JNMCT
(Just not my cup of tea, that's all)

roger, that

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But I am not a terrorist. The ICC have decided that I am a war criminal. There is a difference, which I would ask you to respect. Some call me a freedom fighter, but the truth is, Chief Constable, I'm just a soldier, who carried out his duty, fighting for his country.
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Tom is a member of the SAS. He has been dating Delphine but their relationship has been on strain since she feels like Tom picks his job over her. When he returns home after a failed attempt to capture Laszlo Antonov, a leader of a terrorist group, he is supposed to meat Delphine but when he stands her up again to do fight night with the other SAS members she decides she is done and is leaving home to France. Of course, once Tom shows up hours after he was supposed to meet her. Delphine’s roommate tells him she is gone, and Tom goes after her. This is how Tom and Delphine end up on a train with Laszlo and this of course starts a very action-packed thrilling book.

I really like how the book was set up. It is almost like this book was made to be a movie. It didn’t stay focused on one person for long but switch often between people on a limited third-person point of view. I really liked this as it gave every perspective of the situation. It also changed at the right time like how in a show or movie the screen changed between who is talking and goes between scenes of people. Well, that is exactly how the book is organized. The chapters are pretty short but there are also different sections in each chapter. It is easy to tell when we are changing perspectives which kept it easy to not get confused when it is changing multiple times a chapter.

This book is definitely action-packed and fast-paced. Most of the book is them on the train trying to escape alive. I also like that everything doesn’t always go right, there is definitely a lot of setbacks and injuries. In the beginning, we got to see a little about the history of the terrorist group and the beginning of Tom and Delphine’s relationship. Even though the beginning of the book was jaw-dropping and sickening, I like that’s how the book started. It got me engaged right away. I like that you know from the very beginning why the bad guys are bad. Some books I have read takes a while for you to understand what is wrong with the opposing side but from the very beginning, I was filled with hatred toward the terrorist group. The author did so well in starting the book off strong and clearly showing what kind of people these terrorists are. It got me and I am sure it will for other involved and emotionally tied to the situation right away.

I also really liked the writing style. You can clearly tell the thinking of the people as they speak. Like you can almost hear the bitterness in the terrorist’s words. And the words used to describe the scene are perfect for the type of book and sets the mood and tone of the story.

There is a lot of SAS and military jargon, which half I understood and a half I didn’t, but it made the book more realistic because as the SAS people were talking back and forth and as they were planning and executing their operations, you get a glimpse into that world. It was just very realistic and kept me entertained through the whole story.

I will warn there is a lot of horrible graphic violence that ensues with the hijacking of the train by the terrorist group because they will do whatever it takes to complete their secret addenda and make it out alive.

SAS: Red Notice is a fast-paced, engaging thriller which takes place mostly in the Chunnel. The main character, Tom Buckingham, is an SAS soldier who ends up on a Chunnel train to France trying to win back his girlfriend, Delphine. She is leaving him because he is married to his job and his buddies and seems hesitant to commit to her. The dark tunnel setting creates an urgent, claustrophobic atmosphere. Andy McNab's career with the SAS, and the FBI, advising on hostage negotiations, provides an authenticity and accuracy to the dialogue, plot and characters. The SAS characters are likeable and the reader feels like they are right there as part of the action. I was happy that Delphine was tough, intelligent and spirited, not a shrinking violet waiting to be rescued. The terrorists are violent and evil, but not two-dimensional as they are given a complex backstory. Readers looking for well-written non-stop action and intrigue will like SAS: Red Notice. There are descriptions of violence and atrocities that may be too much for some readers. I can't wait to see the movie. ( )

I received this book for free in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

An on the run tried and convicted war criminal, Laszlo Antonov has an international Red Notice warrant on him and UK officials think he is hiding out in London. After a mission to capture him goes bust, he's on the move again. Tom Buckingham was part of the SAS force that tried to capture him and after his night gets extended with another commitment to the Regiment and his brothers in arms, he finds out that his girlfriend Delphine is leaving him. Not wanting to let her go, he races to make the Eurostar train she's on, and passes none other than Antonov on the same train. Hostage situations, bombs, guns, and war criminals are nothing new to Tom but this time, the love of his life is in the mix.

With a prologue that starts in 1996 and from the pov of Antonov, the author set-up a heartless villain that had no problem killing children and raping woman, while also throwing in a mystery Englishman to plant a double crosser seed. Antonov is South Ossetian and his hate of Georgians killing his countrymen sent him on the path of being funded by the Russians for a paramilitary group that gets dubbed the “Black Bears”. Later in the book, readers also learn that Antonov was secretly supported by some UK officials because of an oil pipeline and was in fact trained by SAS forces. He's a villain that brings the violence, double-crossing, and government conspiracies.

Surprisingly, I didn't feel as if I knew our hero Tom as well. This is the first book in a series, so some of Tom could be held back but I never felt like we really penetrate his personality. There are some flashback scenes interchanged with the current action that show how him and Delphine met, their relationship, some moments with his teammates, and his parents but he mostly still came off wooden to me. Later on when he's working to put a stop to Antonov and save Delphine, we get some more emotion but I still felt I couldn't pick him out of a military fiction line-up; he doesn't quite spark enough to want to follow along in a continuing series.

The beginning was a little bit rough to get through, there is a lot of jargon, acronyms, and lingo (described and explained) that I'm sure is second-hand for the author but for the uninitiated it was a bit much to start off with and try to retain and get involved with. The chapters were very short, which I thought worked for all the pov changes we get but, along with some of the flashbacks scenes, there were a couple misplaced because they cut into the action flow and stalled any suspense and thriller feelings that were building. I also thought that the decision to have Antonov's character, somewhat, grudgingly grow to respect Delphine and drag her along, ruined the previous work done to set-up him up to be so ruthless. Any child killings began to feel more for simple shock factor instead of character building.

As for the series, this left some dangling threads, political maneuverings, double-crossing, and the start of a revenge plot for Tom to follow. With a whiff of Die Hard, I can see why this is going to be made into a movie and I do think it will translate over well. ( )

Review of eBook

Vicious terrorists bent on revenge hijack the Eurostar as it travels beneath the English Channel, taking the passengers and crew hostage. Who will emerge victorious? Laszlo and his sadistic team of attackers or the SAS’s Tom Buckingham and his brave comrades?

The political side of the story, replete with its mandatory chicanery, may ring true, but the story turns on a never-ending stream of oh-so-implausible, eye-rolling, unrealistic actions. In addition, several disconnects mar the telling of this unfortunate tale including a Jaguar that inexplicably morphs into a BMW and ceramic rounds that do not behave with uniformity.

The often-and-over-done plot [the brave hero saves the day and rescues his lady-love from the jaws of death], diminished by a never-ending stream of excessively overused and offensive expletives, alienates the reader with horrific descriptions of using a flame-thrower to turn a choking, coughing child into a human torch. The narrative is categorically gritty, relentlessly violent, and excruciatingly malevolent.

Overall, this one is nothing but a disappointment.

I received a free copy of this eBook from Welbeck Publishing and NetGalley
#SASRedNotice #NetGalley ( )