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frannieman's review
adventurous
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
3.25
jacki_f's review
3.0
The problem with having your friends on Good Reads is that they get to see everything you read. Sometimes I've read - and genuinely loved - a massive tome like [b:The Goldfinch|17333223|The Goldfinch|Donna Tartt|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1400879877s/17333223.jpg|24065147] or a Booker Prize winner, and all is good. I can walk round with my head held high. But other times my reading is at the trashier end of the spectrum, the literary equivalent of the fast food fix, and yet out it goes, for everyone to see.
The Night Ranger is the seventh book in Alex Berenson's series about CIA agent John Wells, and yes, dear Patrick White reading friends, I think I have read them all. (I say "I think" because the titles and covers are so generic that really, I can't be sure). The first book in the series presented an interesting, flawed hero - a CIA agent who has gone so deep undercover in Afghanistan for so long that he finds it near impossible to adapt back to life in the US. Since then, it feels like Berenson has tried a few different approaches to Well's character. Inside the system, outside the system. Romantically involved, lone ranger. (A balance which I think he's now got right).
This story is about four recent college graduates who volunteer for a short stint in a Kenyan refugee camp. When they are kidnapped, Wells is asked to go to Africa and attempt to find them. The story is riddled with coincidences, unlikely behaviours and cardboard characters, but the action is fast enough and the twists frequent enough that you can largely ignore the flaws. The one element which I truly disliked was the author's cynicism towards refugee camps.
It's is a perfectly acceptable, mindless read, light on suspense but heavy on action. It wraps up quite abruptly, leaving the impression that the author was churning it out to meet a deadline. If you've read and enjoyed this series, this is not one of the strongest but it's okay. If you haven't read the series, don't start here.
The Night Ranger is the seventh book in Alex Berenson's series about CIA agent John Wells, and yes, dear Patrick White reading friends, I think I have read them all. (I say "I think" because the titles and covers are so generic that really, I can't be sure). The first book in the series presented an interesting, flawed hero - a CIA agent who has gone so deep undercover in Afghanistan for so long that he finds it near impossible to adapt back to life in the US. Since then, it feels like Berenson has tried a few different approaches to Well's character. Inside the system, outside the system. Romantically involved, lone ranger. (A balance which I think he's now got right).
This story is about four recent college graduates who volunteer for a short stint in a Kenyan refugee camp. When they are kidnapped, Wells is asked to go to Africa and attempt to find them. The story is riddled with coincidences, unlikely behaviours and cardboard characters, but the action is fast enough and the twists frequent enough that you can largely ignore the flaws. The one element which I truly disliked was the author's cynicism towards refugee camps.
It's is a perfectly acceptable, mindless read, light on suspense but heavy on action. It wraps up quite abruptly, leaving the impression that the author was churning it out to meet a deadline. If you've read and enjoyed this series, this is not one of the strongest but it's okay. If you haven't read the series, don't start here.
sandin954's review
4.0
While the stakes are not quite as high as in the previous books in the series, I really enjoyed this outing which finds John Wells looking for some kidnapped aid workers who were working in a camp for Somalian refugees in Kenya. Lots of action and I find the working dynamic between Wells and the supporting characters (Ellis Shafer and Vinny Duto) always fun. Listened to the audio version which was narrated by the stellar George Guidall.
kstumpf's review
5.0
I really enjoy the John Wells series. The plots and characters are believable and realistic.
eldiente's review
4.0
Another enjoyable adventure with hero John Wells. This one focused more on saving individuals rather than saving the world, but still had enough drama to hold my interest to the end.
kevin_coombs's review
3.0
I think the best way I can describe Alex Berenson, as well as his last three books, is this: I enjoy how he writes - his style, how he moves the story forward, even his prose to a certain extent. However, each of the last three has strained credulity just a little more than the book before it. For me, there is a difference between writers like Ian Fleming (who made very little effort to seem plausible, and instead served the goal of being purely entertaining), and writers like Berenson and Flynn (who seem equally concerned with plausibility, getting their technical and geopolitical facts right). My expectations align with those the authors seem to be trying to cultivate. In the case of Berenson, while I obviously can't attest to some of the technical details (his descriptions of drones, their use, and control seem credible enough), I can certainoly feel a healthy skepticism regarding the geopolicical aspect: Would the sequence of events unfold in this way, and would the high-ranking officials respond the way they do? I did enjoy the book, but only as an easy read at the end of the day. It's not great literature; is not even great within the context of the genre.
gretzky10's review
5.0
This is my first ever John Wells novel. I had never heard of him nor his creator, Alex Berenson. It was a birthday gift from my girlfriend, and wow, what a treat. Not a complicated Swedish mystery, or a Ludlum-esque spy novel, but an excellent, fun, fast moving, real spy thriller. Berenson creates an interesting main character, an ex-CIA American Muslim. Just a fun summer novel, I'd recommend for any who just wants a good story, and an action packed, and exciting adventure. Two Thumbs Up!
marinazala's review
3.0
** Books 101 - 2014 **
I will give 2,6 of 5 stars.. it is about four graduated college student (Hailey, Gwen, Owen and Scott) are joined as volunteer in kenya refugee's camp.. however when they want to have vacation in lemu's island they are being kidnapped with other military..
how to john well as a man who is retired as CIA came to save them?
it is standard suspense, thriller story in my opinion.. hmm
I will give 2,6 of 5 stars.. it is about four graduated college student (Hailey, Gwen, Owen and Scott) are joined as volunteer in kenya refugee's camp.. however when they want to have vacation in lemu's island they are being kidnapped with other military..
how to john well as a man who is retired as CIA came to save them?
it is standard suspense, thriller story in my opinion.. hmm