Customer Reviews

Warlord: An Alex Hawke Novel

5 star:		(44)
4 star:		(12)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(7)
1 star:		(9)

 

 

Ted Bell doesn't write books that are less than entertaining. His latest, Warlord may be his best yet. Literate, suspenseful with a good dollop of humor thrown in. Alex Hawke, the heir apparent to James Bond, is drowning in a sea of rum and self destruction when he gets a call from Prince Charles. The good Prince has reason to believe his life, if not the British monarchy, are being threatened. This is the catalyst to set Hawke off on another adventure told with superior skill and panache by Mr. Bell. This is storytelling at its best with an interesting take on terrorism. Fun, exciting and full of fascinating tidbits about the British royal family, spycraft and global politics. Highly recommended.

For someone who grew up enthralled with James Bond then graduated to Jason Borne, Jack Ryan and more recently Jack Bauer; 'Warlord' is a terrific read and Ted Bell's best. All the characters are interesting and well developed. The dialogue is natural, regardless of the character's nationality. The scenes are described in riveting detail.

I found 'Warlord' as intense and modern as '24' without requiring the constant suspension of disbelief. On the contrary, Alex Hawke does a chillingly plausible job of lacing together the IRA killing of Lord Mountbatten, the great fire at Windsor Castle, the death of Lady Di and Dodi Fayed in the Paris tunnel and assorted Taliban bombings into a sensational thriller. I couldn't put it down.

Can't wait to see Hawke on the silver screen.

I've read several Alex Hawke books from Ted Bell and I've enjoyed each one. WARLORD was particularly engaging and held my attention from the opening page until the final one.

It's a rare day that I find the time to read fiction. I took WARLORD on a long flight across the U.S. and it provided the perfect way to spend several hours. Because of the length (554 pages), I have to make sure I have a solid block of time to finish a Ted Bell novel because I know once I get started, everything else around me fades and I have to complete it. I recommend WARLORD as a well-crafted read.

For those quickly making a decision on whether or not Warlord is worth purchasing, just ask yourself this: Have I read Ted Bells earlier Alex Hawke novels & did I like/love them? If you enjoyed ANY of the previous adventures, I encourage you to grab Warlord--and the sooner the better.

Now, for those who need more info, at the end of TSAR (a novel I highly encourage you to read before starting Warlord--it isn't necessary, mind you, but will put into more focus why Alex is the way he is, especially at the beginning) Alex Hawke is left broken and very nearly suicidal. Gratefully he doesn't stay this way for long, as a quite unexpected personal phone call from Prince Charles himself brings Alex out of a drunken stupor rather quickly and right into the Here & Now. Charles is absolutely convinced he and his family are in mortal danger--RIGHT NOW. Again, this further helps to sober Alex as he struggles to absorb not just the unexpectedness of the phone call, but also his efforts to put his personal demons on the back burner for the time being and focus on what he does best.

This is essentially where the rubber hits the pavement...although in the VERY capable hands of Ted Bell, its more of a gravel-like surface as we never really manage to catch any SOLID paydirt as we surf and skid all over the place as the action mounts and with it, a tension-filled action/adventure that is the equal to ANY High Speed James Bond chase-scene...times TEN. Before long Mr. Bell shifts gears somewhat and in the midst of it all, we find ourselves knee-deep inside an Islamic Terrorist organization Hell-bent on, well, doing what Terrorists do best. Never fear, Ted Bell has absolute control over where we are going and what will happen once we eventually get there.

Unlike the usual Terrorist-fare that massively populates the bestseller lists on a regular basis, Ted Bell writes with a great deal MORE serious, almost frightening realism which puts this (and ALL his previous Alex Hawke novels) head & shoulders above the average stories featuring anything resembling a Jack Ryan, Dirk Pitt, James Bond or Jack Bauer type adventure. It just reads as SMARTER all the way around. Ted Bell is simply put a great novelist who routinely produces VERY intelligent thrillers that continue to impress again & again. Not easy to do, mind you, but something he seems to manage with what seems to be relative ease. Congrats to Ted and yet another incredibly well told tale, that not only HIGHLY entertained me, but made me thirst for (yet again) even MORE Alex Hawke--and trust me, Ted simply cannot pump these novels out fast ENOUGH.

After TSAR, I couldn't help but wonder how the next Alex Hawke book could be as fresh and engaging as the last - but Bell has certainly delivered.

WARLORD is engaging to a level of addiction, and I lost several hours of sleep because there was no way I could put it down till I was finished. It exhibits quite possibly the best character development of the entire series. The intertwining plot threads are intelligent and rich with detail.

Like all Alex Hawke books, WARLORD was obviously well-researched and reaches a rare level of realism and credibility through the use of actual historical events and characters. Bell seems to have a unique talent for weaving plots that manage to be thrilling, intricate and realistic all at once.

