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Luther Ewing #3
No Way Back
Discuss. It takes only one word before Luther Ewing's mandatory six-month vacation from a Baltimore narc squad leaves him holed up in a D.C. spook house, prepping for a CIA mission. Nadya, a Russki vixen,is there to help him brush up on his Russian, while Eunkyong, a knock-out Korean-American is there to train him in Tae Kwon Do and give him Koreanlessons -- just enough to get by where he's going. He's got a new wardrobe full of tailored business suits and chinos, a new arsenal, even a new name -- Terrence Prentice -- and a simple job Protect the package. The rest of the details are a bit Guard Mr. Kim, a South Korean businessman known to be doing a little trading with the rogue North. GetKim into Vladivostok to seal a shady CIA-sponsored deal with two corrupt Russian generals, and then get him back out alive. Easy, no bang bang, just quick thinking and some smooth talk. But the devil is in the details -- and what Luther doesn't know might just get him killed. Relentless prose and unforgettable characters punctuate the page-turning action, as Michael Crow once again delivers a novel that not only explores violence, greed, and betrayal but also plumbs the depths of the human heart.
304 pages, Hardcover
First published May 31, 2005
3 people are currently reading
20 people want to read
About the author
Michael Crow
33 books1 followerPseudonym of Thomas Moran, journalist and author. Lives in New York, Woodstock, NY, and Europe.
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
May 2, 2010
PROTAGONIST: Luther Ewing, Baltimore narcotics detective
SETTING: Korea and Vladivostok
SERIES: #3 of 3
RATING: 3.0
Luther Ewing is a member of the Baltimore County Police Department, but he doesn't play the political game. Consequently, when his unauthorized plan to expose a crooked DEA agent backfires, he is suspended from the force for six months. Even before the suspension is official, he is approached by a CIA recruiter named Westley who wants to hire him to bodyguard a South Korean businessman, Mr. Kim, who is involved in an information transfer with a group of corrupt Russian generals.
In order to prepare for the assignment, Luther works with a team of company handlers who are covering every angle necessary to do the job. He studies with Nadya to improve his fluency in Russian, Eunkyong to learn some elementary Korean and generally gets himself back into the required physical and mental state. It's been a long time since Luther (now going as "Terry Prentice") saw action in Vietnam; in addition to his general physical deterioration, he suffers the after effects of a head wound that continues to cause him problems.
It felt like more than half of the book was devoted to the preparatory stage; other than seeing how the team dynamics worked, there was nothing much going on that made the pages turn faster. There was some conflict between team members, particularly between Westley and an agent named Allison, who was supposedly leading the team. Luther quickly figures out that he needs to rely on himself, as it is unclear what everyone else's agenda is. As expected, there are a few double crosses along the way.
In general, the characters are developed to formula, with the exception of Kim's personal aide, Sonny. The plot was confusing, with too many unexplained references to previous books in the series. Billed as a "thriller", I found NO WAY BACK to be anything but. There was very little action to speak of, other than in some of Luther's flashbacks to past experiences. Even in the penultimate scene of Kim meeting with the Russians, the activity was over with very quickly. Personally, I felt cheated to have devoted so much time to the book to have the final "showdown" be dealt with so perfunctorily.
SETTING: Korea and Vladivostok
SERIES: #3 of 3
RATING: 3.0
Luther Ewing is a member of the Baltimore County Police Department, but he doesn't play the political game. Consequently, when his unauthorized plan to expose a crooked DEA agent backfires, he is suspended from the force for six months. Even before the suspension is official, he is approached by a CIA recruiter named Westley who wants to hire him to bodyguard a South Korean businessman, Mr. Kim, who is involved in an information transfer with a group of corrupt Russian generals.
In order to prepare for the assignment, Luther works with a team of company handlers who are covering every angle necessary to do the job. He studies with Nadya to improve his fluency in Russian, Eunkyong to learn some elementary Korean and generally gets himself back into the required physical and mental state. It's been a long time since Luther (now going as "Terry Prentice") saw action in Vietnam; in addition to his general physical deterioration, he suffers the after effects of a head wound that continues to cause him problems.
It felt like more than half of the book was devoted to the preparatory stage; other than seeing how the team dynamics worked, there was nothing much going on that made the pages turn faster. There was some conflict between team members, particularly between Westley and an agent named Allison, who was supposedly leading the team. Luther quickly figures out that he needs to rely on himself, as it is unclear what everyone else's agenda is. As expected, there are a few double crosses along the way.
In general, the characters are developed to formula, with the exception of Kim's personal aide, Sonny. The plot was confusing, with too many unexplained references to previous books in the series. Billed as a "thriller", I found NO WAY BACK to be anything but. There was very little action to speak of, other than in some of Luther's flashbacks to past experiences. Even in the penultimate scene of Kim meeting with the Russians, the activity was over with very quickly. Personally, I felt cheated to have devoted so much time to the book to have the final "showdown" be dealt with so perfunctorily.
Displaying 1 of 1 review