Customer Reviews

The Tin Man

5 star:		(15)
4 star:		(16)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(18)
1 star:		(24)

 

 

1) The reader, Victor Garber, on this 4 cassette tape set did a great job. The emotions and different voices for each character was professionally and convincingly performed.

2) I've never read/heard a Dale Brown story before so I came into this without any expectations. Based on the other reviewers who have previous experience with Dale Brown it sounds like I should try some of his other stuff.

3) I live in the Sacramento Area and particularly Folsom where the story takes place. It is always fun to read a story in your local area because you can more vividly imagine the characters doing what they do in the familar locals.

4) My cons with the story:
a) The "love" story as portrayed in the audiobook came out of left field and felt very forced
b) There were some ill-mental effects of the suit but that was never brought up again when it should have made more sense
c) Just a but too much suspension of disbelief on scences where there should be other cops or people around but where we only found the main characters
d) The ending dialogue was horrendous and cliche

5) My pros of this story:
a) Got to love the whole James Bond type technology
b) Good red-herrings
c) I like action and this book has a fair dose of it

Dale Brown's The Tin Man is an action packed fast paced thriller. It is an amazing read. Like the thrillers of Tom Clancy, Stephen Coots and Larry Bond, the novels of Dale Brown brim with action, sophisticated weaponry and political intrigue.

Overall, I liked Dale Brown's latest. The opening scenes, and Gregory Townsend's planning an execution of the robberies and methamphetamine lab takeovers made for an action-packed start. But what are his real motives? And when Patrick McLanahan's brother, who is a rookie cop, is shot by one of Townsend's fellow terrorists, McLanahan takes the law into his own hands with an assortment of gadgets, James Bond style! The main instrument of the story is that advanced BERP suit, which is made of a special bulletproof material and protects him from gunfire. And the local police don't take too kindly to his vigilante antics, so he becomes a wanted man by everyone while he tries to avenge his brother's shooting and discovers more than he bargained for! Some lively action, awesome technology which might be feasible one day and good characterisations. I read this book twice(as I have with most of Dale Brown's books!) in the past couple of months, and it's better the second time round. The ending might seem daft at times, but the rest of the book makes up for it.

I found this book to be a refreshing push from pure technology with character development to character development with a liberal sprinking of technology. Again we have Patrick McLanahan involved quite quickly after his "Fatal Terrain" exploits involved in a "down-to-earth" adventure that introduces family and other character development to the series. Although BERP is new and presents a rather interesting twist on body armor, the story reminded me very much of Tom Clancy's "Without Remorse" storyline of Mr. Kelly's background. Since I heartily enjoy following characters such as McLanahan, I found this to be a refreshing way of filling in some gaps about his character (family, background, baby, etc.) that wasn't handled elsewhere. Keep up the good work, Dale!

This is my first Dale Brown book. I must say I like his imagination in intergrating the high-tech gadgets (including the BERP material) into this story. I like the action and the ups and downs that the main characters go through. My main critisism would be that there is too much emphasis on tough and macho talk between the brothers and the cop community in general. I feel that as a result of this "talk" the story itself has become a bit unrealistic.

I was looking for a modern english novel to write a book report on. When I first saw this book I was fascinated by its cool cover. I suppose, this is not exactly the kind of novel you would chose to write a book report on, but I gave it a try anyway.

The story is about some guy who fights a gang of drug dealers, who have injured his brother heavily. But all this is part of a plan by a super villain who wants to steal some military airplanes to sell them to Arabic dictators. He commands a elite combat force that consists of so called Nazis. The hero's only chance to succeed is a super combat suit, which a mad scientist, who happens to be a friend of his, has invented. Well, quite an unrealistic plot, I guess.

But the book is real fun to read. You don't get tired of it. You feel as if you were watching a action movie. However, when I started to write a summary of this book, I noticed that the plot was totally discontinuosly. I hardly could figure out, what had been going on the last 400 pages. So if you expect a deep storyline here, this isn't for you. But if you want to have a good laugh, get this. By the way: I got an A for my book report, although my teacher didn't like the book at all.

I picked up The Tin Man for an airport ride across country, little did I expect that I'd sit in my hotel room, take a day off, stroll in a park and read, read, read. The Tin Man was most excellent! The adventure with the add touch of brother pitted against evil, -- What can I say? This author's stye of writing, competence, etc..I'm off to buy ALL his other books..expecially the best ones...appreciate anyone telling me what the "jewels in the crown are"..For me Dale Brown is "my newly discovered author of the 90's". Thanks for making an older guys reading fun! - D Vaupel

Plot doesn't hang together. Characters are one-dimensional at best. Dialogue is unrealistic. I've found Brown to be somewhat entertaining before and was really disappointed.

I finally quit trying to read it and just tossed it away. Didn't even have the heart to donate it to a charitable cause.

This is a little-- maybe a lot-- different from Dale Brown's earlier works. It was a good read, not great. You want this kind of mixture-- thriller with a science edge, try SYNBAT, a book by Bob Mayer about Special Operations troops caught up in a very intriguing chase. Mayer's other special ops books are quite good also. Another author to try is Robert Doherty. He has special ops guys caught up with X-Files type stories with THE ROCK and his AREA 51 series. Highly recommended.

It appears that Mr. Brown is tired of writing books on a topic that has been successful for him. Instead, he yearns for a world of superheros, since he has developed a new one to save, if not the world, as least Sacramento. Unfortunately, he didn't "kill off" this "dud" in the end, so his loyal readers may well be subjected to more of the same! PLEASE, go back to the genre for which you are known. Let someone else write the comic books!