Riveting stories like this that are populated by such a rich range of characters are just crying out for a proper cinematic treatment, and I certainly hope Hollywood is paying attention. An Alex Hawke series done right could be even bigger than the Bourne films, and the biggest thing since James Bond to hit the silver screen.

Wasted. That's the only way to describe the way we first find our favorite British spy in Ted Bell's exciting sixth Alex Hawke adventure. After all, what could one expect from even the strongest, most disciplined of men when he's lost everything that had any meaning for him? In Alex's words, "My parents were murdered before my eyes when I was seven years old. I met a wonderful woman, the first I'd ever wanted to marry. She died in my arms on the steps of the chapel where we'd just been wed." Then as he puts it "The truly unbelievable happened - he fell in love again and they were to be married, but she died carrying his child, a son.

Alex no longer wants to right wrongs or defend the innocent; he simply wants to die and is choosing to kill himself with alcohol and cigarettes. That is until he received a middle of the night phone call from Prince Charles. The two men have been friends since boyhood, and now Charles asks Alex to return to England because the royal family is in danger, all of them Charles, his mother, Wills, Harry.

Threats have been made in notes signed by The Pawn. Charles believes the threat to his family is from the IRA, those responsible for killing of Lord Mountbatten in 1979. Of course, Alex promises to be in England as soon as possible.

Once there he'll be joined in tracking the would-be killer or killers by his good friend Ambrose Congreve. Former Chief Inspector of Scotland Yard. Readers of Hawke books know this is an estimable pair. They're more than challenged when the chase also involves trying to find a missing nuke in the wilds of Afghanistan. The challenges before him are the best medicine Hawke could find unless, of course, he dies in the process.

As is his wont Bell serves healthy bits of humor with his suspense. Plus he adds great doses of realism with information gathered when he participated in a special ops program sponsored by the Secretary of Defense. WARLORD is compelling adventure led by a one-of-a-kind thriller fiction hero. Alex Hawke leads the pack.

- Enjoy.

- Gail Cooke

Prior to his last mission, British spy Alex Hawke met Russian artist Anastasia Korsakova on a Bermuda beach while on R&R. He falls in love with her, but his case inside the New Russia puts him against her father Count Ivan Korsakov. While he completed the mission, his beloved Anastasia dies (see Tsar).

Almost a year later, Hawke remains depressed with his only companion a bottle of rum that rarely numbs the pain inside his heart. He wants nothing to do with the espionage game until his royal friend Prince Charles begs him to help as someone threatens to assassinate the Royal family. Normally one to ignore such intimidation, Charles explains that somehow the culprit left a tome with a signature identical to the one belonging to his late uncle, Lord Mountbatten, who was murdered three decades ago. Hawke leaves Bermuda for London to begin his search for the mysterious killer. At the same time the Sword of Allah unites with the Taliban and al-Qaeda to form an evil alliance terrorizing the world.

The latest Hawke espionage thriller is an exhilarating tale that combines news headlines with the historical killing of Lord Mountbatten inside a super spy tale. Hawke's battle with suicidal depression feels real as he lost his love while killing her father so has welcomed a Russian death squad since he returned home to Bermuda. Now, only a special case called in by the Prince of Wales can get him back on the job and out of his crippling grief. Once in London, he reverts to Hawke super counter espionage agent. Warlord is a fabulous action-packed entry, but it is the fight within the hero's soul that makes it special.

Harriet Klausner

I've read all of the Alex Hawke novels and have enjoyed them immensely. The author does an excellent job of building each novel from historical events and allowing the reader to follow Alex Hawke and his merry men from series to series. It is especially nice to see the author use the same characters and build on them. Warlords ending was a pleasant shock and one that I actually expected much earlier but was happy to see the author go that route. I look forward to reading more about Pelham, Sniper, Lord Hawke, Harry and Ol' Stokely.

Ted Bell's Warlord keeps you on the edge of your seat, what ever seat you're in. While Warlord is fiction Mr. Bell brings it close to home with current world events.

As a young woman relatively new to the world of international espionage or spy thriller novels (I say relatively because I read From Russia, With Love in college) I still somehow feel compelled to say that Warlord is one of the best books I've read in a very very long time. My fiance Dan has read all of Ted Bell's novels and while I'll admit that I turned my nose up a bit at the idea of "political fiction" (political non-fiction is quite enough for me, thank you) I finally caved and read Warlord as soon as he had finished. Despite my brilliant boyfriend's sycophantic praises I hesitantly picked up Warlord because, well, I'm a sucker for Princess Diana and all things British monarchy. I was wrong he was right, story of my life. This book is amazing!!!!!