Red Wind

Rating:
Summary: Story hangs together, weak ending, gross errors toward end
Review: Good taut story line at the beginning, where the body count is building, but I thought the resolution at the end was weak. The biggest flaws for me concerned the helicopters. He wrote about an Apache in Vietnam - I don't think so. Apaches weren't produced until after Vietnam. Also, he kept alternately referring toward the end of the book to the presidential helicopter as a Blackhawk, and as a Huey (two different birds entirely). He also should have known, had he done his research, that Blackhawks have rotor de-ice kits (main and tail), and it is unthinkable that the presidential helicopter would not have one installed.

Rating:
Summary: The second-best book in the Bogner series
Review: This is the fifth in the T.C. Bogner series, but Mr. Largent writes in a way where you're not penalized for failing to read the previous four (so feel free to pick it up_. I give this three and a half stars, rounded up.

The morons who put the cover together really did a number on Mr. Largent. All five of the "Red ... (Tide, Ice, Skies, Sand, Wind, in that order)" Bogner novels are labeled as "The Techno-thriller that out-Clancys Clancy," but only the first two fit the bill (Red Tide, Red Ice) and only actually approaches the level of technical research that you find in a Clancy novel (Red Ice). The other three (including this one) are merely suspense novels, where the story takes precedence over the technical details.

To give you an example of how bad the packaging is: T.C. Bogner is referred to as a commander on the back cover, and yet he had already been promoted to captain in Red Skies, which was the one before Red Sand, which was the one before this. One gets the impression that Mr. Largent's publisher didn't like him too much.

This book - taken on its own without paying attention to the "techno-thriller" drivel on the cover - is actually quite good. If you want a techno-thriller, try Red Ice (which has a good plot as well, but is harder to follow), which is my favorite in the series. If you prefer straight-forward action, this one is the fastest (and most violent) one in the series. I recommend it highly - the previous reviews which criticize the ending have some merit, but you can knock it out in a day and won't regret the time spent.

Rating:
Summary: Story hangs together, weak ending, gross errors toward end
Review: Up to page 129, this one had me interested despite an inordinate number of characters. Then pages 130 thru 160 contained an excerpt of Devil's Honor (by Debra Dier). Needless to say, I was left hanging.

Rating:
Summary: Fair, as far as I could get.
Review: Up to page 129, this one had me interested despite an inordinate number of characters. Then pages 130 thru 160 contained an excerpt of Devil's Honor (by Debra Dier). Needless to say, I was left hanging.