Patriot by Ted Bell

Ordinarily a story that comprises 527 pages might be a little daunting to me but not so with this latest adventure by Ted Bell, featuring Alex Hawke. Having read several of this author's previous works, I was familiar with the character of Hawke. That being the case, the story was still exciting and adventurous. It is apparent to me that the author's research must be time-consuming. It is my opinion that it is well worth the time. The plot of this story, the characters and the settings are realistic. To say that the scenario is believable would be an understatement.

The story opens with two former CIA officers dying in tragic accidents. The problem I had with these two scenes in particular is that those officers would place themselves in such vulnerable positions, especially since their careers involved subterfuge in its' most intricate form. A reader would have to assume that neither officer recognized the possibility that their careers never really ended and that they would always be vulnerable to the enemy. This was hard to swallow.

In any event, the story is filled with action and plotting and involves interesting characters and crosses many different settings including Bermuda, Maine, Cuba, Key West, England and Siberia. The characters are not too numerous to follow and help to move the story along. Although the powers that be feel that they have captured the culprits early on, avid readers know that is not the case because there are many more pages to read. It is not unlike watching an hour long episode of Law & Order or Leverage knowing full well that the real perpetrator is not necessarily discovered in the first 15 minutes of the show.

Although not a "quick" read, it is indeed a story to take slowly and observe all the intricacies of the plot that help to make reading this book a good way to spend some time.

Ladybookbug!