Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

This book, "Cold" by John Sweeney, was not my choice this month for my Kindle First read. But occasionally, like in the past, I have the opportunity to read two of the Kindle First selections. My grandson, away at university, has a personal Prime account for which I have the fiduciary responsibility.!! This allows me on occasion to read a second choice that he selects and has downloaded to a Kindle app at home on my (our..shared..) computer. This is one of those times..... To best understand this book, you need to understand (or at least get a grasp of..) the author. John Sweeney is a home-grown Brit. He is a well known, and dare I say... respected, writer who is frequently seen more as an investigative reporter than an author. He has however, written a handful of books of which this is the second novel. His first novel, "Elephant Moon" was published in 2013... see here: ELEPHANT MOON . Having said that, John Sweeney is perhaps best known for his classic "meltdown" when facing down a ranking official of the COS (Church of Scientology..). That meltdown became a YouTube hit, and the rest is history. Actually, that is just a very basic synopsis. John Sweeney has won many awards for his investigative reporting and has written eight or nine books including two novels of which this one is the latest. It is the first book in a prospective series. The next Joe Tiplady adventure is in preparation for publishing as we speak and is due out in January of 2017. Called "ROAD", it is currently listed on Amazon as "pre-order" but for some reason cannot be linked here.... strange.??? This book seems a little strange at first glance. The characters seem just a tad underdeveloped, but they are well written. The mood shifts as the setting changes and the characters are placed in situations of peril. The book moves from one location to another all the while carrying with it the story line. It reads like a political thriller with a hint of cold war intrigue. There are enough hints of "black ops" to keep you guessing, and a bit of technological intrigue as well. It is slightly invocative of a "Big Brother" tale without the dystopian features of an Orwell book. There are just enough agency-style operatives, secret dealings, and clandestine conspiracies to take this book above the average when examining it as a "political thriller". The action shifts quickly across four or five continents and the characters are placed in dangerous guises that require proper "situational response" for the successful completion of the story. There is a modicum of coarse language which may upset some readers, but which I found to be quite realistic. While I do not normally excuse that type of "common coarse" language, it seems to be almost exactly what you would expect the characters to say, given the situations. In any event I found the conversation to be quite "normal" for characters such as these who have found themselves deep inside an adventure that is being surreptitiously controlled by others. The result is quite good. And quite believable for the most part. Another aspect of the book that deserves comment is the usage of "terror" techniques for modern day interrogation. There are some descriptive scenes that involve various forms of "mental" torture which may invoke some shock or revulsion from those who are not "aware". The graphic scenes aside, the book deals well with the reality of modern undercover agency techniques and intrigue. Overall, I would say that this book deserves an audience. Because of the author's significance, I suspect that it will be well received in Britain. Here in the U.S. there may be slightly less fervor, but still worth reading. I like the characters. I like the action. And I like the storyline (for the most part..). While it is not the absolute best political novel I have read, it is still quite good and well worth the time spent. If you like political thrillers and intrigue, give this one a try. I think you will like it.