder of an American family holidaying near Banff, Alberta. Clues lead him to the small town of Blue Rose Creek, California, where the Conlins reside and where he meets Maggie. Fighting his own dark shadows from the past, Graham decides to help Maggie locate her missing husband and son.
In a terrifying novel that sweeps across countries and continents, Six Seconds is a story of war, vengeance and terrorism. It explores the war in Iraq and its damaging affect on everyone involved¯from soldiers to terrorists to the innocent¯and the repercussions that are felt long afterward. It's also the story of painful loss, guilt and redemption sought by people who are worlds apart and separated by culture and personal beliefs.
I'd recommend Six Seconds to anyone who enjoys rollercoaster-like suspense thrillers. Reading this novel is like watching a ticking time bomb. You know it's going to blow; you even know where and when, but all the while you're praying for some form of divine intervention. Rick Mofina has chosen a timely topic and added intriguing characters to the mix, creating a novel that is taut with tension, complex and disturbingly convincing.
Cheryl Kaye Tardif,
Author of Divine Intervention
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4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
Awful, awful, awful, July 28, 2009
This review is from: Six Seconds (Mass Market Paperback)
I am a big fan of "throwaway" thrillers like this book should have been. But I am perplexed by how people are only giving this book positive reviews (even Publishers Weekly!). It was terrible.
I'm not going to give you a plot summary--you can see other reviews for that. And I'm not going to give spoilers away, so don't worry.
When it boils down, this book was not well-written, the whole plot is obvious and not believable at all. Charecters get away with stuff that could never happen (note to terrorists: being on a satalitte phone with your handlers for hours at a time will get you caught, no matter how many security measures you have in place). Sure, suspension of disbelief is always necessary in books like this, but "Six Seconds" took it to the edge and beyond. The psychic subplot was out of place and lame.
Whoever here said there were plot twists--where exactly? The whole things was telegraphed from the beginning.
I guess I'll just stick with Brad Thor and Lee Child and Harlan Corbin etc. Their charecters are drawn better, their plot lines are more interesting and harder to figure out and their books are a lot more enjoyable.
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