Another Review at MyShelf.Com

Warriors
Alex Hawke #8
Ted Bell

William Morrow
April 1, 2014/ ISBN 9780062279385
Intrigue/Adventure/Thriller

Reviewed by Linda Morelli

 

Warriors is the latest installment in the Hawke series, which started in 2003. The story line is very topical and incorporates the real or perceived fear of a resurgent China – a China that sets out to right the wrongs inflicted on the country by the West during the 19th & 20th centuries, and to become the dominant world power at the West’s expense. This resurgent China is driven by a brilliant rogue general bent on world domination, using assassins who kill the US President; stage a stealth drone attack on the funeral ceremony at Arlington; embed spies in Cambridge; and use killers to murder Hawke’s son for Hawke’s past deeds. China’s military prowess is based upon a captured US scientist/inventor coerced into helping the rogue general build his overwhelming military might.

The inclusion of North Korean labor camps, the CIA and MI6 completes this fast paced adventure. My favorite part of this novel occurs when Hawke leads a band of US-UK approved mercenaries (more like the “Dirty Dozen”) into a violent battle with the rogue general’s army in China. I couldn’t help but cheer them on.

Action is plentiful in short, snappy chapters that provide the various intersecting parts of the unfolding plot. Bell develops a side of Hawke that is not just a Bond 007 clone. Hawke is a father who very much loves his young son and is trying to rebuild his personal life. Though his character is not fully developed, intricate characterization was not the point of the novel, but rather that Hawke is truly a modern hero: smart, rich, selfless, educated and experienced. He’s a hero who has battled more than his share of villains.

In short, Warriors is a thrilling page turner that certainly entertains.

Reviewer Linda Morelli is the award winning author of three published romance novels.
Reviewed 2014
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