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14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
The Demise of Demo Dick?, December 2, 2002
It's aptly named; violence is all it's about. There is none of the finesse, characterizations or political subtleties that made the previous Rogue Warrior novels, co-authored by John Weisman, so entertaining and - yes - uplifting. Marcinko is a bona fide warrior - a BTDT whose two non-fiction books, Leadership Secrets, and Strategies for Success, are permanent installations in my home library. His original book, Rogue Warrior, the autobiography, is another keeper - one of the most inspirational and motivating I've ever read. Unfortunately, Violence of Action makes a mockery of all that went before. It's cartoonish in its simplicity, gratuitously violent without any redeeming qualities, and mouthily preachy without being the least bit inspiring. When one of Demo Dick's teammates died, in prior books, you really cared... about them, their families, the SEAL community. Not so in Violence of Action; I kept wishing someone would shoot either the characters or me and put me out of my misery. I am crazy about Commander Richard Marcinko. I have the utmost respect for all that he's accomplished, all that he's survived, and the kind of life he's lived. Yes, he's rough around the edges and I probably wouldn't want to bring him home to meet my mother, but he also has the courage of his convictions, which is rare today. Please don't judge his abilities by this book; it is NOT a good representation (although a lot of his detractors would say it is) of the Rogue Warrior character. There is none of the self-deprecating humor found in the earlier works. It begs the question whether Mr. Weisman was the driving force behind the other bestsellers.
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12 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
John Weisman, where are you?, November 21, 2002
I was surprised when I found out that there was another Rogue Warrior novel coming out, since John Weisman had replied to an e-mail I had written him, stating that he was not going to write any more novels in the series. Apparently, he had been doing the vast majority, if not all of the work on the previous novels, with Marcinko simply giving feedback and approval, which would explain why Violence of Action is so different than the rest of the series. Although Violence of Action is lacking in plot intricacy and character development, it makes up for it somewhat in the action department - which is literally non-stop and definitely lives up to the book's title. As for the people who complained about the torture that occurs in the book - they need to realize that there are situations where such measures, however distasteful, are absolutely necessary and justified. Especially when you're talking about millions of innocent lives. Consider the fact that the individuals being interrogated were guilty of conspiring to murder hundreds of thousands of innocent civilians for the sake of starting a race war, and that timely intelligence was essential to prevent that from happening. If you had loved ones trapped in a city about to be nuked and their lives depended on you obtaining that information as fast as possible, what would you have done? If you'd have spared a terrorist rather than try to save those people, you need to seriously examine your ethics, because frankly, they're irrational.
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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
Time to move on, November 2, 2002
By A Customer
I eagerly awaited this book, anticipating that Marcinko would give us some insights and wisdom on the new world of terrorism that we face. Instead, we get gratuitous violence, less than credible leaps between events, a silly plot and ending, and a poorly written book. It's time to move on, and if you're a fan in need of a Marcinko fix, go back and read the early classics such as Red Cell, or any of the 'color' team titles...those were great books. This one seems like everyone--the author, the publisher, and maybe even us as fans--want to recreate the past greatness, and, based on this effort, it's not happening.
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