Rating: 
Summary: Just Because You're Paranoid.........
Review: ......Doesn't mean they aren't out to get you. So wrote Mark Twain many years ago and Jack Dunphy, the main character in this book, becomes a believer very quickly. Jim Hougan is half of the husband and wife team which writes under the pen name, John Case, and as such they have written two very good books and one which I have recently reviewed, which is not up to their earlier standards. However, on his own in this effort, Hougan more than carries the day. It is a fast paced mystery-thriller which leaves you wondering how much that is revealed therein, may be more fact than fiction. It will leave you satisfied that you have been told an interesting yarn, however as you scan the newspaper you may see stories that will make you wonder if all that is as it seems. To tell you more would spoil the fun. Read and enjoy!
Rating:
Summary: Where's his next novel?
Review: All I can say is - Jim Hougan, bring on the next novel, and do it fast! I've read a few of his non-fiction CIA books, and now wonder why he wasn't writing fiction sooner. I just happened to be reading Ludlum's latest, PROMETHEUS DECEPTION, when I started to get bored and picked this one up instead. Wow. Talk about a study in contrasts. Everything about Hougan's book topped Ludlum's tired old prose; this was a cerebral, suspenseful, well-told story. It took me just a day to finish it. The main hero, Jack Dunphy, is terrificaly written, and I love Hougan's sense of dialogue. My only real complaint is the lack of a satisfying ending. I don't know what I was expecting, but that wasn't it. But I also have to say no author has ever used the "Freedom of Information Act" as such a clever plot-point. When I realized what Hougan was up to, the astonished smile never left my face. What's REALLY interesting about this book though, is reading between the lines. Based on Hougan's past investigations of the intelligence community, one has to seriously wonder if the inspiration for this novel doesn't have some basis in real-life. If I were Hougan, my first fiction book would be about some cool tidbit I picked up during my research, and tucked away for the day I wrote the novel. (Makes you go, "hmmm....") If I was a betting man, I'd wager that's exactly what KINGDOM COME is -- fiction veiling some larger truth or rumor Hougan heard about. If so, what a truly weird world we live in!
Rating:
Summary: On The Trail
Review: Any book by Jim Hougan rates five stars. He's more on the trail than any other author. Baigent and Leigh (Holy Blood, Holy Grail) readers will enjoy this one.
Rating: 
Summary: KINGDOM DUMB
Review: Cattle mutilations. The Roswell UFOs. Crop circles. A black Madonna (no, not Whitney Houston). These and more are "explained" in Jim Hougan's overwrought conspiracy thriller, "Kingdom Come." Hougan is half the team using the pseudonymn John Case for his/their other books, and I have to admit, Case's works are far superior to this one. Admittedly, I am not a true fan of the "espionage" thriller, so I may be a bit prejudiced, but as a thriller connosieur, I found this book tedious, redundant and at times very boring. The pacing is incredibly slow, and when the action scenes do arrive, they are crisp and efficient, if not a little bloody. Anyway, Jack Dunphy and cohort Clementine are likeable characters, and you find yourself wanting to cheer them on as they search for the reasons Jack was booted out of the CIA and why his life is in danger. The additional threat from the man Jack "steals" money from only tends to bog down the true plot. At any rate, by the time Jack and Clementine reach the source of their search, the ending is so mystic and enigmatic, that one wonders why the book was even written. Technically, Hougan has some fine touches, but overall, is at best a mediocre read.
Rating:
Summary: KINGDOM DUMB
Review: Cattle mutilations. The Roswell UFOs. Crop circles. A black Madonna (no, not Whitney Houston). These and more are "explained" in Jim Hougan's overwrought conspiracy thriller, "Kingdom Come." Hougan is half the team using the pseudonymn John Case for his/their other books, and I have to admit, Case's works are far superior to this one. Admittedly, I am not a true fan of the "espionage" thriller, so I may be a bit prejudiced, but as a thriller connosieur, I found this book tedious, redundant and at times very boring. The pacing is incredibly slow, and when the action scenes do arrive, they are crisp and efficient, if not a little bloody. Anyway, Jack Dunphy and cohort Clementine are likeable characters, and you find yourself wanting to cheer them on as they search for the reasons Jack was booted out of the CIA and why his life is in danger. The additional threat from the man Jack "steals" money from only tends to bog down the true plot. At any rate, by the time Jack and Clementine reach the source of their search, the ending is so mystic and enigmatic, that one wonders why the book was even written. Technically, Hougan has some fine touches, but overall, is at best a mediocre read.
