In Scott Blade’s #1 AMAZON bestselling series, Jack Widow hunts for a missing girl in a race against time that may give him more than one reason to kill.
Former Undercover NCIS cop, now Jack Widow is A Drifter. A Nobody. A Stranger. A Hero.
Jack Widow, the ultimate loner, waits to catch a bus at a Texas station to nowhere in particular. Seated across from him is an elderly woman, clearly in a state of distress. Eight hours ago, her own son, who just got out of prison, abducted her granddaughter and vanished.
Her son, James Hood, is mixed up with the wrong people–powerful people. The kind of people who will kill to protect a deadly secret. Terrified for her granddaughter’s life, she has no one left to trust.
With nowhere to turn, she follows their trail, on her own, toward a border town in South Texas.
After showing Widow a picture of her six-year-old granddaughter, Claire Hood drops dead of natural causes, right at the bus station, right in front of him.
Jack Widow isn’t the kind of guy to let wrongs go. He picks up her bus ticket and takes her place on a quest that will give him a reason to kill.
My Rating: ⭐⭐
I have no idea why I keep reading these. The characters are poorly developed, clichéd and the storylines really are terrible with a poor quality of writing that depends heavily on the much better original Reacher series by Lee Childs. I guess they’re like junk food for the brain, the reading equivalent of having dinner in McDonalds!
This also appears to be where the author decided to change characters and jump to the older Jack Widow instead of Cameron Reacher. At least Widow has life experience to justify his abilities and skills.
As I mentioned at the end of my last post I had my first Covid19 vaccination yesterday morning. I was very impressed with the setup. The vaccine centre in Donegal is in Letterkenny and using the buildings of the local college (LYIT). It’s an incredibly efficient process and feels comfortable and modern, reassuring really. It’s staffed by a mixture of Irish Army and HSE staff. I had a 10am appointment and I had my jab by 10:06 which is lightening fast as far as HSE standards usually go! The normal wait afterwards is 15min in a staffed waiting area but as I have a penicillin allergy I had to wait 30min. After that I was back in my car before 10:45 having spent less than an hour there. I have been given the Moderna vaccine so get a second dose in 4 weeks.
Afterwards I went to collect my bike. The mechanic hadn’t texted me as promised but the bike was ready. The shop was flat out and I only had a chance for a brief conversation but the two niggling rattles/creaks had been easily identified and fixed.
My plan had been 100km on a route out of Letterkenny and fairly hilly. I was concerned about over doing it though so decided to go home instead and do a shorter spin, closer to home and on familiar roads. I had hoped to change clothes somewhere in Letterkenny and this was proving difficult anyway with restrictions still in place in many areas. When I did get home and was getting my bike ready I realised that my lights and Garmin were still plugged into the charging dock upstairs so I would have had to come home regardless!
I took the opportunity to get some errands done on the way home and spent almost an hour chatting to my neighbour so it was after 2pm before I rolled out. It was just on the right side of chilly and a bit breezy but my route would have a tailwind for a lot of the exposed bits and be sheltered for most of the headwind bits.
I headed to Clady and up over the pretty challenging Glebe climb before descending to Victoria Bridge, one of my favourite river crossings around here. Back road to Strabane and home again via Clady and eventually the main road. 42km and it felt good. The bike felt great after the service and so much better having ridden the MTB on Friday. There’s nothing like riding off-road on fat tyres to make you appreciate the speed and agility of a road bike on tarmac. My legs were moaning a bit on the steeper climbs and despite a growing ache/numbness in my left arm overall I felt really good.
Yesterday evening the ache increased and I was definitely feeling tired. I was feeling a little bit woozy but thankfully nothing more serious than that. I took some paracetamol yesterday morning, afternoon and before bed last night just to be sure. This morning my arm is quite sore and tender to the touch. I still feel tired despite a good sleep and I feel slightly achy. The slight woozienss is still there but overall I think I’m just getting the usual symptoms that I’ve heard others describe and some of it may be tiredness from the combined effect of cycling the two days also. I am very hungry this morning (again this could be the cycling) and I’m just listening to my body and feeding it. Today is a family day so a chance to rest up and hopefully be fit for a big day on the bike tomorrow.
