Wesley Britton's Blog - Posts Tagged "thriller"
Book Review: The Blockade Runners by Peter Vollmer
The Blockade Runners
Peter Vollmer
Print Length: 379 pages
Publisher: Endeavour Media (August 17, 2018)
Sold by: Amazon Digital Services LLC
ASIN: B07G4FX1Y2
https://www.amazon.com/Blockade-Runne...
Reviewed by Dr. Wesley Britton
My first paragraph here is almost word-for-word how I opened my 2017 review of Peter Vollmer’s A Question of Allegiance:
I may not have been the very first one, but I was certainly among the earliest reviewers of the novels of South African writer Peter Borchard a.k.a. Peter Vollmer. My reviews began with 2011’s Relentless Pursuit, continued with 2012’s Diamonds Are But Stone, and 2015’s Left For Dead. Of special interest was his 2015 Per Fine Ounce, a continuation novel featuring a character named Geoffrey Peace created by fellow South African novelist Geoffrey Jenkins, a writer with notable connections with Ian Fleming.
Once again, I’m happy to report Vollmer remains a master in his descriptions of international settings and very developed characters. He’s able to vividly capture historical times and places; in the case of The Blockade Runners, his focus is on Rhodesia in 1965 when the U.N. has imposed an embargo on the country to put pressure on Prime Minister Ian Smith to accept majority rule and not continue his minority white government.
The main character of the novel is rugged, womanizing South African banker David Tuck. Despite his military background, he’s known for his accounting skills, especially with international accounts. His South African bank, in its Rhodesian offices, recruits him to be the paymaster for smugglers wanting to bring in oil, weapons, and helicopters illegally into Rhodesia. He has no idea what he’s getting into, to put it mildly.
Soon, he’s paired with the alluring Gisela Mentz, a former East German operative for the Stasi. Together, blending Gisela’s undercover training and Tuck’s quick reflexes and resourcefulness, they travel to Europe and the Middle East to arrange for the secret transfers of funds to smugglers willing to run the U.N. embargo. While France and Germany are willing to look the other way, Britain has a very different agenda. MI6 goes so far as to send out assassins to take out Tuck and Mentz as covertly as possible.
So Tuck and Mentz, quickly romantically involved, are in constant danger and have a series of near-misses and escapes. Adding to the danger, Mentz has inherited a Rhodesian farm targeted by black revolutionaries who want to chase whites out of their country. So, the pair are literally under the gun both when operating around the globe and at home as well.
While The Blockade Runners may not be a pure spy vs. spy espionage thriller, it has all the tropes of such novels. There are numerous chase scenes, deadly fights in exotic locations, clever twists from David Tuck’s fertile mind, generous sex scenes, and complex international chess moves. In short, The Blockade Runners should appeal to readers of Fleming, Graham Greene, Eric Ambler, and all the other old-fashioned thriller writers versed in international intrigue. Vollmer has gone down this road before—I’m delighted to see he’s at it again. I also appreciate the irony—from beginning to end, readers will be rooting for the bad guys. After all, blockade runners are the criminals.
Wes Britton’s review of A Question of Allegiance first appeared at BookPleasures.com on Sept. 23, 2017 at:
http://dpli.ir/LtmtBi
Wes Britton’s 2011 review of Relentless Pursuit was posted at:
http://www.bookpleasures.com/websitep...
Wes Britton’s 2012 review of Diamonds Are But Stone is up at:
http://www.bookpleasures.com/websitep...
Wes Britton’s 2015 review of Left for Dead is up at:
http://www.bookpleasures.com/websitep...
Wes Britton’s 2015 article,” The Re-Boot of PER FINE OUNCE: A Continuation Novel That Isn’t What You Think” was published at:
https://literary007.com/2015/03/25/th...
Wes Britton’s review of The Blockade Runners first appeared Sept. 11, 2018 at:
https://waa.ai/aI7E
Peter Vollmer
Print Length: 379 pages
Publisher: Endeavour Media (August 17, 2018)
Sold by: Amazon Digital Services LLC
ASIN: B07G4FX1Y2
https://www.amazon.com/Blockade-Runne...
