Smoker

Rating:
Summary: The Guy was still a stupid body guard so far.
Review: "How did you get my phone number?" Guy doing body guard business, and didn't know when the "Caller ID" technique marketed? This kind dialogue should not have appeared. And why Rucka could not make his tragic hero a bit smarter? Or he simply couldn't make him smarter? I've never read any book that a guy doing security business and making it as a living is so pathetic and stupid. Rucka is a readable writer, but why he always failed to make his characters just a bit smarter and not so disgustingly moronic? This is the 3rd one of the series, just wishing some improvement would happen in the forth.

Rating:
Summary: Rucka comes into his own
Review: FINDER was a strong, intelligent debut novel hampered by an ending almost Neal Stephenson-esque in its abruptness and a villain who came straight out of left field in the novel's closing pages; KEEPER was another solid piece of work, but shifted focus erratically, abandoning the compelling opening setup of Manhattan's seedy bondage scene for a mishmash of family drama and incompletely-realized international intrigue.

SMOKER is the novel where Greg Rucka's obvious talents really begin running on all cylinders, combining his strengths - an intelligent, muscular prose voice, a knack for dialogue and character development, and a laudable devotion to realism - with a tight, focused plot and an adversary every bit as fascinating as the lead characters.

The book opens with professional bodyguard Atticus Kodiak at the end of his personal and professional rope - estranged from his girlfriend by an act of monumental stupidity on his part, and persona non grata in the security industry for the bad luck that seems to follow him from job to job. He's given a last chance by one of his old contacts in the industry, but it may prove to be his undoing as he begins to suspect that he's going up against one of the world's most feared assassins.

With this book, it becomes obvious that the Kodiak novels' claim to fame is their scrupulous realism, both in the physical and emotional arenas. The characters are not supermen; they can be hurt and killed, and they fail almost as often as they succeed. With a couple of exceptions, Rucka avoids big Hollywood-style thriller setpieces; he knows that even a simple gunfight can be almost unbearably tense if the reader knows that the characters aren't invincible.

Rucka is similarly honest about his characters' emotional lives; they have flaws and inner lives that both affect and are affected by the goings-on of the plot. And he resists the temptation to smack the "reset" button at the end of each novel - the series changes and develops with each new entry, and not every problem is solved at the end of a novel, lending the Kodiak books some of the addictive appeal of serial fiction.

I started reading Rucka as a way to pass the long summer nights, but his work is too meaty to be considered mere disposable summer reading. Pick these up - you'll be glad you did.

Rating:
Summary: "Best six dollars I ever spent."
Review: great, truly the best book ever, Rucka is the Shakespear of the 90'

Rating:
Summary: Rucka Nails It!
Review: Greg Rucka's primary strengths are his characterization and pacing and in SMOKER it all falls perfectly into place. His protagonist Atticus Kodiak returns, still aggravatingly introspective but immensely compelling, as does Rucka's social commentary and intricate plotting. With a tobacco industry whistleblower as the principal, Rucka gets a little heavy-handed at times with soapbox monologues but because his characters are so well-defined and the plot makes sense - something that hobbled FINDER at times - it works without feeling forced.

Kodiak's supporting cast is particularly strong this time around, with "John Doe" and Jeremiah Pugh stealing the show whenever they're on stage. If Rucka ever scores a movie deal, this is the book I want to see on screen.

KEEPER was a strong debut. FINDER was a solid, if over-the-top follow-up. SMOKER is the complete package.

Rating:
Summary: Best of the series yet, a classic. READ IT!!!
Review: I am a GR fan from book one. A good series with a compelling protagonist ususally gets better with time (see Cornwell's 'Scarpetta' or Kellerman's 'Decker'/'Delaware' series). Same with Attikus Kodiak. Great plots, good relationships, fantastic action sequences and a complex psyche of our leading characters (all of them: Kodiak, Trends, Emma...) This third bood in the series manages to combine all the elements that make a good serial thriller. I ripped through it within 36 hours.

Rating:
Summary: Best of the series yet, a classic. READ IT!!!
Review: I am a GR fan from book one. A good series with a compelling protagonist ususally gets better with time (see Cornwell's 'Scarpetta' or Kellerman's 'Decker'/'Delaware' series). Same with Attikus Kodiak. Great plots, good relationships, fantastic action sequences and a complex psyche of our leading characters (all of them: Kodiak, Trends, Emma...) This third bood in the series manages to combine all the elements that make a good serial thriller. I ripped through it within 36 hours.

