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October 2017 Group Read: Mortal Showdown #BOM-oct-2017
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Re the torpedo attack, I don't think it was said that the Russians thought that they wouldn't leave evidence behind, so it was a risk worth taking. BTW, I liked that action scene but I thought it could've been expanded more. I mean, this is the thriller genre, right? Isn't action a big part of it? Or am I way off-base?Continuing with that last thought, what do people think about the action scenes or the ones narrated after the fact, usually Arthur telling Misha about his covert missions, like killing The White Tiger.
Alex, consider what the Americans think of Russia when they say that Russian TV spent $100,000 of ads during the election campaign, and that MIGHT have influenced the election. Now, what would they do if Russia started sinking civilian ships for no apparent reason?As for action scenes, I felt that more could have been made of Arthur's missions - here really was a case for show rather than tell. More interesting was the last scene. I thought that was quite well written and it almost had me believing it was possible. In practice, someone like Koroblyov would call in someone else to have Misha's hands back behind him. As an aside, it seems Misha is something approaching a contortionist to get his hands from behind to the front - try it sometime, recalling the wrists are held close together. I also thought that throwing the table at Koroblyov wasn't that realistic, but, as I said, Nik wrote it so well that unless you stopped to think about it (to write these sorts of posts) you wouldn't think of that. I also think Nik would have got more tension out of that if you had Misha in the cell, and the others coming into the base, and would they get there quickly enough to save Misha, or would they even get there at all?
Actually getting into the naval base stretches credibility, and how did they know Misha was there? Why was he there, as opposed to being shipped off to somewhere unpleasant for deep interrogation? Still, Nik's writing was easily good enough to quell most such thoughts from most readers. And it is arguable if you contrive it so that you cover all such bases, some readers start to accuse you of being too intellectual, which may not be desirable in reviews. So on this last scene, I think Nik did rather well.
Ian wrote: "Now, what would they do if Russia started sinking civilian ships for no apparent reason?..."I thought French authorities had undertaken an investigation -:) We do see how Americans react to what they deem improper (Magnitsky case and others).
Glad you somewhat liked the last scene, however I can't take most of the credit to myself, as my original ending was Arthur getting there in time to save Misha and whacking Korablyov, but with this particular scene my editor insisted it had to be 'personal' and also suggested how Misha 'frees' himself and after some thought I took his advice that the final 'showdown' should be vis-a-vis. As long as it (somewhat) works - it's more despite my own ideas than because of them -:)
Done!What do you think of Nik's bio at the end? I thought it lent quite a bit of authenticity to the work. Might it be worked into the blurb to good effect? What do you think?
Seems like the reality from which the assassination scenes in Mortal Showdown originate is still alive and well.Ukraine MP injured in ‘assassination attempt’This link to current events could well be yet another selling point for the Mortal Showdown series.
A blast in Ukraine's capital Kiev has killed a man and injured three others, including an MP, in what officials say may have been an assassination attempt.
A bodyguard of Ihor Mosiychuk - a nationalist Radical Party MP - was killed, the organisation's head said.
The blast happened when Mr Mosiychuk and several other people were leaving the headquarters of a TV channel.
...
Kiev has in recent years seen a number of deadly attacks on high-profile politicians and journalists.
In March, Denis Voronenkov, a former Russian MP who fled to Ukraine last year, was shot dead outside a hotel in the centre of the capital.
In July 2016, a prominent Belarusian journalist and Kremlin critic, Pavel Sheremet, was killed in a car bomb explosion.
Two years ago, Oles Buzyna, a Ukrainian journalist known for his pro-Russian views, was shot dead not far from his flat.
(http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europ...)
Obviously a rather lawless country. The police are not doing their duty.
Alex wrote: "Seems like the reality from which the assassination scenes in Mortal Showdown originate is still alive and well.Ukraine MP injured in ‘assassination attempt’A blast in Ukraine's capital Kiev has k..."
Yeah, unfortunately these and other incidents happen rather frequently and for a long time.. Add to the incidents also so-called 'accidents', like, for example, former interior minister committing suicide with two gunshots to the head: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/439....
Two shots seem a bit of an overkill if I imagine suicide, but who am I to argue?
That's the place that I'm trying to introduce to the readers..
Ian wrote: "Obviously a rather lawless country. The police are not doing their duty."Maybe things are changing now, but I need to correct you a little if we are speaking generally:
Police there are not doing their duty for their salary, but they are often happy to perform remarkably well on 'private' orders backed by generous monetary incentives, even when there is nothing criminal.. Paraphrasing an old KGB saying: "If there is a person, there is always an offense he/she committed"
I stand by what I said, Nik. Their duty is not to arrest people when paid to do so by private opposition. It is to arrest the people guilty of having committed a genuine crime. Lack of fair salary obviously hurts doing their duty. Reminds me of my Czech adventure. After driving over a lot of Polish cobble roads, the shaking had presumably done something to the hydraulic cylinder working my clutch. I went into a garage and asked to buy some hydraulic oil (my idea was to keep topping up until I could get to the West and hope to get parts) so they gave me a 2 litre can! I didn't really want that much (actually, it turned out that I probably did because the leak got worse) but he said, keep it. No need to pay. Then he explained - today, the Russians own it, so I can't take any money. He had no interest in doing anything for the Russians.
Ian wrote: "I stand by what I said, Nik. Their duty is not to arrest people when paid to do so by private opposition. It is to arrest the people guilty of having committed a genuine crime. Lack of fair salar..."
I believe corrupted courts and law enforcement agencies is one of the biggest problems in those more phony than others democracies, when one can pay or use connections and ruin or swallow somebody's biz, put someone behind the bars or 'buy' a court decision he/she fancies..
At least you can get there free hydraulic oil sometimes)
Other foreign businessmen, I heard, were particularly excited by the ladies)
Just wanted to thank all the participants for their interest, critique, advice and thoughts. Call it masochism, but I've also enjoyed the discussion)
Thanks, Nik!Looking forward to book #4 in the series. :)
Kent wrote: "Thanks, Nik!Looking forward to book #4 in the series. :)"
Thanks, Kent! I'm afraid I might be a little cruel to some oligarch brats, if I continue)
Haha. Fair enough.What about a near future world where Misha's ideals have actually be realized?
Kent wrote: "Haha. Fair enough.What about a near future world where Misha's ideals have actually be realized?"
That's probably a different genre altogether, but should be an interesting project! Gotta think about it)
I wanted to take a moment thank the book of the month author,
Nik Krasno for allowing us the privilege of hosting his novel as our book of the month read.For those of you who read his book, I encourage you to leave a review. I'll be doing so as well.
Ian wrote: "I have already left a review"Many thanks!
World, Writing, Wealth
Books mentioned in this topic
Be First or Be Dead (other topics)Mortal Showdown (other topics)
Authors mentioned in this topic
Nik Krasno (other topics)Nik Krasno (other topics)
Nik, I agree Russian subs in the Med is a given. My point is, how would they recognise Misha's boat, why would they be so close to a port doing nothing else and not be detected by the French navy, and why would they risk a torpedo? The chances of nothing of a luxury yacht washing up somewhere, or being picked up by someone, seems to me to be such that that scene was one hell of a risk.