Reviewed by Dr. Wesley Britton
My first paragraph here is almost word-for-word how I opened my 2017 review of Peter Vollmer’s A Question of Allegiance:
I may not have been the very first one, but I was certainly among the earliest reviewers of the novels of South African writer Peter Borchard a.k.a. Peter Vollmer. My reviews began with 2011’s Relentless Pursuit, continued with 2012’s Diamonds Are But Stone, and 2015’s Left For Dead. Of special interest was his 2015 Per Fine Ounce, a continuation novel featuring a character named Geoffrey Peace created by fellow South African novelist Geoffrey Jenkins, a writer with notable connections with Ian Fleming.
Once again, I’m happy to report Vollmer remains a master in his descriptions of international settings and very developed characters. He’s able to vividly capture historical times and places; in the case of The Blockade Runners, his focus is on Rhodesia in 1965 when the U.N. has imposed an embargo on the country to put pressure on Prime Minister Ian Smith to accept majority rule and not continue his minority white government.
The main character of the novel is rugged, womanizing South African banker David Tuck. Despite his military background, he’s known for his accounting skills, especially with international accounts. His South African bank, in its Rhodesian offices, recruits him to be the paymaster for smugglers wanting to bring in oil, weapons, and helicopters illegally into Rhodesia. He has no idea what he’s getting into, to put it mildly.
Soon, he’s paired with the alluring Gisela Mentz, a former East German operative for the Stasi. Together, blending Gisela’s undercover training and Tuck’s quick reflexes and resourcefulness, they travel to Europe and the Middle East to arrange for the secret transfers of funds to smugglers willing to run the U.N. embargo. While France and Germany are willing to look the other way, Britain has a very different agenda. MI6 goes so far as to send out assassins to take out Tuck and Mentz as covertly as possible.
So Tuck and Mentz, quickly romantically involved, are in constant danger and have a series of near-misses and escapes. Adding to the danger, Mentz has inherited a Rhodesian farm targeted by black revolutionaries who want to chase whites out of their country. So, the pair are literally under the gun both when operating around the globe and at home as well.
While The Blockade Runners may not be a pure spy vs. spy espionage thriller, it has all the tropes of such novels. There are numerous chase scenes, deadly fights in exotic locations, clever twists from David Tuck’s fertile mind, generous sex scenes, and complex international chess moves. In short, The Blockade Runners should appeal to readers of Fleming, Graham Greene, Eric Ambler, and all the other old-fashioned thriller writers versed in international intrigue. Vollmer has gone down this road before—I’m delighted to see he’s at it again. I also appreciate the irony—from beginning to end, readers will be rooting for the bad guys. After all, blockade runners are the criminals.
Wes Britton’s review of A Question of Allegiance first appeared at BookPleasures.com on Sept. 23, 2017 at:
http://dpli.ir/LtmtBi
Wes Britton’s 2011 review of Relentless Pursuit was posted at:
http://www.bookpleasures.com/websitep...
Wes Britton’s 2012 review of Diamonds Are But Stone is up at:
http://www.bookpleasures.com/websitep...
Wes Britton’s 2015 review of Left for Dead is up at:
http://www.bookpleasures.com/websitep...
Wes Britton’s 2015 article,” The Re-Boot of PER FINE OUNCE: A Continuation Novel That Isn’t What You Think” was published at:
https://literary007.com/2015/03/25/th...
Wes Britton’s review of The Blockade Runners first appeared Sept. 11, 2018 at:
https://waa.ai/aI7E
New Sci-Fi Mystery!
Find your next favorite mystery or thriller title among these FREE stories. Click on the covers of the books you want, sign up to learn a little more about the authors, and start reading! Don't forget to enter to win a $25 gift card! Enjoy!
This is also your first chance to read my latest story, "THE DUTIFUL DETECTIVE AND THE DEADLY DECOYS."
https://mybookcave.com/g/4acc53e0/
This is also your first chance to read my latest story, "THE DUTIFUL DETECTIVE AND THE DEADLY DECOYS."
https://mybookcave.com/g/4acc53e0/
New Beta-Earth Chronicles Story available as Kindle!