It was a time of legend, when the last shadows of the mighty Roman conqueror faded from the captured Isle of Britain. While across a vast sea, bloody war shattered a peace that had flourished for two thousand years in the doomed kingdom of Atlantis.
Taliesin is the remarkable adventure of Charis, the Atlantean princess who escaped the terrible devastation of her homeland, and of the fabled seer and druid prince Taliesin, singer at the dawn of the age. It is the story of an incomparable love that joined two worlds amid the fires of chaos, and spawned the miracles of Merlin…and Arthur the king.
My Rating: ⭐⭐
This is yet another series that I read many years ago. I was reminded of it while reading the Warlord Chronicles by Bernard Cornwell. I remember being impressed with the author back then but having finished this I must have been thinking of his Song of Albion series instead.
This book was hard work. It started off well with two interesting plots developing on Atlantis and Celtic Britain. We get good storylines on Atlantean royal society as well as the Western Celts of Britain. However, it doesn’t last. The two storylines are dummed down considerably, character development becomes pretty non-existent and the two societies are rammed together to create a love story sadly lacking interest or originality.
Mixed in with this is a very self-righteous depiction of Christianity with religion being shoved down the reader’s throat as the only way forward. I found this increasingly annoying and unbelievable within the setting. In the end I was glad to get finished and really not sure if I want to be bothered trying the second one.
I dropped my road bike off with the bike mechanic yesterday morning on my way to work. I had hoped to get it back early this morning and get a spin today but they’re very busy. He suggested it would be this evening before it would be ready so I had to make alternative plans.
It’s a while now (March last year) since I had a proper day out on the MTB. I’d spotted a great route a few weeks ago by a guy I follow on Strava and with a slight modification I soon had almost a 60km, mostly off road route to ride.
First though the bike needed some TLC. My poor MTB doesn’t get much more than very basic maintenance and performs way better than I deserve. However, before riding it today I had to spend some time scrubbing down and re-lubing the drive train and pumping up the tyres. After my hydration miscalculation on Sunday I also figured that taking my Camelbak would be a wise idea. Of course, it hasn’t been used in almost two years and needed a good sterilisation and clean too. By the time I’d everything prepared it was after 12 before I was in the car and off to the start.
The car park and start location is part way into Barnes Gap between Ballybofey and Donegal Town. The first 5K would be along this busy main road following part of my route from Sunday’s 100K. After this it turns off onto quieter side roads for another 5K to Leghowney Community Hall where it finally goes off road.
The route follows the first section of the Leghowney Loop Walk up through Meenadreen Windfarm. The first section of this is up a punishing climb for just over 2km with the gradient fluctuating between 10-14%. The windfarm has a 25km/hr speed limit and halfway up there was a speed display sign that seemed to take great delight in telling me I was going at 8km/hr.
This climb is up through mostly mature forestry and at the top opens out into the generic upland bog that is typical of this part of Donegal. It’s here were the turbines are located. There appeared to be two windfarms in total with the main one consisting of 25 turbines. Altogether there must have been 40 with a couple more locations visible on nearby hills. One thing about Donegal, there’s no shortage of wind!
Close to the first turbine there’s a very out of place bench that looks exactly like a memorial. I’m not sure of the meaning behind the plaque as I couldn’t see any signs of habitation but possibly any old ruins were cleared during the construction works?
The route through the windfarm is almost 9km in total along graded access roads. It varies from stiff climbs to sweeping descents. However, it’s hard to escape the feeling that you are riding through an industrial complex in the middle of nowhere. Once again I struggled to see the justification of the impact of windfarms while being hypocritical enough to enjoy the trails they provide!
donegal bay
Exiting the windfarm by a large gate with a pedestrian kissing gate, definitely not designed for bikes, I came out on the Laghey to Killeter road close to the border crossing called Kelly’s Bridge.
A short section of road brought me to the forest section of The Bannadoo Trail I walked at the end of April but heading in the opposite direction. Another 6km of undulating forest track before reaching Big Bridge.
from my april hike
Along this forest track I met a guy walking two beautiful beagle dogs. One of them decided to run along after me giving me a bit of a fright when I realised he was chasing me about 150m after I passed him. Not nice getting startled on these rough tracks, he could easily have caused me to slip and crash.
