Customer Reviews

Zero Hour (Powerplays)

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(12)

 

 

I wasn't even planning to write a review but saw the one by Mr. Nostrum (hope I got the spelling right) and had to agree. This is one of the best books I've read all year -- I especially liked the parts set in New York City that involved the Diamond Dealers Club. How on earth did Mr.Preisler get inside information about one of the most secretive organizations in the world? As a New Yorker, I loved the author's obvious passion for the city. As a professional in the diamond and gem industry, I was fascinated by his explanations of modern counterfeiting techniques for diamonds and sapphires . . . and how those same techniques can be applied to acts of terrorism.

This book is not worth reading. I made the mistake of not putting it down despite the horrible condescending tone of the author, waiting for the book to get better, hoping the rambling, unconnected attempts at a plot would congeal into something of substance. IT NEVER HAPPENED. I don't think I have ever been so disappointed and mad at myself for wasting my time on a novel before. Indeed, I have never been driven to write a review before but hope I can save someone the pain of reading this poorly written, uninspired pulp.

How can Clancy let his name appear on the cover?

I am also going for another first here. I'm going to tear the book apart and throw it in the trash. It needs to be recycled.

I really like the Power Play series. Its hero, Rodger Gordian, seems like a great example of a concerned businessman. Roger who? His appearances in this book were at best unnecessary. Or mabe it as necessary for him to play a REAL part in the plot instead of trying to build a wall at his retirement home. This book was just plain awful. I was more than half way through it and realized that I didn't even know what it was about. A salesman gets killed. Why? I don't know. His girlfriend gets killed. Why? I don't know. Somebody has some incredible gem stones and is worried about where they came from. Why? I don't know. And so it goes. I agree with other reviewers that this book could have been a very credible short story. Either that of we should have been told earlier why whatever was supposed to happen was so allegedly dangerous. Sorry, I really wanted to like this book, but I didn't and recommend that you don't buy it. Not worth it.

This book could have been boiled down to about 50 pages. There was no industrial espionage, as touted on the back cover, between UpLink and the rival outfit (I can't even remember the company's name - a great indication of how forgettable this "book" is.) Uplink, and its employees seem to play a secondary role as the author seems to be more interested in showing off his knowledge of the New York jewelry community's inner workings.

The author also seemed to want to show off his walking tour ability of New York, and to whine about restrictive smoking regulations and where to get a good cup of coffee. The parts with Gordian erecting a rock wall (and no explanations of metaphors, please!) are complete throw-away scenes intended to pad an already over-long, meandering, almost stream-of-consciousness novella. The fact that the author can keep a stream rambling for pages at a time is testimony to the fact that he was not interested in the main characters in the least. An entire paragraph devoted to the inventory of a Chinatown shop? Come on!

I like meat on my bone. This awful story left me starving.

Zero Hour is one of the worst books that I have read in recent memory. I can't imagine Tom Clancy linking his name to book. There is next to no action. There are too many characters that have dead ends. The Pakistan characters add nothing to the book except to provide some graphic violence. The Roger Cordian presence and the rock wall sequence is nearly pointless. The climax was so ho hum. The villain has been shot in a previous scene and simply dies of blood loss before triggering the laser. The whole notion that a stockpile of chemicals in New York in this day and age that could be so easily targeted seemed unlikely. The book ended with the murder of the Pakistan character left me speechless- what was the point. The main villain was dead. What was the point of the main villain's photo sensitive disease - surely the author could have developed at a least a death scene for him related to that illness rather than an octopus bite. I kept expecting something imaginative to happen but it didn't.
This book seems to be a clever attempt to use Clancy's name as a selling point. This type of marketing is doomed to failure.

Wow! You got the name right, Keith -- didn't expect anyone to respond to my "challenge" so soon!

I'd actually meant to talk about the plotline about the Diamond Dealer's Club before I got hot under the collar over some of those other comments. To my knowledge, there's virtually no access to this global economy-altering club by outsiders, yet the novel gives a great description of its inner workings, as well as the fascinating means by which its members police themselves. Also, the part about the chemical plants was fascinating -- I had no idea such a clear and present threat to our homeland security existed near virtually every urban and suburban community in America . . . and that it was being so dangerously ignored by our leaders. Finally, I wanted to say how much I also enjoyed "Avram's New York". Don't want to give too much away, but readers will know what I'm talking about.

I guess these are some of the "details" some people actually didn't enjoy . . . go figure.

THIS BOOK COULD BE ABOUT 130 PAGES INSTEAD OF 320. TAKES WAY TO LONG TO GET GOING AND HAS TO MUCH FILLER. I KNOW HIS BOOKS ARE LONG WINDED BUT THIS IS WAY TO MUCH. I HOPE THE NEXT ONE IS BETTER. THIS AUTHOR IS USUALLY REALLY GOOD

I have read all of the past Power plays and op centers and realize that Clancy did not write any of them but they still were good books. This book is the exception. I found it very difficult to read more than a few pages at a time without becoming totaly bored. I took several pages and crossed out all the meandering thoughts and not essential character "development" and found most of the page crossed out. For exammple: Several pages given to the thoughts of a character about her childhood and the importance of a play center who is immediatley killed was a waste of paper and my reading time. I could have browsed a phone book and been more entertained. If you wait for this book to reach a Clancy style conclussions you are in for a big dissapointment. Better luck next time.

Tom Clancy spins another great tale in Zero Hour; if your a Clancy fan you will be kept on the edge of your seat with this one.
As always this book is great reading from cover to cover. I found this book hard to put down; I wanted to read it cover to cover!

This book purports to be a Tom Clancy - it is not! It has to be the worst book I have ever read. The plot is convoluted to the point of boredom. The 'English' is dreadful and the structure terrible - no 'chapter' is longer than a couple of pages. I don't know which book Mr Nostrum read but it sure as hell wasn't this one! I will not be buying any more Tom Clancy - lesson learned! It is a disgrace that second rate authors should masquerade as well known writers - a clever selling ploy - it fooled me - once. If you want a good nights sleep, buy this book!