Michael J. Stedman's Blog
March 25, 2013
The Schliemann Legacy
Page ripping adventure!, March 25, 2013
By Michael J. Stedman - See all my reviews
Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)
This review is from: The Schliemann Legacy (Kindle Edition)
The hero, Heinrich Schliemann, keeps the reader thirsting for more of this pot-boiling spy adventure. Stolen treasures of ancient Troy have been squirreled away during the WWII Nazi occupation of Turkey. The outsized protagonist pits his old enemies vs one another in a plot worthy of the best of a merger between Ken Follett and Robert Ludlum. History, spies, and high risk thrills wait within these pages filled with unforgettable characters who leap off the page. Well done, Mr. D.A. Graystone!
By Michael J. Stedman - See all my reviews
Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)
This review is from: The Schliemann Legacy (Kindle Edition)
The hero, Heinrich Schliemann, keeps the reader thirsting for more of this pot-boiling spy adventure. Stolen treasures of ancient Troy have been squirreled away during the WWII Nazi occupation of Turkey. The outsized protagonist pits his old enemies vs one another in a plot worthy of the best of a merger between Ken Follett and Robert Ludlum. History, spies, and high risk thrills wait within these pages filled with unforgettable characters who leap off the page. Well done, Mr. D.A. Graystone!
October 5, 2012
Kirkus Reviews "A for Argonaut"
Things are looking up for Mac Maran. Kirkus took notice this week and published this review. If you haven’t had a look yet, “A for Argonaut” is available on Amazon.com for $2.99!
http://amzn.to/NxqpQm
https://cms.kirkusreviews.com/book-re...
A FOR ARGONAUT
Book 1 of a globe-trotting, espionage epic of the evergreen “red-blooded American” school, starring a laconic icon of vengeance-seeking machismo who rights international wrongs, gets the (international) girl and who will—apparently—be back for 25 more novels.
Stedman’s debut features an impossibly charismatic, multiculti protagonist, one Mack Maran, a disgraced Irish-Catholic ex–U.S. Army lieutenant colonel from South Boston who smokes cigars (American-made, of course) and sports a tattoo that proclaims—in Hebrew—“Who Dares Wins.” Booted out of his shadowy military unit and suffering from physical and emotional trauma, Maran sets out to foil assorted Islamic terrorists, illegal arms dealers and kidnappers, aided by delectable diamond courier Amber Chu. International villains Grigol Rakhmonov Boyko and “Slang” Vangaler (a black magic expert whose nickname is Afrikaans for “snake”) keep things roiling along in the Congo and elsewhere. Though its convoluted plot and cynical atmosphere come fairly straight from the action-adventure playbook, the novel’s easily identifiable good guys (and equally obvious bad guys) often rise a notch or two above the predictable stock figures of that genre, making it just possible that the author’s intentions are ever so slightly satirical—in the manner of Starship Troopers, perhaps—but, thankfully, not quite meta. Present are the usual twists, but they never stop the action. And while Stedman’s prose rips along at a keen pace over the novel’s 300-plus pages, it never gets too self-consciously script-ready; his players are often given something more to say than lame one-liners. And few writers in this field even bother with the sort of polished travelogue set pieces found here. In a perfect world, an ageless Bruce Willis and an eternally comely Zhang Ziyi would star in the sort of big-screen summer blockbuster adaptation that critics spurn and audiences (and Netflix subscribers) devour.
Perfect fare for frequent fliers and others with time to kill in between installments of the seemingly endless Bourne saga and other such globe-trotting, testosterone-fueled conspiracy-franchise affairs.
http://amzn.to/NxqpQm
https://cms.kirkusreviews.com/book-re...
A FOR ARGONAUT
Book 1 of a globe-trotting, espionage epic of the evergreen “red-blooded American” school, starring a laconic icon of vengeance-seeking machismo who rights international wrongs, gets the (international) girl and who will—apparently—be back for 25 more novels.