It's been some time since Wes Britton published a story set on Beta-Earth, the planet where it all began.
"The Wayward Missiles" changes all that with a completely new cast of characters operating as a resistance cell during the Alman War. It's a war story full of espionage and a dash of romance. It's free for members of Kindle Select and only $1.99 for everyone else at:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07QQDB7NJ/...
While you're there, you can also find the six book Beta-Earth Chronicles Omnibus and this year's Mary Carpenter mysteries.
Enjoy!
"The Wayward Missiles" changes all that with a completely new cast of characters operating as a resistance cell during the Alman War. It's a war story full of espionage and a dash of romance. It's free for members of Kindle Select and only $1.99 for everyone else at:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07QQDB7NJ/...
While you're there, you can also find the six book Beta-Earth Chronicles Omnibus and this year's Mary Carpenter mysteries.
Enjoy!
Book Review: Machine Sickness: Eupocalypse Book 1
Machine Sickness: Eupocalypse Book 1
Peri Dwyer Worrell
Publication Date: August 8, 2017
Sold by: Amazon.com Services LLC
ASIN: B074P2PM9J
https://www.amazon.com/Machine-Sickne...
Reviewed by: Dr. Wesley Britton
While Peri Dwyer Worrell's Eupocalypse Trilogy came out years before the Covid-19 plague, it's now impossible, for me, to read any apocalyptic tales without thinking how reality has changed the landscape for speculative, futuristic fiction. As I write that sort of stuff myself, I know reality has forever made it difficult not to compare what has actually happened with all the imaginative possibilities writers have been publishing for years and years.
Not that there are a lot of similarities between the Covid virus and the illness it inflicts on humanity and the artificially-engineered microbe Worrell imagines. While the microbe was intended to clean up ocean oil spills, the microbe gets out of hand and starts to spread planet-wide. It destroies anything with petroleum-based polymers. That includes anything plastic from shoe soles to wiring to asphalt-- leading to an international inability to communicate using modern technology or have working transportation; virtually every aspect of life is stripped to the barest of essentials.
The scientist who created the virus, the book's main character, is suspected of being a terrorist and is imprisoned before she can escape and find her way to one of the remote supposedly safe havens humans create to retain some remains of civilization. But as nearly every story of an apocalypse on earth has illustrated before, humanity would most likely revert to savage barbarism. Most likely, men would impose their will on women, roaming militia-style groups would take what they want from whomever has items or desirable goods, and people would probably congregate in small, well-guarded sanctuaries while they invent and create new ways to build new transportation machines, grow crops, and manufacture nearly anything and everything in new ways.
All of this, from the beginnings of the plague to the first responses to it to what evolves internationally is demonstrated in an increasingly wider and wider cast of characters who are vividly described, beginning with the tale's main protagonist, DD, the creator of the microbe. We see how people interact to the most basic of functions, like child-birth, and witness humanity break down into small entities based on the motives and needs of populations mostly in America and Africa. It's a panorama that expands and gets more involved to the point its obvious the story can't be contained in one volume. No, it's a trilogy with the sequels, Watch It Burn and Catallaxis already available for your reading pleasure. And mine.
Machine Sickness clearly falls into the "hard science" sub-genre of science-fiction, and is consequently frighteningly believable. The well-drawn characters are also believable, sometimes alluring, sometimes chilling. Because of the graphic violence and occasional sexuality, most older readers would view this book as not for young adults but, folks, times change. What you think young adults can handle these days has changed so much in recent years. Especially now with all of us learning what a pandemic can mean in every aspect of our lives. Strange to say a fictional apocalypse can be such an entertaining diversion from the world outside our individual quarantine zones. If I wasn't clear before, yes, I strongly recommend this book. Very good stuff very well told.
This review first appeared at BookPleasures.com on April 11, 2020 at:
https://waa.ai/TLIE
Peri Dwyer Worrell
Publication Date: August 8, 2017
Sold by: Amazon.com Services LLC
ASIN: B074P2PM9J
https://www.amazon.com/Machine-Sickne...