Rating:
Summary: A well developed protagonist makes this series a success
Review: I've read Rucka's first three novels (Keeper, Finder, Smoker)after reading some of his comic book work. What astounds me about the Atticus Kodiak novels (so far) is there consistency. Atticus is a living breathing person, made more so by his imperfections. I agree with an earlier reviewer that I was screaming "Idiot" as much as I was cheering him on. In this way Rucka's books are like Owen Parry's Abel Jones series, as both featuring people who are as close to reality a fictional character can get. You have your disagreements with them, and yet you know at the end of the day you like and respect them, and would be proud to call them friend.

Returning to "Smoker", I don't think this is my favorite of the series, but it is still an excellent book. Atticus Kodiak finds himself guarding a key witness against the tobacco industry. While Rucka does make his view of this debate known, it isn't the primary focus of the novel. Wisely, Rucka focuses on Kodiak's battle with a master assassin, who hangs over the proceedings like a grim fog; Kodiak knows the assassin is there, but doesn't know what that person has in store.

While the ending is a little weak, the overall novel is a definite success of tension, suspense, and human conflict, from the battle between killer and protector, on to the mundane interactions of people in their daily lives. Rucka gets it right in ways that certain people in the genre have not.

Rating:
Summary: A well developed protagonist makes this series a success
Review: I've read Rucka's first three novels (Keeper, Finder, Smoker)after reading some of his comic book work. What astounds me about the Atticus Kodiak novels (so far) is there consistency. Atticus is a living breathing person, made more so by his imperfections. I agree with an earlier reviewer that I was screaming "Idiot" as much as I was cheering him on. In this way Rucka's books are like Owen Parry's Abel Jones series, as both featuring people who are as close to reality a fictional character can get. You have your disagreements with them, and yet you know at the end of the day you like and respect them, and would be proud to call them friend.

Returning to "Smoker", I don't think this is my favorite of the series, but it is still an excellent book. Atticus Kodiak finds himself guarding a key witness against the tobacco industry. While Rucka does make his view of this debate known, it isn't the primary focus of the novel. Wisely, Rucka focuses on Kodiak's battle with a master assassin, who hangs over the proceedings like a grim fog; Kodiak knows the assassin is there, but doesn't know what that person has in store.

While the ending is a little weak, the overall novel is a definite success of tension, suspense, and human conflict, from the battle between killer and protector, on to the mundane interactions of people in their daily lives. Rucka gets it right in ways that certain people in the genre have not.

Rating:
Summary: A master of suspense
Review: If you are looking for something truly different and genuinely exciting, buy this book. Fresh and original in concept, and full of great characters, SMOKER gets my vote for best suspense novel of 1998. Rucka is a master of thriller writing, and this is his best book yet. His plots are superior and they really make you think. Once this one takes off, there are so many exciting twists and turns, and so much well-written action, that it is literally hard to put down. This author is someone to follow. I look forward to the next Atticus Kodiak novel and I hope it is coming soon.

Rating:
Summary: Rucka has it figured out...
Review: It is always refreshing to read a novel that hits the exact mark that the author is aiming for. Smoker is an adventure novel, dealing with the world of top level personal security specialists. Rucka provides us with enough industry secrets and shop-talk, that we feel like we are actually learning something, while we are being entertained. He writes action well, and paces his novel perfectly. Most importantly, Rucka gives us a hero we like. Atticus Kodiak is not so wounded, and drowning in self-pity, that we are force fed his neurosis for 400 pages. Yet, he isn't the Man of Steel either...he occasionally makes mistakes. Smoker doesn't delve deep into the psyche of the professional bodyguard, or the professional assasin, nor does it posture too long on issues with big tobacco. After all, this is an adventure novel. Essentially, Smoker is about a very likeable guy, who spends his time getting someone from Point A to Point B in one piece and breathing. Not so light that the pages drift out of our hands, yet not so heavy that we can't seem to turn them, Smoker is somewhere right in the middle...right where Greg Rucka was aiming.