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jeffrey_taylor's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
jwoodsum's review against another edition
3.0
This is the first of the John Wells series that I've read. I liked all the politics about China v. US, but somehow I found John Wells a lot less interesting than Jack Reacher.
jacki_f's review against another edition
3.0
We first met CIA agent John Wells in the book The Faithful Spy. While it's not necessary to have read the first book, you need to know that Wells is a national hero after averting a terrorist attack on US soil. Now acting as a desk agent within the CIA, he craves the adrenalin rush that his former assignment provided.
"The Faithful Spy" was a good old-fashioned thriller. This book is in a similar vein, although it suffers somewhat from trying to cover too many bases. It kicks off with the CIA going into North Korea to rescue a valuable mole. This part of the story is genuinely tense and gripping. However the book loses momentum as it strains to juggle a complicated plot that encompasses (among other strands) the Iranian nuclear weapons programme, Taliban training camps in Afghanistan, an international arms dealer, the hunt for an undercover mole within the CIA and an ambitious General within the Chinese politburo. As with the first book, the pace gets bogged down by Berenson's need to personalize events by fleshing out even minor characters.
The first book set up the intriguing proposition of an agent who has lived undercover with the Taliban for so long that he struggles to adapt to the US way of life. In this book, that struggle seems forgotten and Wells' character is never particularly developed.
This is an action packed and highly contemporary read, but it fell short of the first book for me. Having said that, the ending sets up a sequel and I'll almost certainly be going back for more.
(Be aware that this book was published in the US under the title "The Ghost War")
"The Faithful Spy" was a good old-fashioned thriller. This book is in a similar vein, although it suffers somewhat from trying to cover too many bases. It kicks off with the CIA going into North Korea to rescue a valuable mole. This part of the story is genuinely tense and gripping. However the book loses momentum as it strains to juggle a complicated plot that encompasses (among other strands) the Iranian nuclear weapons programme, Taliban training camps in Afghanistan, an international arms dealer, the hunt for an undercover mole within the CIA and an ambitious General within the Chinese politburo. As with the first book, the pace gets bogged down by Berenson's need to personalize events by fleshing out even minor characters.
The first book set up the intriguing proposition of an agent who has lived undercover with the Taliban for so long that he struggles to adapt to the US way of life. In this book, that struggle seems forgotten and Wells' character is never particularly developed.
This is an action packed and highly contemporary read, but it fell short of the first book for me. Having said that, the ending sets up a sequel and I'll almost certainly be going back for more.
(Be aware that this book was published in the US under the title "The Ghost War")
stevem0214's review against another edition
4.0
Good book -better than the first in the series I thought. Kinda like Tom Clancy without all the detail. I'll read the next one soon I think.
sandin954's review against another edition
4.0
Maybe not quite as good as the first book in the series, but a really good modern espionage tale. Listened to the audio version read by George Guidall.
joshuamt's review against another edition
3.0
Something "ghost", about war with China. And, found it, Kindle version at my local US library.
Except this was not the book recommended to me by a friend during a morning walk in Shanghai, as being a frightening and predictive look at what a war would look like involving the US and China. That book was "Ghost Fleet: A Novel of the Next World War", which I have on hold at the same library.
This book was an enjoyable, if-predictable action/spy novel cross between Jack Ryan (Tom Clancy's) and Jack Reacher (Lee Child's), with the hero in this case being John Wells. Yeah, guess there's not a wealth of originality in the genre.
The book was interesting to me mainly for its plot, which was simple but involved authentic-feeling elements of geo-politics (the enemy of my enemy is my friend-type stuff), as well as some Hollywood imagining about top-level Chinese politics. Still, its fun for me to think that somewhere in China and the US these books get read by analysts, and in some government room somebody might have highlighted a few facts and noted, "Hmm, that's more accurate than he realizes..."
Except this was not the book recommended to me by a friend during a morning walk in Shanghai, as being a frightening and predictive look at what a war would look like involving the US and China. That book was "Ghost Fleet: A Novel of the Next World War", which I have on hold at the same library.
This book was an enjoyable, if-predictable action/spy novel cross between Jack Ryan (Tom Clancy's) and Jack Reacher (Lee Child's), with the hero in this case being John Wells. Yeah, guess there's not a wealth of originality in the genre.
The book was interesting to me mainly for its plot, which was simple but involved authentic-feeling elements of geo-politics (the enemy of my enemy is my friend-type stuff), as well as some Hollywood imagining about top-level Chinese politics. Still, its fun for me to think that somewhere in China and the US these books get read by analysts, and in some government room somebody might have highlighted a few facts and noted, "Hmm, that's more accurate than he realizes..."
kstumpf's review against another edition
2.0
I really wanted to live this book after reading The Faithful Spy, but I found this novel pointless. Nothing happens. A lot of cloak and dagger activities are discussed but very little action. I did notcare one bit about the villain, and I either need to love or hate the villain to get excited about a book, but I just could not.
I have not given up totally on John Wells, but I am hoping the Silent Man is more like book 1 than book 2.
I have not given up totally on John Wells, but I am hoping the Silent Man is more like book 1 than book 2.
trolle69's review against another edition
adventurous
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
2.5