Customer Reviews

Confused - By: C. Green, 26 Feb 2007
The two previous 'First Team' novels, which followed the eponymous elite CIA/Special Forces team tasked with tackling global terrorism, were excellent action spy thrillers. Not only were they entertaining but they also maintained a sense of realism & relevancein the way they were plotted.

Fires of War, the thirdin the series, continues to use the same stylistic beats as its predecessors. There are the short, punchy, 24-style chapters (often amounting to no more that a paragraph) & the multiple plot strands, some of which are deliberate cul-de-sacs that are indicative of the real deadends often encountered by intelligence agents. There is the continuing development of reoccurring characters such as First Team leader Bob Ferguson & his boss Corrine Alston & the sparky, complicated interpersonal relationships between members of the team. In other words Fires of War contains all the ingredients readers have come to expectin First Team novels.

Unfortunately this time, despite the presence of the co-authors of both previous novels Larry Bond & Jim DeFelice, the resulting whole does not live up to the sum of its ingredients. Whereas before the jumpy, cross-cutting narrative felt fresh & gave previous plots a sense of urgent realism, with Fires of War it just creates confusion, with too many plot strands competing for attention.

It doesn't help that the central plot this time around, focused on North Korea & nuclear weapons, is far weaker than previous efforts. Up until now First Team novels have had a very focused feel to them. Whilst past conspiracies may have had geo-political implications they were tight, small scale, unfolded beneath the radar & involved comparatively small casts of protagonists. This time the story dragsin whole armies, world changing events & the oldest of thriller chestnuts; the meglo-maniacal billionaire industrialist. It also pullsin political machinations backin the US & internal CIA-infighting, further muddying the waters & pulling the story's focus away from the activities of the First Team.

As a result the book tends to meander, loses momentum and, crucially, its sense of excitement. This is a shame, because despite the overly complex plotting there is still much to enjoy here. The interplay between First Team members is as enjoyable as ever, & much of the incidental detail feels well drawn & realistic. There is also further development of all the key characters that hints at some interesting eventsin the future. Its just unfortunate that this time around Fergie, Thera, Rankin, Guns, Corrine & the rest aren't supported by tighter, better conceived plotting.