Customer Reviews

Crisis Four

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Andy McNab is a former British Special Operations Agent who has written both fact and fiction. Nick Stone, McNab's alter ego of sorts, is sent to track down fellow counter terrorist agent and former lover Sarah Greenwood who is in the U.S. and may have gone to the other side. He goes to a redneck supply store and a WalMart to stock up for a night of recon and spots Sarah and an Arab looking dude coming out of a lakeside retreat the next day.

I trust that McNab didn't do everything Nick Stone does, but his SAS Elite and most decorated Brit soldier background make Nick the most credible of the current genre of super agents. The human side of Nick the assassin, who is totally competent in the field yet so easily manipulated, and McNab's descriptions of the mundane details of surveillance and pursuit make Nick seem real. British slang and lingo unfamiliar to the reader create a crystal clear picture when spoken by Nick. On page 160 he's ordered to kill Sarah. Twenty-five pages later he's dragging her through the Carolina woods dodging choppers (helis), dogs and automatic weapons.

The flaws in the plot match the flaws in Nick and balance out to a huge leg up on Ludlum, Clancy, Follett et al. It's also kind of cool that the title doesn't come into play until page 345. "Crisis Four" is one of four command posts in the White House where the good guys and the bad guys will ultimately sort out.

I guess the author was more worried about bin Laden that our leaders (and the rest of us). I didn't start reading the book until after the terrorist attacks of 9/11/2001. Once I got into the book I flipped back to front to see if it was written after the fact - nope, published in 2000.

I had read Firewall previously and Crisis Four was about what I expected. It is a good read, but with some flaws. The main character can be far from the "Superman" lead in some books - in fact he some times makes so many mistakes that you figure that is why he is out of the service.

Lots of detail from someone who seems to know which end is up. The ending leaves a bit to be desired. If you read the Amazon review, it will ruin the ending.

Andy McNab seems to have the details of special ops down, and the plot was superb. The characterization of Nick Stone is strong, and the story line is interesting.

As my first introduction to McNab's writing, it was disappointing to see the text littered with so many unnecessary expletives and British slang. I'm no prude, but it was extremely distracting.

When I started reading this book, it sent shivers up my spine. Because I hadn't even looked at it, really, just got it out of curiosity. So I was shocked when it dealt with Osama bin Laden. And it was published in 1999, before the September 11th tradgedy (of 2001). It was a really good book, but eerily spooky.

Welcome to the gloomy side of special operations. A world of detailed tradecraft, freezing rain and icy mud, cheap motels, and junk food. If you thought spec ops was glamorous, why it's time you met Andy McNab, working class operator.

McNab's novels are the mirror opposite of Marcinko's or Clancy's. No sass, no high level meetings with world leaders, no tech whizbang. McNab is the Johnny Paycheck of spec ops, all working-class fieldcraft, full of grit and authentic-sounding detail.

Kept in the dark by his superiors, surrounded by sell-outs, and a few thin paychecks away from trouble, McNab's hired gun character can rely only upon his disciplined SAS tradecraft to stay alive and in the game.

As dark as all this sounds, there is much to learn from McNab's hero, Nick Stone.

The man's sanity is rooted in his ability to get on with things, no matter what. His training, his practical skills, and his courage enable him to get past even the most extreme adversities, without despairing or getting sentimental. He does get banged up but he stays focused on the mission.

Also, McNab's novels are refreshingly devoid of Rambo heroism, but long on authentic-sounding teachings -- from outdoor survival tricks to emergency first aid, it's all here in minute and gory detail. If only McNab's plots were on a par with his tactical knowhow ...

This book started out REALLY good but then kinda flopped in the end. I guess you would have to read <i>Remote Control</i> to get some of the plot twists, which is a shame since I picked this one up and thought, well, great, I'm finally going to be reading about Osama bin Laden. I was expecting many more SAS vignettes than were actually delivered in the last half of the book, which is really kinda bad since there is only one real surprise in it.

McNab's attention to detail is well and good but I prefer globe-trotting action that goes right to the top rather than two people sodding about in the North Carolina woods. I feel that the last 1/3 is a bit tiring, but maybe it's because I read the whole book in 1 day.

Well, Andy Mcnab is back in his second novel. I recently picked up a copy of Crisis Four and read it in a matter of days. The action is fast paced and the character of Nick Stone is very real and believable. Also back from Remote Control is Stone's "daughter" Kelly. One of the most unexpected attributes of McNab as an author is the believability of the relationship between Kelly and Nick Stone. Kelly comes across as a child and Nick Stone as an inexperienced father figure. Most people read these novels for the gritty action but the father/daughter relationship is surprisingly genuine. I had expected this to be a weakness, in both this novel and Remote Control, but it is surprisingly a strength.

The actual action in the novel has the gritty feel that one would expect from a former soldier. Nick Stone always feels like a real person who experiences fear and apprehension as you would expect a person to experience them. This is not the John Wayne hero who charges into the fray with trumpets blaring. He is very candid in his motivation that he simply doesn't know how to do anything else. It is a soldier's pride is what allows Nick Stone to overcome the insurmountable.

However, there are some things that Nick does that are somewhat dubious. Without giving away too much of the plot, Nick's unarmed infiltration of a house did not seem particularly credible. Additionally, the female lead, Sarah, is not particularly sympathetic. McNab tries to convince the reader that Nick has strong feelings for Sarah but this just doesn't ring true. Sarah does not seem like a particularly compelling character and even McNab's attempt to soften her personality at the end of the story is somewhat trite. More background on the Nick/Sarah relationship would've helped.

There is also little in the way of plot resolution. While the primary plot involving Sarah is somewhat resolved, the motivation for Stone to undertake the mission and many of Stone's relations with other characters are left hanging. Perhaps McNab plans to resolve some of these threads in future novels but the lack of finality left me unsatisfied. Even the main plot, while resolved, has some threads that are never answered or even addressed. Overall, I'd say this is an enjoyable read. However, it's the type of novel you read at the beach, not something that you'll want to think about too much. The more you think about this one, the less satisfying it becomes.

I enjoyed the book but the author's excessive use of British terms (carriageway, torch, wagon intead of van, etc) sometimes became a distraction. I am used to most British slang but several times I had to just ignore a word when I neither knew it or nor could figure it out from the context. On the plus side, the storyline was plausible (no mad scientists with high-tech nukes plotting to conquer the world) and the main character (Nick Stone) was believable and made mistakes. Overall, an enjoyable book but readers should be warned to brush up on the British slang before reading.

Another awesome book by Andy Mcnab, my idol.

His book "Remote Control" was good, but this is just boring.
In this book, McNab frequently goes into excruciating detail on sneaking, stalking, snooping and other military type activities. But instead of being interesting, there is simply too much detail and it ends up being tedious. So much so, that I found I needed to skip parts of pages and sometimes whole pages where nothing that advanced the plot was happening.
I also found the ending to be poor, but I can't elaborate without spoiling it for others who decide to labour through this unsatisfactory book.