Rating:
Summary: Hypnotically chilling
Review: CIA operative Jack Dunphy works in London laundering money for individuals who cannot afford to use the legal methods to move money. He does other assignments for the agency. Currently, he is wire tapping the phone of Professor Leo Schindolof, an expert in Jungian philosophy. When the professor is mutilated and the tap discovered, Jack is ordered home. Upon arrival, he is debriefed and assigned a tedious desk job. Jack believes his unofficial demotion is designed to force him into resigning. He has no idea why his superiors want him to leave the agency except perhaps the link to the deceased professor. He begins some discreet checking, but his activities are noticed. Soon, attempts are made on Jack's life. As he gets closer to uncovering the truth about an internationally powerful cartel, his chances of survival geometrically drop by the hour. Conspiracy buffs will name the publishing date of KINGDOM COME as a national holiday. Jim Hougan answers the questions about the paranormal and extraterrestrial forces at work in today's world. The global conspiracy has religious undertones, headed by a wealthy organization that hides in plain sight. Readers will cheer on the likable lead protagonist who is an every person fighting a Quixote-like quest that has no boundaries. Though the tale is filled with many surprises, Mr. Hougan never loses sight of his main theme: the truth is right here not out there. Harriet Klausner
Rating: 
Summary: Hougan gives us a thriller!
Review: Disenfranchised, as it were, from the "Agency," Jack Dunphy has been reassigned to a desk closet, so to speak. His superiors are more than a little concerned over a case that's been bungled while in London (a "number" he's supposedly had underwraps, surveillance-wise, is dead!). Dissatisfied and just more than a little suspicious that his "handlers" are trying to ease him completely out of the picture, Jack begins his own investigation....and from there "Kingdom Come" comes alive. Well, to a point.
Granted, author Jim Hougan is compared (whether it's a complement or not remains to be seen) to Robert Ludlum, Ian Fleming, and Dan Brown, among others. Certainly, Hougan has chosen the "spy thriller" genre and probably there's not an overabundance of new and brilliant and readable ideas there. Still, Hougan gives it a try and does well, everything taken into consideration.
Agent Dunphy has to fight the demons in the closet, so to speak, and he has a partner in Clementine and together they go after the conspirators in the usual do-or-die scenario. Still, Clementine is a nice additive and complements Dunphy admirably.
Still: it's spy-thriller-fiction. That said, Hougan has every right to go for it, literarily. "Kingdom Come" is a very readable thriller, and like Ludlum, Fleming, and Brown, those universal conspiracy cases can only go so far, and like these two, he has to stretch occasionally. Again, it's fiction. It's not a Dan Rather expose or a Bill O'Reilly revelation-it's fiction. And worth the effort. A pleasant read. (Billyjhobbs@tyler.net)
Rating:
Summary: Kingdom Come, the ultimate conspiracy
Review: Don't judge a book by its cover, or for that matter, the first two chapters. It takes about that long before the action starts in this book and once the ball is rolling, it doesn't stop until you slam into the last page and then notice it is 2am and you haven't eaten dinner. If you've read any of his other works of non-fiction, you will know that his take on the CIA is well studied, and he gives us the same clear perspective on the world of the CIA in this book, only this time the dry 'facts' are interwoven with a story and characters that make it come right off the pages. The book has it's gory moments- shootings, violence and a full array of swear words, for those that might be swemish about those things, but the main focus of the book is on unravelling a mystery that grow with each new clue. I won't spoil the ending or the middle, but I recommend it as a good read for those who like a book that makes them 'think' a little.
Rating:
Summary: A couple of flaws, but good momentum
Review: Enjoyed this book, look hopefully forward to some kind of sequel. Main character Jack Dunphy was interesting and humanized (though I don't see the comparison to Bond at all). Good tying together of the messianic mythology. Dunphy makes a couple of dumb mistakes though, that I found hard to believe he would make, even during (or especially during) the heat of the chase. Still, started and finished it in one night, so must have been pretty good!
Rating:
Summary: Best book I have read in some time...
Review: Fresh story w/ a master concept as original as I've read since Allan Folsom's Day After Tomorrow. Buy this book, you will not be dissapointed.
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