Customer Reviews

Spooker

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

 

 

Ing pretty much created this gendre himself. I call it "tech fiction" and it's not for the week of heart or those looking for an "eye candy" read. Once you aquire the taste though, he's very difficult to put down.

"Spooker" presents some leading edge and extraordinary technological ideas. And as a spy thriller really goes the extra mile to keep it's ideas new and innovative.

Based on the premise that every *real* spy has a "spooker" or a kit that contains his get away money and identity change that will allow him to escape/retire if need be, Ing begins to entertain some extremely original ideas about those kits, and the people that would know about them, and how they could be exploited.

You haven't read anything like this before. I promise. If you value original story lines that haven't been beat to death by every other author and technological flights of fancy that really make you go "Hmmmmmmm....", then Ing is your man, and "Spooker" is the place to start.

It's incredibly unfair and more than a little dishonest to slam a book like this, and then admit you didn't finish it. If you can't keep up with/appreciate Ing's edgy originality, then perhaps you should stick with Coonts.

The book left a bit to be desired.. perhaps I am a softie, but I was really hoping for a better ending. Maybe something along the lines of "Wild Country"'s. Hopefully tho, Ing brings the main character back for a sequel. Missed the Post Script that he usually puts in too, that "rising crane shot at the close with the fade to black and the rolling of credits" that lets you see where things end up. (of course, I always wanted him to bring Baal back as well, but that is an 'odds so slim, they're anorexic' hope)

This is a rare bird, a RE-readable Thriller.

Rather than insights about technology and aviation, Mr Ing takes a new course.

Well the story line looked interesting, unfortunately for the read that is about all that is interesting with this book. To make up for a rather plodding slow start was an ending that tempted you and them body slammed you into the ground with disappointment. With the combination of the lackluster characters and the increasingly unbelievable story I lost interest at the end of the book. I simply finished it becuase I had put the time into it.

This is the first Ing book I have read. While the beginning was a little slow, it picked up in the middle and zoomed at the end. The ending was a little bit of a downer, but Landis (the main character) should be bought back in a sequel. Not a bad read!

Like Soft Targets, this novel has some interesting ideas, but fails to provide an adequate framework in which to place them. The pair of killers are just too unconvincing, with personal details that seem included more for their novelty than as a natural outgrowth of their personalities (and this includes a truly repulsive sex act early in the novel). I can't say how it ended because I didn't get that far.

A fairly engaging story line. The character development went a bit too far in some cases. I was a little disappointed with the way the whole book was brought together, but Ing didn't stray too far into the unbelievable. Rated R.
Tony Green (tg@gene.com)

In the space of one page, Dean Ing turned a great book into one that sucked so badly that for the first time in my life I was temped to throw a book into the garbage pai