From Big Bridge it was back to climbing again. I’ve only ridden this section once before and from the opposite direction and I didn’t remember it being so long. It was almost 9km with the first 4km of that climbing, sometimes steep, and always with a track surface composed of rock dust that sucks the energy out of the legs. Along this section I was treated to the sight of a red deer bounding across the track from one forest section to the other before enjoying the final few kilometres downhill and back to road for a while again.
This 5km is the last significant section of road and took me past the start and finish of my Barnes Gap walk from a couple of weeks ago. It used to be possible to go up here and make an alternative route but with the ongoing construction I didn’t fancy the hassle today.
Turning after 5K took me on to a bog road that runs along the top of Lough Mourne which is the water source for most of the Finn Valley. This is a pretty barren location when the weather is against you but has a severe beauty on a warm, almost sunny day like today. Thankfully the wind wasn’t against me as it’s also ferociously exposed. The track is mostly used by tractors accessing the bog and as such the surface is incredibly rocky and rough, eroded further by water runoff. My ass took a real pounding* for 3km before I eventually dropped down to the head of the Lough and stopped to let tender bits recover.
*not intending to spend time in a maximum security prison, this is a phrase I didn’t ever expect to write!
Two short sections of road broken by a fast descent of a rough track at the back of the water treatment works brought me back to the forest and saw the last of the tarmac for the day. Along the first section of road I spotted a large buzzard hunting the abandoned grazing between the road and forest. He was hovering for ages but didn’t get to eat this time and eventually drifted off as if embarrassed to fail with me watching.
This last section of forest is familiar to me from two routes I’ve ridden a number of times. The first section crosses a steep ridge but normally I ride it in the opposite direction. It’s one of my favourite off road descents but today I had to ride up it. Close to the start of the climb there was a Cavan reg car randomly parked at the side of the track and a few hundred metres on I spotted a forest worker who obviously owned it. He was quite short and wearing a huge pair of wellies that looked way too big for him. These were literally his downfall as he tripped and took a tumble as he stepped to the grass verge to give me space to puff my way past. It was a real slow motion tumble and perfect roll and thankfully only his dignity was bruised. I was especially happy to see him getting up again as I didn’t fancy stopping and starting on that bugger of a climb. I was of course also happy to see that he wasn’t hurt!
Just before the steepest section the track cut off to the left and within 20m my Garmin was having a fit that I was off course. I looked at Google Maps to confirm I was right, there couldn’t be two tracks that close and going in the same direction, so I pushed on. The track did seem more overgrown than memory but it’s been a few years so I was happy enough. A few hundred metres later the track dead ended and I had to turn back. I’m sure that the Garmin would be sniggering if it could. The little Cavan man also got his revenge as I met him driving along the track as I made my way back to tackle the last couple hundred metres of 14% climb before taking the correct turn this time.
The advantage of doing this section the opposite way is that the tough uphill I normally struggle along now becomes a fast downhill although sadly broken by a gate halfway. It was along the flat section of the ridge that I had my most surreal experience on the bike a few years ago. I was pedalling along and swore I could hear music. Coming around the corner I met a beautiful black lab followed by a guy playing bagpipes! He walks the dog up here and brings the pipes to practice where he doesn’t bother the family or neighbours!
The final 10km was tough. It’s two sections of forest with a section of upland grazing in between. The forest is the usual graded track but the farmland section is back to a rocky lane. It’s a steep area rising and falling along the edge of the hill but generally climbing all the way. The farmland section is the steepest and the toughest with deep eroded sections exposing rocks big enough to stop me if hit the wrong way. By the time I reached the end of this all my contact points were sore and tender and crying out for a break.
Through this area there are a number of abandoned buildings. It was obviously a much more populated area over the last 100 years but completely abandoned now. It must have been a tough life eking out an existence up here, especially in harsh winters.
