Eagle Trap

by Geoffrey Archer

Revenge is not a possibility, but a certainty.He was head of an international drugs ring, a kidnapper and a ruthless killer. One night British Sea Harriers reduced his Beirut headquarters to rubble and his evil empire to ruins. But Abdul Habib still had money, and hate, enough hate to spare to construct an elaborate plan which would destroy Gibraltar and the British Aircraft carrier which had committed the fatal strike.All he needed was luck to thread a nuclear warhead through the complicated network of the Middle East terrorist rings, get it on a Libyan freighter and head west across the Med-And enough luck to avoid the one man whose hate is even greater than his, Captain Peter Brodrick of the Royal Marines. A man Habib foolishly left alive, though he killed all his friends. A man whose fate is inextricably entwined with his.

Genres: Fiction, Military Fiction, Thriller, Novels

420 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1993

About the author

Geoffrey Archer is a fiction writer from London. He specialises in military adventures and spy thrillers and created the character Sam Packer.

Reviews

[Julie Tyuk · Rating 2 out of 5]

I used to love Geoffrey Archer's novels, but this one did not stick with me. It has too many details about work of helicopters, aircraft carriers and other deathly devises to my taste. Though the plot develops quite vividly it is clear from the start where it is going. I would say nicely going military action book, I am just did not read those for a while and most probably was not in the proper mood.
What I liked about it is the description of the former USSR military. I am so used to caricature image of those in books and movies that I was nicely supersized that you can actually see intelligent and sensible people and not muscular imbeciles with a Kalashnikov.
The funny trope the author used when he was killing the side characters: every time they were thinking about their children and then bang!.. Only the main villain and protagonist does not have any children. In this connection one particular scene touched me deeply. When a Turkish journalist was running away from Kurd assassins, he jumped in a taxi and a taxi driver was now voluntarily helping this journalist. After the short race the driver ordered the journalist to leave taxi and went to the cafe to calm down. And this scene is written so striking and touchy, that it moved me. I hope the taxi driver survived after he was found by assassins.

[J V Woods · Rating 1 out of 5]

Far fetched

Too many typo errors. Not a good yarn. A man gets pistol whipped acros the mouth, but manages to drink coffee but onl has a small bullet wound on his buttock. Not a very convincing story. I struggled to get to the end. I made a mistake when I bought this book. Got the wrong Archer. Thought it was Jeffery but it was Geoffery.

[Gal Perl Finkel]

"Eagle Trap", the excellent thriller by Geoffrey Archer opens with a bang: A failed rescue raid by the British SBS unit in Beirut in 1992. A force from the unit, led by Captain Peter Brodrick of the Royal Marines, failed when they tried to rescue Richard Bicknell from the captivity of a Lebanese criminal organization, led by Abdul Habib. During an air strike that was carried out as a diversion for the operation, Bicknell and Habib's brother were killed.

Seeking revenge, Habib obtains a nuclear weapon with the aim of blowing up the British aircraft carrier "Eagle" because the planes that attacked Beirut took off from it. Captain Brodrick Is an experienced officer, who fought with the Marines in the Falklands War, but the operation in Beirut left him full of doubts: "What had it all been for? The commando course, the toughest endurance test in the world; the yomping across East Falkland in 1982, fighting with his bare hands on Mount Harriet; his escape from death in Lebanon" (page 68).

He is assigned to the aircraft carrier, as the new commander of the Royal Marine security unit in the task force against drug trafficking. now he must stop Habib. An exciting, realistic and immersive story.

[Matt · Rating 3 out of 5]

Geoffrey Archer is a new author to me and the premise of the novel sounded good so I decided to try it. I enjoyed the military aspects and found them to be reasonably accurate, but the story was extremely predictable and I couldn't warm to the lead character at all. He had no charm or charisma and I'm still wondering why the leading lady felt any obligation to him, given that she was very attractive and clearly could have her choice in partners.

As a bit of light reading then this will suffice, but if you have other books you've been looking forward to reading I encourage you to go for them before this one. It will be some time before I try another of Geoffrey's books after this one, sorry, just can't recommend it.

[Pete · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is an entertaining military thriller by the lesser known Geoffrey Archer. The story isn't drastically different from other books in the crowded "terrorist has stolen a nuke and must be stopped" genre but this time the hero is a British Royal Marine rather than an American.

[John Faulkner · Rating 1 out of 5]

I have read many of his books over the years, which I have enjoyed. I have to say this is one of the worst books I have read. No clear or logical storyline.

Having started I finished but did not enjoy.

[Nishant Pappireddi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very suspenseful thriller, though I'm not sure how effective shooting a nuke with a gun would be in disabling it.

[Stephen Sayer · Rating 3 out of 5]

Eagle crap

Not one of Geoffrey's best. Too long and too many twists & turns. Tries too hard to copy Jeffrey, the real Archer

[archie macdougall · Rating 5 out of 5]

A must read

Enjoyed. A good by a awesome writer. Will look out for more of his awesome books .Will by looking for more

[Kevin Fitzgerald · Rating 5 out of 5]

really enjoyed this book.

Fascinating read from start to finish. Lots of technical details which I liked. Good list of characters. Enjoy. A good read.

[brian digby · Rating 4 out of 5]

Eagle trap review

I liked the ring of truth as distinct from fiction. There was connetedness throughout. There were characters who actually lived.

[Susan · Rating 3 out of 5]

1992-1994 Beirut, Gibraltar, London thriller about English marine versus terrorists

[page turned · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an excellent thriller which gripped me from the first page. It begins as British Royal Marines Captain Peter Brodrick is about to lead 10 of his best men into Lebanon to rescue a British hostage. He feels instinctively that the commission is rotten to its core, as it is backed by limited and questionable intelligence and even more questionable political motives. He foresees disaster, but what ensues leaves him more deeply scarred than even he could have predicted. Little does he know that the British action in Lebanon has stirred up a hornet's nest. At its heart is a man who is now hell-bent on securing revenge of a cataclysmic nature and who has connections reaching as far as the crumbling Soviet Union, where two nuclear warheads have recently vanished. From this point forward this man's destiny and Brodrick's are inextricably bound and what follows is a game of cat-and-mouse that has you unsure of the outcome up until almost the final page.

The book is extremely exciting and well-written and I read it addictively from start to finish. From the moment he is introduced to us, the protagonist Brodrick is very lifelike and intensely likeable. The locations - from Russia to Lebanon, the Mediterranean and Gibraltar - are vividly painted and Archer makes use of his detailed knowledge of naval military hardware and practices - and also personalities - to make this a fascinating and compelling read.

It was exactly what I'd hoped for - gripping, entertaining and unputdownable.

[Wendy · Rating 1 out of 5]

Preposterous plot. Woeful book and a proof reader would have been good