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Caleb-Matt Williams

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Another solid installment

Overall
4 out of 5 stars
Performance
4 out of 5 stars
Story
4 out of 5 stars

Reviewed: 08-22-24

What can I say-- this is a good way to spend a day. Baier isn't Shakespeare or Fitzgerald and probably won't be studied at Harvard or Yale but he doesn't try to be either man! He knows what his readers want and he delivers!

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A hard book to rate

Overall
2 out of 5 stars
Performance
4 out of 5 stars
Story
2 out of 5 stars

Reviewed: 08-14-24

Yes, the writer is as skilled with words as he was in "I AM PILGRIM," but this story takes so many irrelevant off-shoots that by the end you just want it to do just that-- END.
There are so many diversions that make no plot-driven need that you have to surmise the author kept them for the sole reason of his own vanity and why any editor or publisher allowed them to remain will, I presume, remain a mystery.
Needless to say, the fact that book finally reaches the near-possible conclusion only for the writer to decide that he needs a twist so he jumps the shark and decided to turn a novel about espionage into bad science fiction-- science-fiction that not only bends the elements but credulity, leaves one perplexed.
Again, if you make it through the insufferable length and inane final plot twist you are just happy when it finally ends.

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Somewhat confounding

Overall
3 out of 5 stars
Performance
3 out of 5 stars
Story
3 out of 5 stars

Reviewed: 07-03-24

I am not exactly sure how to explain that this book is somehow related to a different series by the same author and with the same main character but the two different series seem to overlap timelines. This effort lays out a superhero and greatest SEAL to ever live but who royally screws up and it’s his friends that pay the price and then just sort of ends leaving more questions than answers. It felt like a half effort or just a setup that was deceptively solid as a completed work.

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Jack Carr is one of the greats

Overall
5 out of 5 stars
Performance
5 out of 5 stars
Story
5 out of 5 stars

Reviewed: 06-26-24

Reading a Carr novel, you know he has been there, done that, got the T-shirt, and then decided to tell the tales in fiction.
You also know you won't get a DEI/SJW lecture while you take the ride. Who could ask for more?

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A Crocodile is NOT a mammal

Overall
2 out of 5 stars
Performance
4 out of 5 stars
Story
2 out of 5 stars

Reviewed: 06-20-24

I know it’s a little thing but something so bad should have been caught in the editing process. The fact that it wasn’t makes me question the entire publishing industry. Basic quality has fallen but prices haven’t

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The narrator saves the series

Overall
3 out of 5 stars
Performance
3 out of 5 stars
Story
3 out of 5 stars

Reviewed: 06-20-24

The main character in this book is hardly recognizable as he was in his first. It would be understandable if it was because of a progression but instead the writer seemingly wants to cherry pick attributes depending on the situation. I find it harder to root for the hero because you can’t be sure who he actually is

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I am just sick to death of political agendas

Overall
3 out of 5 stars
Performance
4 out of 5 stars
Story
2 out of 5 stars

Reviewed: 05-12-24

Especially when they are not based in any sense of reality.
Right-wingers are not the people protesting outside politicians houses. That would be the "progressives."
"Progressives" are not the politicians fighting for free-speech. That would be the right-wingers.
Right-wingers are not the ones causing violence throughout the country. That would be the "progressives."

However... writers time and again are pushing books that flip reality on its head and it seriously makes one question the mental health and capacity of the writers.

This book has some good action but you have to believe in a bizarro world to actually believe in it. Sorry, but this book could have been so much better had they tried to use a different plot device than trying to paint 1/2 the country as loony-tune, backward-thinking hicks...

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Totally ridiculous

Overall
3 out of 5 stars
Performance
4 out of 5 stars
Story
1 out of 5 stars

Reviewed: 05-01-24

This genre is notoriously filled with scenarios outside the box of believability but this book is next level. Couple that with a shift in the timeline that must have been missed during editing and it literally had me yelling out loud at the situations and the characters and the “supposed heroes” completely irresponsible behavior and decisions that would place thousands of innocent people in mortal danger and possibly cause a global war all to protect a politician makes one question if they are even the “good guys.” To end it with one of the most evil characters basically getting a free pass makes me question if it is time to stop listening to the series.

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The book is good, and I like the series, BUT...

Overall
3 out of 5 stars
Performance
4 out of 5 stars
Story
3 out of 5 stars

Reviewed: 10-23-23

Of course there is a BUT.
BUT, the series keeps jumping around in time. Book 13, Congo Contract, was a prequel of sorts-- shifting us back 20 years into the past. Dead Man Walking and Sovereign Power-- Books 14 & 15, shifted us back to the "present" and to where Book 12, Hunter Killer, had left off.
Well, Book 16, Kingmaker, transports us back in time to just following when Book 13 was set. The jump is never explained, never acknowledged and it is jarring! It just makes it difficult to figure out which Alex King the reader is in store for-- the young brash man still finding his way, or the older, wiser and settled down King in a happy relationship with Caroline. If the jumps in time were at least acknowledged or part of the plotline in some way it would make more sense and, quite frankly, would result in a more polished series that would be more enjoyable.

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Without Sanction Audiobook By Don Bentley cover art

Not optimistic about the future

Overall
3 out of 5 stars
Performance
2 out of 5 stars
Story
3 out of 5 stars

Reviewed: 09-20-23

This book has long been on my "to-read" list. What finally pushed me to read it was the announcement that Bentley would be taking over the Vince Flynn Mitch Rapp series. Sadly, I am not optimistic about the future of the Rapp-verse.

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