Customer Reviews

The Tunnel Rats

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Leather's style and prose get better and better.Already in paperback in the UK, I couldn't wait to get my hands on this latest book by this author.

His description of tunnel warfare in Viet-Nam is "SO" realisitic that it made me, a former Royal Marine special forces operative fear for my life, and relive moments of terror that I have personally endured.

This, for me is the mark of a good book. Thoroughly researched, well-plotted, good prose, hot text that drives you from page to page.

This is one book by Stephen Leather that you should NOT miss!

I thought that I was current in my reading of Stephen Leather thrillers until I ran across THE TUNNEL RATS originally published way back in 1997. Sorry, Stephen, I guess I just lost focus somewhere between then and now.

As the book opens in an unspecified "then", eight Americans emerge from a network of underground tunnels beneath the jungle shortly before B-52s start to carpet bomb. One man is dead, one seriously injured, and all seven of the living seriously spooked.

Fast forward to now. The body of a man viciously tortured to death, with an ace of spades impaled onto his chest with a knife, is discovered nailed to the wall of an abandoned railway tunnel in London. It's British Transport Police jurisdiction, and BTP officers Nick Wright and Tommy Reid are put on the case.

In Washington, D.C., Senator Dean Burrow, soon to be nominated to replace an ailing Vice-President, gets a UPS package containing a photograph of the London murder victim. Subsequently, Dean gets a second picture, this one of another man identically killed in Bangkok. The Senator, with a lot to lose if closeted skeletons are discovered, dispatches a trusted aide to tidy things up. The latter employs an ex-Special Forces killer who's scary-good at his skills.

The paths of Nick, the murderer, the hired killer, four-foot snakes, 6-inch centipedes, half-inch ants, and shiny black scorpions eventually cross in the abandoned Viet Cong tunnel network northwest of Saigon. Oh, and did I mention that Wright is severely claustrophobic?

I'm awarding four stars to an otherwise riveting read because the potential for a too-good-to-pass-up "gotcha" ending is completely ignored. By page 200 of this 500-page book, I suspected the identity of the murderer; a fact later confirmed with over 150 pages to go. Even the chance for a "double gotcha" via the role of the hired killer is waived by the author. The reader is left to see only how the underground action between known antagonists plays out. Mind you, however, this is much better than good enough since the description of the tunnels and their unusual nature as a stage set make for an edge-of-your-seat read. Especially if you're a claustrophobe with an active imagination.

As an aside, those Stephen Leather aficionados who've kept up with his current Dan Shepherd series will be interested to see the relationship between this hero and his young son, Liam, perhaps start to conceptually evolve in the relationship between Nick and his boy, Sean.

I'm a diehard fan of Stephen Leather's "Dan 'Spider' Shepherd" novels, and am currently reading the fourth book in the series (HOT BLOOD). This particular novel is interesting in the pictures Mr. Leather paints of Bangkok and Saigon. The first, a gridlocked and exhaust choked city with an incompetent and corrupt police force. The second, a capitalist/communist city that thrives on western industry, yet maintains its cultural heritage. The hunt for a serial killer from London to the abndoned VC tunnels of the Vietnam War era is exciting and informative. Unfortunately, the ending is disappointing after the real reason behind the killings is revealed. As another reviewer has written, the last page would lead you to believe that there is a sequel waiting to be written. I hope not. Stick with Dan Shepherd, Mr. Leather, he's a hero to believe. I still like the author's writing style and give it 4 stars instead of 5.

I read a Leather book a couple years ago and wasn't hooked. I thought I'd give him another go recently and started to get into it. Having just finished a couple Sheppard books and really enjoying them I thought I'd give this one a try. It didn't hook me like the Spider Sheppard books but as I stuck with it the story started to draw me in. As others have said, you'll have a pretty good idea who the 'killer' is before it is announced and it is announced by the middle of the story - if its mystery you're after this my not be for you. But if you're after an interesting and engaging muder/action tale then you'll probably enjoy it. I almost gave it four stars but gave it three because it took a little while to get into it.

This book is another vintage Stephen Leather thriller. I really enjoyed it. It takes the reader from London to Bangkok to Saigon and the Vietnam War-era Cuchi tunnels, where the books reaches its unexpected climax.

Murders, mystery and adventure. Very good read.

By the way, did you know that the Vietnamese call it the American War?

Although many storylines went nowhere, the books main story tended to keep you intrigued. The concept of short chapters tends to make you want to keep reading.

I was impressed by the overall story and the concept of the tunnels made it fairly exciting, expecially with the connections. The end seems to suggest another book, but we will have to wait and see.

This book really hit home for me as the core of it is based around a team of `Nam-vets who were stationed in and around the tunnels during the Vietnam war. I'm very fortunate enough to have visited a section of the tunnels in Cu Chi, even crawled through one, so having that as a base (I imagine) really helped me fully understand the extent of what they were going through.

The story follows a series of murders around the world, investigated by British Transport Police initially and followed by FBI, fake-FBI, Thai authorities and more, ending up with a BTP sergeant, a hired assassin, the `Nam vets and the killer navigating their way through the tunnels in search of the truth. An awesome book for anyone who loves a good crime thriller.

I found the overall story to be fairly entertaining, especially the last 100 pages where we start to learn about the tunnels and the killers motivation behind the murders. But the book is average - it's not bad, but I'd recommend spending your money elsewhere. I thought that there were missed opportunities and too many holes in the story line. For example, I didn't really care for (or even like) any of the characters - particularly the two main protagonists, Reid (an alcoholic loser) & Wright (a want-to-be-detective). Wright's character starts to develop towards the latter part of the book, but by that point it was too little, too late. Also, I don't understand why the author fed us bits & pieces about Wright's ex-wife (now sleeping with one of Wright's competitive colleagues) or Wright's son (who's caught in the middle). These individual story lines went nowhere and didn't really help develop the main character. I got the feeling that the author's original intend was to somehow develop these sub-plots and integrate them into the overall story, but they never panned-out. Additionally, it would have been nice to have learned more about the murderer's reasons for killing. Although we eventually learn the basic facts, there is no depth to the character - and it's an anti-climax. Somebody can kill for revenge, but it would be interesting to really know what drives a person to pursue their victims for 25 years! The author didn't give us an opportunity to understand, which would have made for a much better read - a major lost opportunity. It seemed as if the author was trying to make the story something it wasn't - and it took away from a potentially good, and original, novel. To sum it up: A good rough draft - but needs a bit more work.