High Citadel, by Desmond Bagley

February 4, 2010 by Nekkidblogger · Leave a Comment
Filed under: Desmond Bagley, Thriller, bestseller, book review

Desmond Bagley is an almost forgetten English master thriller writer. But his books are still very well worth reading – elegant, extremely suspenseful, good characters and smart plots. High Citadel is one of his best.

A plane is forced down in the Andes. The survivors – a pilot, two businessmen, an ex-president, his bodyguard and his niece, a school teacher, and two academics – are forced to battle altitude sickness, freezing temperatures, and a band of Communist guerillas.

And as they try to organize their effort to improve their situation, we start to find out that the people involved are not what they say they are. Each has their own past. And, in addition, it soon becomes evident that the survivors have a traitor in their midst.

They manage to get down to a mining camp. There another bad surprise awaits them. What follows is tense, tightly scripted action. The party of survivors gets holed up on one side of a gorge, trying their best to holding off attackers with limited weapons and ammunition and a homemade crossbow. Their hopes rest on a small number who have volunteered to climb the other side of the mountain looking for help.

Every character in High Citadel plays an important role. The action is very tense, and the suspense is present all the time. This is one of Bagley’s best books, well written, exciting and a great read. It is highly recommended for all thriller fans.

Tags: book review, Desmond Bagley, excellent, Thriller

The Dogs of War, by Frederick Forsyth

July 7, 2009 by Nekkidblogger · Leave a Comment
Filed under: Frederick Forsyth, Thriller, book review

A few days ago I happened upon this classic thriller by Frederich Forsyth, originially published in 1974. It is a great book, very exciting and suspenseful. The plot in The Dogs of War is centered on a tycoon that discovers a mountain of platinum in the remote African republic of Zangaro. This discovery causes Sir James Manson, a smooth and very ruthless tycoon, to hire an army of mercenaries to topple the government and replace its dictator with a puppet president. But the situation develops into a terrifying power game. And, of course, as Sunday Mirror wrote: “Enormous and convincing detail, and a shattering climax”.

In The Dogs of War, Forsyth clearly material of particular relevance at the time of writing. There were strong rumors at the time, and some evidence too, that with the right contacts and enough money, mercenaries specialized in coups d’etat could be hired to topple governments. Indeed, some rumors even implicated mr. Forsyth in such a plot! It is still not clear, I think, whether he was or not.

Regardless, The Dogs of War is a high quality thriller that still is very well worth reading. It is a book that shows why Frederich Forsyth made such a name for himself as a thriller writer. As you will see if you read the book, Forsyth was simply excellent when he was at his best. The Dogs of War is a must for any thriller-loving reader!

Links to Frederick Forsyth’s books at amazon US, amazon CAN, and amazon UK.

Tags: book review, excellent, Frederick Forsyth, The Dogs of War, Thriller