Scarecrow Returns

Scarecrow Returns by Matthew Reilly

Matthew Reilly's books are one of my guilty pleasures. The plots are unbelievable and the dialogue is often cheesy, but they're roller-coaster rides that are entertaining and serve as kind of a refreshing mental palate cleanser. Reilly's approach to writing a book is to start it off with a bang and then proceed full throttle to the last page, not stopping to breathe or to consider realism. But again, I'm okay with a book like that every once in a while. Whenever I'm in the mood for a book that I can enjoy without having to think, in fact, whenever I'm in the mood for a book that will be enjoyed more if you intentionally don't engage your brain while reading, Reilly's books are a good choice.

In Scarecrow Returns, Captain Shane Schofield (call sign "Scarecrow") resurfaces after having gone through an incredibly emotional ordeal at the end of Scarecrow. In this fourth book featuring him, Scarecrow and his team are called upon to infiltrate a former Soviet base located in the Arctic where a terrorist group, calling themselves the Army of Thieves, is preparing to destroy half the planet with a cold-war-era device they have in their control. True to Reilly's modus operandi, Scarecrow only has a few hours to accomplish what needs to be done to save the world.

★ ★ ★ ☆ ☆

The Wolf's Hour

The Wolf's Hour by Robert McCammon

Vampires have received a lot of attention in popular media over the last few years. Zombies aren't doing too bad for themselves either. Werewolves, on the other hand, haven't been getting nearly as much time in the limelight.With The Wolf's Hour, Robert McCammon gives them some much deserved attention.

Michael Gallitin is particularly well suited for his work for the British government as a spy during World War II. He's a lycanthrop, a man who has the ability to transform into a wolf. When he was a young boy he was bitten by another lycanthrop and he survived the transformation process his body was subjected to. Now his unique set of skills is put to good use for the Allied forces as they prepare for D-Day.

This was a great book. Many people might dismiss it as simply a horror book about werewolves, but it's much more than that. McCammon has done a great job of taking the idea of a werewolf and building on it. These  lycanthrops are not beholden to the cycles of the moon. They are able to change into a wolf at will and do so completely as opposed to the versions seen in movies. The best features of McCammon's creations are the human-like cognitive abilities that are maintained when they're wolves, as well as the wolf-like instincts and sensory abilities maintained when they're human.

★ ★ ★ ☆ ☆

Dead or Alive

Dead or Alive by Tom Clancy

It's been a long time since a real Tom Clancy novel came out. His name has been associated with plenty of books that have been written in the last decade or so, but none of them were written by him. In Dead or Alive, maybe as an apology to his fans for the long delay, he includes an all-star cast of his characters: Jack Ryan, John Clark, Ding Chavez, the Caruso brothers, Mary Pat Foley, and Jack Ryan Jr..

Before leaving the Oval Office, President Jack Ryan created an extremely covert organization that answers to no politician or government agency. It's self-funded and only he and the handful of people who work for it know that it exists. It's called The Campus and its sole purpose is to find and eliminate those trying to destroy the U.S.. This time their target is the man behind numerous terrorist attacks who has managed to elude capture for years. He's known as the Emir and his next planned attack will leave the U.S. crippled for decades.

Once again Clancy does what he does best. He uses his incomparable knowledge of military operations and capabilities and  incorporates them into a quick-moving story that more often than not kept me reading long past the time I had planned to stop and do something else. Dead or Alive would be a great introductory book for those who have never read a Clancy book before. He includes enough of the characters' back stories to get readers caught up without bogging down the story.

★ ★ ★ ☆ ☆