Reviewed by: Dr. Wesley Britton
While Peri Dwyer Worrell's Eupocalypse Trilogy came out years before the Covid-19 plague, it's now impossible, for me, to read any apocalyptic tales without thinking how reality has changed the landscape for speculative, futuristic fiction. As I write that sort of stuff myself, I know reality has forever made it difficult not to compare what has actually happened with all the imaginative possibilities writers have been publishing for years and years.
Not that there are a lot of similarities between the Covid virus and the illness it inflicts on humanity and the artificially-engineered microbe Worrell imagines. While the microbe was intended to clean up ocean oil spills, the microbe gets out of hand and starts to spread planet-wide. It destroies anything with petroleum-based polymers. That includes anything plastic from shoe soles to wiring to asphalt-- leading to an international inability to communicate using modern technology or have working transportation; virtually every aspect of life is stripped to the barest of essentials.
The scientist who created the virus, the book's main character, is suspected of being a terrorist and is imprisoned before she can escape and find her way to one of the remote supposedly safe havens humans create to retain some remains of civilization. But as nearly every story of an apocalypse on earth has illustrated before, humanity would most likely revert to savage barbarism. Most likely, men would impose their will on women, roaming militia-style groups would take what they want from whomever has items or desirable goods, and people would probably congregate in small, well-guarded sanctuaries while they invent and create new ways to build new transportation machines, grow crops, and manufacture nearly anything and everything in new ways.
All of this, from the beginnings of the plague to the first responses to it to what evolves internationally is demonstrated in an increasingly wider and wider cast of characters who are vividly described, beginning with the tale's main protagonist, DD, the creator of the microbe. We see how people interact to the most basic of functions, like child-birth, and witness humanity break down into small entities based on the motives and needs of populations mostly in America and Africa. It's a panorama that expands and gets more involved to the point its obvious the story can't be contained in one volume. No, it's a trilogy with the sequels, Watch It Burn and Catallaxis already available for your reading pleasure. And mine.
Machine Sickness clearly falls into the "hard science" sub-genre of science-fiction, and is consequently frighteningly believable. The well-drawn characters are also believable, sometimes alluring, sometimes chilling. Because of the graphic violence and occasional sexuality, most older readers would view this book as not for young adults but, folks, times change. What you think young adults can handle these days has changed so much in recent years. Especially now with all of us learning what a pandemic can mean in every aspect of our lives. Strange to say a fictional apocalypse can be such an entertaining diversion from the world outside our individual quarantine zones. If I wasn't clear before, yes, I strongly recommend this book. Very good stuff very well told.
This review first appeared at BookPleasures.com on April 11, 2020 at:
https://waa.ai/TLIE
Book Review: Broken Chains by Karina Kantas
Broken Chains
Karina Kantas
Publisher : Dirty Streets Press (November 9, 2021)
Paperback : 250 pages
ISBN-10 : 1912996502
ISBN-13 : 978-1912996506
https://www.amazon.com/Broken-Chains-...
Reviewed by: Dr. Wesley Britton
In the opening pages of Broken Chains, we meet a young lady named Elizabeth Finley who is spying on MI5 headquarters. She’s a civilian wondering just how realistic the TV series Spooks is, the show renamed MI5 in the states. In short order, we meet an actual MI5 agent named Alex. He has been observing Liz before he recruits her into becoming a real operative for the spy organization.
Soon Liz is in the field on her first assignment-or so she thinks-before she’s abducted and endures a frightening and painful interrogation. At first, she thinks she’s in the hands of some unknown enemy until she learns she’s being tested by MI5 itself. And all this whirls by in just the first chapter. At the same time as all this is going on, we all get to wonder-is Alex more than a mentor to Liz? Will they or won’t they?
After that setup, few readers can anticipate what is coming in Kantas’s gritty and often hardcore tale of betrayal, brutal life inside three Mafia families, not to mention a very unexpected romance as Liz endures every physical torture imaginable. At the same time, she is forced to explore a very dark family heritage she knew nothing about.