Stedman’s debut features an impossibly charismatic, multiculti protagonist, one Mack Maran, a disgraced Irish-Catholic ex–U.S. Army lieutenant colonel from South Boston who smokes cigars (American-made, of course) and sports a tattoo that proclaims—in Hebrew—“Who Dares Wins.” Booted out of his shadowy military unit and suffering from physical and emotional trauma, Maran sets out to foil assorted Islamic terrorists, illegal arms dealers and kidnappers, aided by delectable diamond courier Amber Chu. International villains Grigol Rakhmonov Boyko and “Slang” Vangaler (a black magic expert whose nickname is Afrikaans for “snake”) keep things roiling along in the Congo and elsewhere. Though its convoluted plot and cynical atmosphere come fairly straight from the action-adventure playbook, the novel’s easily identifiable good guys (and equally obvious bad guys) often rise a notch or two above the predictable stock figures of that genre, making it just possible that the author’s intentions are ever so slightly satirical—in the manner of Starship Troopers, perhaps—but, thankfully, not quite meta. Present are the usual twists, but they never stop the action. And while Stedman’s prose rips along at a keen pace over the novel’s 300-plus pages, it never gets too self-consciously script-ready; his players are often given something more to say than lame one-liners. And few writers in this field even bother with the sort of polished travelogue set pieces found here. In a perfect world, an ageless Bruce Willis and an eternally comely Zhang Ziyi would star in the sort of big-screen summer blockbuster adaptation that critics spurn and audiences (and Netflix subscribers) devour.
Perfect fare for frequent fliers and others with time to kill in between installments of the seemingly endless Bourne saga and other such globe-trotting, testosterone-fueled conspiracy-franchise affairs.
July 31, 2012
There are no more secrets... Welcome Home!
GREETINGS FRIEND: Welcome to GoodReads. I’m assuming that since we’re talking you are interested in what is happening in the world. You probably also like to read thrillers.
I’m not going to be flattering your ego in this blog, nor, I hope, will I ever insult your intelligence. But I will attempt to challenge both.
First of all, a polite introduction.
I could assume that you’re a red-blooded American, but that would mean I’m doing what they call in the intelligence community (IC). “mirror-imaging,” and it would be stupid. Actually, some of my best friends are un-American … oops, I mean non-American. And I hope I can reach out and touch you no matter in which part of the world you live, your nationality, religion, blah, blah, blah. I’m an equal opportunity bullshitter … oops, I mean talker.
Our first point of common ground is probably my debut thriller: “A for Argonaut.”
Go to my website and hit the “Buy the Book” button right now and we can forgo the rest of the formalities.
Or … maybe I should tell you a bit of my background as a way of guiding you through the steps that got me here:
Adopted
Grew up in a South Boston (Southie) housing project
Raised by salt-of-the-earth hard working parents (adoptive)
Educated at Northeastern University (journalism)
Spent fifteen years at Local newspapers ending as an investigative reporter.
Wrote a number of business and political columns for newspapers and magazines
Then went into competitive intelligence (CI) working for America’s largest companies
I’m telling you this as a way of directing you to understanding my route to this novel … all of it; the writing, the CI, and my commitment to the RJC contributed to the theme and the message of this book, BUT most importantly, “A” is an action drama which I hope will capture your attention and give you a great time.
I’m not going to be flattering your ego in this blog, nor, I hope, will I ever insult your intelligence. But I will attempt to challenge both.
First of all, a polite introduction.
I could assume that you’re a red-blooded American, but that would mean I’m doing what they call in the intelligence community (IC). “mirror-imaging,” and it would be stupid. Actually, some of my best friends are un-American … oops, I mean non-American. And I hope I can reach out and touch you no matter in which part of the world you live, your nationality, religion, blah, blah, blah. I’m an equal opportunity bullshitter … oops, I mean talker.
Our first point of common ground is probably my debut thriller: “A for Argonaut.”
Go to my website and hit the “Buy the Book” button right now and we can forgo the rest of the formalities.
Or … maybe I should tell you a bit of my background as a way of guiding you through the steps that got me here:
Adopted
Grew up in a South Boston (Southie) housing project
Raised by salt-of-the-earth hard working parents (adoptive)
Educated at Northeastern University (journalism)
Spent fifteen years at Local newspapers ending as an investigative reporter.
Wrote a number of business and political columns for newspapers and magazines
Then went into competitive intelligence (CI) working for America’s largest companies
I’m telling you this as a way of directing you to understanding my route to this novel … all of it; the writing, the CI, and my commitment to the RJC contributed to the theme and the message of this book, BUT most importantly, “A” is an action drama which I hope will capture your attention and give you a great time.
