KIDNAP AND KILLING IN KABUL (Crossfire - Andy McNab)

Member Name: stuleg

Product:	Crossfire - Andy McNab
Date:	25/03/09 (158 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Good Characterisation, Fast paced Narrative

Disadvantages: None, unless you do not like the genre of book

Synopsis

Iraq presents rich pickings for the likes of Nick Stone; the ex SAS soldier is forging a lucrative career in the close protection field, babysitting Western bigwigs with money to burn, providing protection they hope will prevent them from being kidnapped, tortured and becoming the latest beheading on the Al Jazeera website. It seems however that his latest close protection job would be anything but straight forward. Tasked with guarding a duo of award winning Polish documentary makers, Stone finds himself in the midst of a frantic firefight between the Taliban and allied forces. Getting separated from the group is bad enough with bullets flying in all directions, but worse is to follow as Nick is snatched, his would be kidnappers hoping the British Government or his employers give enough of a damn to pay a ransom to save his life. All seems lost as Nick is dragged from the scene, until help arrives in the unlikely form of some very well placed kicks and bullets from the cameraman he is meant to be protecting.

There seemed little doubt in Nick's mind that he owed his life to Pete, the handsome cameraman who had saved him from a fate worse than death. Sadly he had little time to impart his gratitude, for while Nick was recovering from his close shave Pete was killed in mysterious circumstances outside their fortified and protected building. Nick vowed to seek justice for the man he was meant to be protecting and set about finding out what had caused the documentary makers to leave the protected area unsupervised. Worse was to come though, as the second half of the Documentary team ? Dom - had disappeared immediately after Pete?s death. What follows is a trail of drug marketing, people smuggling and conspiracy from within as Nick?s quest for justice takes him from the dusty streets of Basra, to London, Dublin and eventually the Afghanistan capital, Kabul.

My Opinion

I have long been a fan of Andy McNab; from his nonfiction accounts of war-torn Iraq in Bravo Two Zero and his life as a soldier in Immediate Action, to his fictional series of books featuring ex SAS soldier Nick Stone; he really knows how to grip the reader and draw them in. His descriptive storytelling gives an accurate feel for the scenarios and problems encountered in the face of battle. In Crossfire ? as in his other fictional books ? his knowledge of the subject is strong. Many military writers leave me wondering if their sole experience of anything remotely resembling a warzone is watching Dads Army on the BBC. With McNab though I have no such misgivings; you get the feeling he knows about the weaponry and battle situations he writes about because he has been in the thick of such situations himself, and fired most of the weapons described in anger. Another facet of Crossfire that really appeals is that I found myself warming to the Nick Stone Character, as well as those that help him on his quest for justice. I really wanted good to triumph over evil as I turned the pages. On the flip side the baddies truly are a sadistic collection of miscreants who I yearned for terror and trauma to befall. This empathy/apathy balance is a rare find in modern fiction, and yet McNab manages to bestride the line well thanks to incisive and informative background descriptions of the lead players.

The language used in Crossfire takes no prisoners, if you dislike swearing this is definitely not the book for you. It is also immensely graphic; with vivid descriptions of war and torture techniques that had me shifting uncomfortably in my seat more than once. This is heart of the battle stuff in every sense of the word; brutal, informative, scary and worrying in equal measure. McNab knows how to keep the story moving while putting plenty of meat on the bones; the ?I will just read another chapter before bed? factor is strong here, I found myself reading on long after I originally thought I would just to see what would happen next. The book is broken up into chapters of five or so pages; these punchy short chapter sizes are something I enjoy in James Patterson books and feel it works well in this book too. Not a word wasted in delivering an exciting and enthralling book. If you are looking for fast paced action, good writing and an original story, Crossfire is for you. Four hundred plus pages of engaging and tantalizing narrative, I recommend it with four stars out of five

Summary: Good Characterisation, Fast paced Narrative with no disadvantages, unless you do not like th