The final section of forest starts with a rapid downhill and one I’ve ridden many times. Knowing the terrain I let the bike go and aided by the open forest gate I got halfway up the next hill with momentum on my side. The next couple of kilometres are a series of rolling short, steep climbs with shorter descents gradually increasing the elevation each time. The track had changed to finer gravel and loose small stones making it very tiring on already tired legs. The strong breeze was also back in my face making it feel even harder again. I was very pleased to make it to the top of the last climb and took a few minutes to admire the views across the back of Barnes Gap, into the Bluestacks and catch my breath.
The last section is an exhilarating and very fast descent back to the road just 50m from the car park. This area gets a lot of rain so the steep track is badly rutted and eroded by constant run-off. It takes a careful eye and concentration to navigate safely especially as tired as I was. I made it safely and enjoyed this last blast of adrenaline before finishing.
Back at the car I was starving. I had a substantial late breakfast before leaving the house and had two bars along the way but I was out longer than expected and more than ready for food. Getting home I made a ham and cheese toasty that I may have swallowed whole! However, hydration was not a problem today.
I have my first vaccine appointment in the morning and I also have a 100km spin planned. I’m not sure about that now having read BgddyJim’s experiences post vaccine but as I still haven’t heard from the bike mechanic that decision may be made for me.
In the very first week of the month I managed to aggravate my back. I’ve had sciatica issues with my back off and on now for a good few years and every so often I will do something to cause it to flare up. This time it was unusual in that the pain and spasm was on the left as well as the usual right side. I obviously managed to hurt the muscle on that side. For the first two weeks I was wearing a support to work every day and taking prescription anti inflammatory tablets to keep it under control. While I was keeping up with my daily walking cycling was definitely out of the question.
As the month progressed the pain eased but two weeks ago I still had serious doubts about being able to complete a 100km spin for the month. I had managed to get a decent hike on the 19th and had hopes to get cycling again that week. However, the weather gods decided that wasn’t going to happen and it was the 25th before I got out for an hour after work, just enough to see how the back would react. Everything went well and I had a good 50K spin the next day. Apart from some tiredness I felt good and no major complaints from my back. The plan then was to get a second short spin after work on Friday before trying for the 100K on Sunday – sounds scarily like a training plan!
In the end up Friday didn’t happen. The forecast was for rain and I was knackered after a busy day at work. However, summer was finally on the way and I was still clear on my plan for Sunday.
As well as the usual bike and kit preparation I also got my back ready. I still had some of the pain medication so took a full dose on Saturday and also Sunday morning before leaving to give me the best chance of completion without causing any further issues.
Sunday morning is also football training for Conor and with Catriona at work I had to delay my start until I had dropped and collected Conor. I usually like to get on the road between 9 and 10 but Sunday I wasn’t away until well after 12:30. Just like in April I had some stomach issues that morning again. Some of it may have been the beer at the BBQ in Mum and Dad’s the previous evening for my brother’s birthday but I think it was mostly nerves and anxiety that I wasn’t up to the challenge.
Leaving home the route was still very fluid. I knew I was heading for Ballybofey and into Barnes Gap before turning off to take the back road route to Laghey which also mostly follows the route of my Donegal 200 Audax Permanent. After Laghey I had a few options in mind and in fact it wasn’t until Laghey that I decided how to go home. The first 40km to Laghey were mostly into the wind. It was blowing from a mix of S and SW direction and forecast to flip to the SE later in the day. At Laghey I decided to push on to Ballintra along a sheltered rural route before turning back to Donegal Town and home with hopefully a tailwind to help.
I’d been passed by quite a few motorbikes on the main roads and coming through Donegal Town the Diamond was full. There must have been 150 bikes parked up and the local shops were doing a roaring trade in coffee and ice cream. It was great to see signs of normal life finally returning. I left Donegal Town on the bypass before swinging back in at the other side of town to stop for lunch. It was a simple sandwich, Snickers and a bottle of Pepsi but it was great to sit in the warm sunshine and get a sugar and caffeine shot.
Heading back to Ballybofey another cyclist caught up with and stayed with me for most of the way through the Gap. He was from Raphoe and riding a MTB with light off-road tyres. Before we parted he mentioned being puffed from staying with me on the road bike but I felt it was me keeping up with him and he still looked pretty fresh to my eyes! His company and conversation was very welcome as the road back through the Gap is not enjoyable, busy with traffic, pretty boring and a sapping steady climb that I’ve never enjoyed. His conversation distracted me and made it a lot easier – as did the tailwind!
