Product Description

Somewhere in Russia is a man so powerful that no one even knows his name. Yet though he is all but invisible, he is pulling strings - and pulling them hard. With her finger on the switch to the European economy and her sights on the American jugular, Russia gains a new leader. Not just a president, he has been appointed Tsar, a signal to the world that the old imperial power is back - and plans to have her day. At the same time, a mysterious killer brutally murders an innocent American family, in the process blowing up the small midwestern town they called home. Just a taste, according to the new Tsar, of what will happen if America does not step aside in preventing Russia's plans to 'reintegrate' her rogue states. Onto this nightmarish stage steps special agent extraordinaire Alex Hawke, the only man - both the British and Americans agree - who can stop the madness.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #185715 in Books
• Published on: 2009-08-06
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 544 pages

About the Author
Ted Bell is the New York Times bestselling author of HAWKE, ASSASSIN and PIRATE. Visit him at www.tedbellbooks.com

Customer Reviews

The Most Exciting Suspensful Book of the decade
This is Ted Bell at his best the action never stops and the attack on an airship is quite amazing. If movie houses did'nt mess books to films up so much then I would say this would leave 007 standing.

The story involves a mad Russian who wants to take over the world with installing small explosive devices in computers that are sold all over the world for very small fees and then blowing everyone to bits if they react when Russia takes back her territories, slightly simillar to a Bond plot.

Hawke is as heroic as ever falling in love with the madmans daughter and getting her pregnant only adds to the suspense.

This is a fabulous book I would recommend for anyone.

Clichés, implausibility and ignorance
This book was a real disappointment. Although it made me laugh at times, this was obviously not the author's intention! As two previous commentators mentioned, it mixes clichés with ignorance and is, at times, downright implausible. I'll pass on the multiple James Bond clichés, mentioned by others, to concentrate on the two other items. Did you know, for instance, that Bermuda is, according to this autor, halfway between the United States and the UK? Someone didn't open an atlas before writting this book! Can you think of any (rather elderly and distinguished, of course!) head of MI6 who would go out at night with his old revolver and a limping Scotland Yard Inspector to take on a bunch of Rastas on their own? Can you even believe that an agent from a given country (here the UK) would be heading a US SEAL Team to assault an airship and taking direct orders from the President of the United States? Oh, and by the way, Mr Vladimir Poutine, locked up in a radioactive prison, id presented as being a democrat at heart, if you please...

007? I think not.
This book is dire. I read 211 pages of it and it rolls out cliche after cliche. It was so put downable, I put it down permanently! I read a book a week and so try and be diverse with authors and my borther had this book.
It started okay, but I was a little dubious when the central character was caught sunbathing naked on a beach by the top villan's beautiful daughter (cliche alarm ... most older James Bond films!). They do of course get it on but the "love scene" was far too detailed, if I wanted Mills & Boon I might have bought one!
I read all about his muscled black partner (cliche alarm... Stephen L Kent's Clone series). I read all about his best friend the world renown Scotland Yard Detective complete with pipe and walking stick and stupid name (cliche alarm); I bet you wouldn't see one person going in or out of Scotland Yard looking like that in a month of Sundays.
The hero is an ex Naval Commander who is living in a secluded spot in Bermuda chilling out. (The names not Bond, James Bond) He knows a little bit about everything but never actually got his bum into gear and killed anybody; rather prefering to pose naked for the top villan's daughter to photograph him! What's that all about?
The book is so bad; stick to McNab, Ryan, Cussler, Simon Scarrow, Andy Remic and most definetly Matthew Reilly!