Second book in the series about secret agent Lord Alexander Hawke

A group of Islamic terrorists are systematically assassinating American ambassadors and their families worldwide while working on a plot to launch a devastating attack against the United States on American soil.

Secretary of State Consuelo de Los Reyes asks Alex Hawke the only man able to foil this conspiracy to join Jack Patterson in the investigation. Assisted by Stokely Jones a Navy Seal, they embark on an action packed mission stretching from London to Indonesia and from Washington to the Florida Keys, their objective: to find the men responsible and avert a cataclysmic attack that would cripple the nation.

“Assassin” is exciting, action-packed with an outrageous espionage story. The characters are fascinating, the good guys are larger than life heroes and colourful, Hawke is smart, resourceful attractive- everything needed for an action figure. As for the villains, they are very eccentric and set on ruling and destroying the world at any cost, you hate them right from the start. This adventure is similar to watching a James Bond movie: it is set in exotic locales, with hairpin plots and twists, bleeding edge technology, fancy cars, haute couture, gourmet eating, hot men and women. Mr Bell has captivated me with his seamless writing and his intriguing story line, I was completely engrossed from page one. ( )

http://www.austcrimefiction.org/node/... ( )

Unfortunately, Ted Bell's writing has not improved much in his second Alexander Hawke novel. He still tries to do too much, to copy too many stock characters, to have his hero too perfect, to have the villain, too evil, etc. If Bell would limit his scope and scale back the number of characters that assist Hawke, the books would be much more enjoyable. For the time being, a Clive Cussler novel (even those that he simply "co-writes") is a much better way to pass the time than an Alexander Hawke novel. I have elected not to keep reading Bell's books (at least until someone tells me that his storytelling has improved). ( )

Pretty good thriller. Enjoyable "read" - listened to the audiobook on my commute. ( )

In this second Alexander Hawke novel, Hawke is called upon to prevent a terrorist attack against the United States, leaving Stokely to track down Hawke's wife's killer. With lots of James Bond-esque action and suspense, the Hawke books are a pretty good read if you like this sort of thing. Unfortunately, we don't see the return of Thunder and Lightning, though they do get a passing mention in this book. I quite enjoyed them from the first book.

There is quite a bit of language in this book, but taking into account the military types that are featured throughout, it's not a big surprise, just more profanity than I'm used to reading (almost nil). I'm very much a science fiction/fantasy reader, but the Hawke books are a nice departure from what I typically read. ( )

The latter part of the book was predictable and completely boring. ( )