I turned off at Lough Mourne with the intention of taking the Corgary Road and descending Meenglass into Ballybofey before heading home but at the top of Meenglass I changed route yet again. I was feeling pretty good and didn’t fancy the final 1.6km climb home so decided to stay on the Corgary Road to Aghayarn and Castlederg before climbing the gentler Moneygall Road and dropping down to home. It was approximately 10km longer but I figured the extra distance was worth the chance to finish mostly downhill for the final 5K.
My final distance ended up at 111.22km which is my longest spin for 2021 and my longest since October last year. I felt a lot better than I expected with almost 6 weeks of very little cycling and with a recovering back.
click the image to view on strava
The weather all day was bright, dry and mostly sunny with temperatures in the high teens/low twenties. It was a joy to cycle in warm air for a change but it created a hydration challenge I underestimated. I only took one 750ml bottle with me and this was gone by 35km. I’d hoped to be able to refill once only at 50K but not to be. Thankfully there were plenty of shops to get refills but I’ll need to be more careful on future long runs in more rural areas. As it was I had no water for the final 15km due to extending the route and felt pretty dehydrated by the time I got home.
On the good news front my back coped much better than expected. It was burning quite a bit for the last 20-30mins but that was normal and not unexpected. Alternating position plus on-the-bike stretches kept it under control until I got home and there were no long lasting effects that evening or the next day at work. In fact it has continued to improve and I was back cycling today for 50K with virtually no problems.
This weekend is another Bank Holiday in Ireland and I’ve also booked some holiday days so I’m hoping for some more good weather and at least 2 longer distance spins.
The weather forecast all week has been giving today to be pretty grim with wind and heavy rain all day. I had resigned myself to a day off in the house with possibly a short walk at some stage. However, the forecast was slightly wrong with the weather front breaking into two with a spell of pretty decent weather in between. As the morning progressed this looked more and more likely so I decided a change of scenery was in order and jumped in the car with Rosie and headed for Barnes Gap.
I was last up this track just over a year ago. Either I way underestimated how long it takes to construct a wind farm or Covid shut them down for ages. Construction is still very much ongoing with the hateful implications for the forest environment. The narrow, rocky, rutted and overgrown tracks that were really nice for walking and mountain biking have been replaced with construction sites, quarries and wide roads for construction vehicles.
In general I feel windfarms are a good thing. They will be part of the wider strategy to move away from oil dependency. I’m not a fan of the destruction involved in their construction though. With the amount of road building, use of plastics and heavy machinery it’s hard to see how they can offset the environmental cost of construction during their lifetime. I’m no expert though and also don’t have any alternative to propose. This site was also the location of the infamous moving bog last year.
no welcome but also nobody around on a sunday afternoon
Despite essentially walking through an active construction site I had the place entirely to myself this afternoon. I also had the pleasure of the wind in the trees, water running in the drains and streams as well as lots of birds singing.
After the dire forecast the weather was actually quite pleasant for most of the walk. During the last 20min the rain did arrive but I did expect it and had dressed appropriately. I did catch the start of the second band of wet and windy weather but just managed to miss the worst of it.
I had estimated the walk to be about 7km but it turned out to be 8km. As the weather has continued to keep me off the bike, despite my back gradually improving, I’ve managed a total of 35km this week. The weather is set to finally improve this week so I hope to get some short evening spins as well as a longer spin Wednesday. If I’m to get in a last minute 100k spin this day week I need to get myself back in shape!
When a series of young women are discovered strangled and mutilated in a Glasgow park, it is up to DCI Lorimer to find their killer. He enlists the services of Dr Solomon Brightman, a psychologist and criminal profiler.
My Rating: ⭐⭐⭐
A new author for me and this is her first published book. I came across her watching an RTE documentary about Marie Cassidy, the former State Pathologist. She is originally from Glasgow and friends with the author who appears in the show. She sounded a bit like Mo Hayder so I decided to give her a go.
