Target Lock [Hardcover]

James H. Cobb (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 14, 2002

Reviewers hailed James H. Cobb's previous Amanda Lee Garrett novels as "breathtaking" and "lightning-paced" (Publishers Weekly), and "hot as a Sea SLAM missile with target lock" (Library Journal). Murder Ink called Garrett "the best naval hero since Tom Clancy's Jack Ryan."

In Target Lock, an industrial research satellite falls to the Indonesian sea after a series of successful tests-only to disappear along with its international recovery team and their ship. NATO and U.S. military officials believe that it has been stolen, but by whom and why? Commander Garrett and her U.S. Navy task force are called in for the hunt, this time among some of the most beautiful, but uncharted, islands on earth, the Indonesian archipelago. Garrett soon suspects that a high-tech pirate has plans for the satellite and its data, but the man she meets is more than her match. He has amassed a sea force of his own and built a hidden fortress undetectable to all but the most sensitive intelligence-gathering equipment. When Garrett herself is kidnapped, her crew, aboard the destroyer U.S.S. Cunningham with its array of modern weaponry, charges in to her defense.

Cobb has crafted another heart-stopping tale, featuring one of the most original characters in military fiction and the technology and strategy the U.S. Navy will almost certainly one day employ.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

The romantically unflappable Amanda Garrett, the maritime commander of Cobb's action-at-sea series, falls out of character and into the arms of a modern-day pirate on her latest voyage. Garrett, leader of an elite navy strike force known as the Sea Fighters, is called to arms after pirates lay siege to a U.S. research vessel in the Indonesian Sea and steal a satellite that contains military secrets. Assisted by her able crew aboard the high-tech destroyer USS Cunningham, Garrett quickly determines that the satellite thieves are part of a huge organization of oceanic marauders led by the dashing Makara Harconan. While in pursuit, however, Garrett allows herself to be not only seduced but also kidnapped by Harconan, who takes her to his secret hideout where, coincidentally, the satellite is also stored. Garrett's poor judgment forces the Sea Fighters to turn a simple seek-and-recovery job into a damsel-in-distress rescue mission. Cobb's fourth Garrett adventure (Sea Fighter; Sea Strike), set in 2008, packs plenty of hard-charging Neptunian spirit and features dogged sea battles and interesting historical asides about Indonesia and piracy. Garrett's weakness for the archipelago's Svengali, however, not only is odd considering her previous guts-and-glory determination but gives an otherwise steely plot a squishy core. Cobb's hand at suspense slips a bit here, too: although they lose their commander for a time, nothing really comes too hard for the Sea Fighters. (Feb.)Forecast: Most Cobb fans will throw up their hands at their heroine's slip into romance; a few will enjoy the diversion. This isn't one of Cobb's best efforts, but the franchise is still seaworthy.

Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

In the fourth Amanda Lee Garrett novel, she still commands the Sea Fighter force of armed hovercraft and supporting vessels, now against a formidable new opponent. Makara Harkonon is bent on organizing the piratically inclined Bugi tribesmen of Indonesia into a force of sea warriors that will control maritime passage through the archipelago. He is also a classic exemplar of the charisma of the dark side, and Amanda is not unwilling to be seduced by him. Seduced but not turned, and when Harkonon learns that, he kidnaps her and holds her in a durance that, but for the Sea Fighter force, augmented by a moonlight-requisitioned Indonesian warship, might become exceedingly vile. Problems are solved, but not so many as to preclude a fifth Amanda Lee adventure. Cobb's hallmark lovingly detailed settings and high-tech naval hardware, irresistible nonstop action, and slightly-larger-than-life characters are as effective as ever, and broadly read thriller fans won't be surprised that Cobb acknowledges Modesty Blaise as one of Amanda Lee's literary ancestors. Enjoy. Roland Green
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 400 pages
• Publisher: Putnam Adult; First Edition edition (February 14, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0399148493
• ISBN-13: 978-0399148491
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6.3 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (20 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,878,793 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Dreaded Sequel Sickness, July 8, 2002

By 

S. N. Gaines (Long Island, NY) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Target Lock (Hardcover)

It would seem that Mr. Cobb has not learned that there is a time to stop a series. While I'm sure that the technical merits of the hardware involved in this book are accurate, the merits of the characters are not.

I must say that I have enjoyed the other Amanda Garret books immensely. Which is why this was such a huge dissappointment. Amanda Garret was/is tough but fair, easy to be commanded by but the sort of demanding boss that gets her troops to work well for her. Until this book that is. Now Ms. Garret is reduced to a simpering puppy-love struck school girl who just can't help but fall into bed with her adversary. The sexual scenes involving Garret, and her pal Christine Rendino, do not add to the book. In fact they read almost as if some editor looked at the manuscript and said, "hey, we need some sex in this thing".

And that is just the way it reads. The sex is an add-on which contributes nothing, the characters were doing so well up til this point. Some of the characters we'd like to know more about, but don't get the chance. These include the admiral in charge and the helicopter pilot who seems to be quite a character in his own right.

The plot contrivances are stretched so thin you can see right through them. Need a secret base? Poof, one appears as if by magic. Need to track the heroine? Poof, suddenly the National Reconnasence Office can task a satellite right where it needs to be. Need a new country to act as villian? Hey, Indonesia looks promising. And so on.

The only feeling I got from this book was that I was making a mortgage payment for the author. His heart seemed to be elsewhere, this being written only to fullfil some type of contractual agreement. There was no zest in this book. Nothing like the first in the series.

My reccommendation: Don't buy it. Save your money.

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Disappointing, August 29, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: Target Lock (Hardcover)

I am a tremendous fan of Cobb's earlier books in this series and was very excited at the prospect of another outing for these characters. However, I found this book to be an enormous disappointment. The relationship Amanda developed with her nemesis seemed dramatically out of character and frankly detracted from the story. I also like an earlier reviewer missed the Arkady character and the strong interaction of Garrett with her crew from earlier outings. I am not sure what direction Cobb is hoping to take the franchise in but this particular outing came across as flat.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars What a shame..., December 16, 2002

By 

Gunfighter (Northern Virginia) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Target Lock (Paperback)

...that Cobb had to write this [book] and ruin a great character.

Amanda Garrett may as well retire now. This book could only have been written by someone that has never worn his country's uniform.

Don't buy this book. Don't borrow it from a friend or from the library.