Customer Reviews

Snow Falcon

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4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
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In "Snow Falcon", the red army is preparing a lightning strike on NATO intended to coincide with a coup against the communist party. Because the strike is aimed where NATO forces don't expect - and given that the "party" is out of the loop, NATO has no way of knowing where the overwhelming Russian armored offensive is aimed, and has aboslutely no chance of survival.

Almost.

"Snow Falcon" will come as no surprise to readers of the superlative "Winterhawk" in which KGB become not only the vanguards of the party, but the only defense against the rapacious red army. Unlike most technothriller authors, Craig Thomas' plots don't rely on twists or surpirses; tension is built simply on the heroes pluck to hold out - almost reluctantly - against overwhelming odds. In "Falcon", the hero is not the intrepid British agent, but the stalwart KGB colonel who stumbles on plans for the invasion and the coup (which does come off as a twist despite WInterhawk) before having to dodge a small army of troops, helicopters and ceaseless frost. Definately among Thomas' best.

The fourth novel from Craig Thomas set the structure for his books to follow. It has a much bigger plot and a larger cast of characters than his previous three. What you end up with is a perfect example of a Craig Thomas novel. Definately one of my favorites.

Kenneth Aubrey, head of SIS, sends an agent into Finnish Lapland to check up on some evidence of Soviet activity in the area. The agent finds a small town, deserted of all it's inhabitants. In their place he finds Red Army troops, using the town as a rehearsal for an invansion. In Moscow, KGB Major Alexei Vorontsyev stumbles onto the other end of the plot. Suspicious of his estranged wife's lover, he's almost killed when he walks into a trap meant to kill him. What could make matters worse? The Soviet leaders are in Helsinki for peace talks with the Americans, which leaves room for the hard liners of the Red Army to plan a coup, a new revolution, and invade Scandinavia. Vorontsyev and his entourage investigate the Russian end and Aubrey must keep up with the Soviet leaders in Finland.

Craig keeps up the tension every page with his crsip writting style and a great cold war plot. His novels are often refered to as techno-thrillers, but I feel that political-thriller is a more accurate description. On a last note, Vorontsyev, the KGB Major of this book, would return in Craig's later novel, A Wild Justice.

The Craig Thomas novel Snow Falcon is set in the Soviet Union of the late 70s and early 80s. It's about an American agent who's arrested by the KGB and sentenced to a Siberian labor camp. The book is good. It's an excellent story. If they ever make it into a movie, Matthew McCaughnehey should be in the lead.

Thomas' 4th work, and what an epic scale he takes on. As the book begins, there seems to be something going on along the Russian-Norwegian border. Kenneth Aubrey and British intelligence discover that a border town has myseriously gone uninhabited. Special agent, Allan Folley is sent in to see what he can find, under the book's title codename. Quickly he discovers that the Russians are indeed planning a full scale invasion. However, his mission goes wrong, leaving the west w/ few options other than sending in their own to look around. Meanwhile, on the Russian front, KGB agent Alexei Vorontsyev is investigating the connection between a western border guard and eastern military officer, all while dealing w/ his own personal issues, when he stumbles on to the break in the case causing him to be nearly killed in a trap. Obviously now he realizes something is up and he begins to investigate further. It is at this point that the book does a 180 and Vorontsyev becomes the main focus of the book and the "Snow Falcon" mission disappers into the background. As KGB agents die, Vorontsyev discovers the link, however he also is found out by the military and goes on the run in the Russian wilderness (it is at this point I think the book is at its very best).

Tieing the 2 stories neatly, Vorontsyev discovers the ugly truth of who is behind the planned coup and invasion and he decides he must stop and protect him before he starts a world war or is killed by the KGB. As the book builds toward its violent climax in the shadows of Red Square and the Kremlin, the line between good & evil, right & wrong are painted in shades of gray for the reader as the reader must decide which main charecters have the proper motives. This novel was a fantastic read for much of the work, however I only rated it 4 stars and not 5 because there are parts where it plods along at a slow pace. When the action starts though it is quite a page turner!