I must admit, during the first chapters I thought I was reading a ‘60s-style spy novel featuring a spunky lady who becomes a master spy like an Alfred Hitchcock character. Then as every page in this fast-paced tale gets harsher and harsher, it became more and more evident Broken Chains is not for the faint-hearted or squeamish. That is, until the tone of the book changes again and we move into the few warm, positive later chapters. Temporarily. Liz has much to endure, over and over again.
My favorite part of it all is Kantas’s character development, primarily of Liz but also all the men who become part of her orbit as they all do their best to force her to bow to their respective wills. Liz is far more than a damsel in distress as we come to respect her, admire her, understand her, and get to explore the depths of who she is as a resilient, thoughtful, and caring human being. Through it all, I keep wondering just how effective MI5 can be as there’s no evidence they are doing anything on behalf of their young fledgling. For her part, as Liz is abducted over and over, her MI5 connections don’t seem to matter to her-those short months don’t remain an important memory in her life.
Again, this tale includes a lot of explicit material, both sexually and violently, especially the lengthy torture scenes. If that sort of material doesn’t turn you off, Broken Chains is a hot burner of a thriller that I found hard to put down.
This review first appeared at BookPleasures.com on Nov. 15, 2021:
https://waa.ai/qMQi
Karina Kantas
Publisher : Dirty Streets Press (November 9, 2021)
Paperback : 250 pages
ISBN-10 : 1912996502
ISBN-13 : 978-1912996506
https://www.amazon.com/Broken-Chains-...
Reviewed by: Dr. Wesley Britton
In the opening pages of Broken Chains, we meet a young lady named Elizabeth Finley who is spying on MI5 headquarters. She’s a civilian wondering just how realistic the TV series Spooks is, the show renamed MI5 in the states. In short order, we meet an actual MI5 agent named Alex. He has been observing Liz before he recruits her into becoming a real operative for the spy organization.
Soon Liz is in the field on her first assignment-or so she thinks-before she’s abducted and endures a frightening and painful interrogation. At first, she thinks she’s in the hands of some unknown enemy until she learns she’s being tested by MI5 itself. And all this whirls by in just the first chapter. At the same time as all this is going on, we all get to wonder-is Alex more than a mentor to Liz? Will they or won’t they?
After that setup, few readers can anticipate what is coming in Kantas’s gritty and often hardcore tale of betrayal, brutal life inside three Mafia families, not to mention a very unexpected romance as Liz endures every physical torture imaginable. At the same time, she is forced to explore a very dark family heritage she knew nothing about.
I must admit, during the first chapters I thought I was reading a ‘60s-style spy novel featuring a spunky lady who becomes a master spy like an Alfred Hitchcock character. Then as every page in this fast-paced tale gets harsher and harsher, it became more and more evident Broken Chains is not for the faint-hearted or squeamish. That is, until the tone of the book changes again and we move into the few warm, positive later chapters. Temporarily. Liz has much to endure, over and over again.
My favorite part of it all is Kantas’s character development, primarily of Liz but also all the men who become part of her orbit as they all do their best to force her to bow to their respective wills. Liz is far more than a damsel in distress as we come to respect her, admire her, understand her, and get to explore the depths of who she is as a resilient, thoughtful, and caring human being. Through it all, I keep wondering just how effective MI5 can be as there’s no evidence they are doing anything on behalf of their young fledgling. For her part, as Liz is abducted over and over, her MI5 connections don’t seem to matter to her-those short months don’t remain an important memory in her life.
Again, this tale includes a lot of explicit material, both sexually and violently, especially the lengthy torture scenes. If that sort of material doesn’t turn you off, Broken Chains is a hot burner of a thriller that I found hard to put down.
This review first appeared at BookPleasures.com on Nov. 15, 2021:
https://waa.ai/qMQi
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“The Blind Alien is a story with a highly original concept, fascinating characters, and not-too-subtle but truthful allegories. Don’t let the ...more
“The Blind Alien is a story with a highly original concept, fascinating characters, and not-too-subtle but truthful allegories. Don’t let the ...more
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