Unfortunately this book is nothing like Mo Hayder and Lorimer is a pale shadow of Jack Caffrey! The book isn’t bad, it just isn’t good. There’s no depth to anything, no intriguing storyline and only a very shallow relationship with the characters. Simply put we don’t get to know them at all, even Lorimer who is supposed to be the lead.
There is a lot of potential with the characters and I do like the idea of the books being set in Glasgow for a change. I’ll give another couple a go before I decide to give up or not. She has written 17 books in the series and has received a number of awards so I’m expecting them to get better.
Over the last 6 months or so I’ve been watching progressively more on YouTube. I’ve become a regular follower of quite a few channels, some cycling but mostly outdoor – hiking, wild camping and bushcraft. A while back I made my first YouTube video and shared it here. Since then the idea of making this a more frequent thing has been rattling around in my head.
One thing that has held me back is the worry of ridicule. Putting myself out there in film feels pretty pretentious and there is the fear that I could be making a complete arse of myself. However, on my Bessy Bell walk this week I took along a tripod and did some filming as well as photography.
I have to say I did enjoy the filming. Looking for shots and compositions as well as sharing the sights and sounds brought a different dimension to the day. I also enjoyed the post filming editing and production, finding the right footage and mixing in music, commentary and photos. It’s a bit like writing this blog, just a different medium.
Below is the finished article. It’s far from perfect and I learned a lot from this first proper attempt but at least I’m happy to share it.
I haven’t been on the bike since the 100km spin for April. The following Bank Holiday weekend was pretty grim weather wise and the Wednesday after I managed to hurt my back doing some clearing out of the attic and garage. I’ve had problems with my lower back for a good number of years with a slightly bulging disc that causes sciatica when irritated. Nothing major but it flares up from time to time. I’ve had various physio treatments for it but I have a weak core and a terrible lazy streak that means I never totally get rid of it.
This time I strained my left side which resulted in pain and inflammation on both sides of my lower back. I’ve had to start on a course of pain killers and wear a back support to work to allow me to stay on my feet all day. I’ve been able to keep working and walking but had to stop cycling to allow it to heal. It had improved towards the end of last week so I decided that a hike was in order to get me out in the fresh air for a few hours and to test the limits of my back in a situation where I could easily bail if I was in too much discomfort.
Bessy Bell is a large hill/small mountain just outside Newtownstewart and approximately 25min from home. I was last up here about 5 years ago and figured this would be a good time for a revisit. The 12km loop is completely on stone forest roads and easy for navigation. The climb to the summit isn’t too taxing (maximum height 420m) and the views are very rewarding.
Rosie isn’t a good traveller, she gets car sick, but at only a 25min journey I decided she could come too. She’s getting on at 10 1/2 now but has been full of energy all week so I figured she would manage better than me!
After the summit you descend most of the way by the same track before branching off to follow the Ulster Way most of the way back to the start. This is pretty level all the way with a mix of forest and clearfell areas, very easy and pleasant walking.
The Ulster Way is overlapped in this region by the International Appalachian Trail. New signage has been installed in the last 6 months or so and this is a later section than my previous walk in Killeter Forest a few weeks ago.
For food I took the usual packed lunch but also decided to take a gas cannister and stove for the first time ever. Normally I carry a flask of tea which usually results in a sub standard, stale tasting and lukewarm drink for lunch. Using the stove provided a very refreshing cup to accompany my sandwiches and definitely worth the slight extra weight.
The final 1.5-2km section is along a stretch of rural road. It’s a busy enough road but quieter than I expected this time. Also there was still lots of flowers to admire and nice scenery to enjoy along the way.
tired but happy 🐶
Despite the rest of the country being under a thunderstorm warning it managed to stay dry, warm and mostly sunny for the day. My back coped well and has continued to improve slightly every day since. I hope to get back on the bike for short spins this week.
In a rolling sea off the coast of South America, a target disappears in a puff of green light. In the Soviet hills of Dushanbe near the Afghanistan border, an otherworldly array of pillars and domes rises into the night. To the two greatest nations on earth, no contest is more urgent than the race to build the first Star Wars missile defense system, and no one knows that more than the two men charged with assessing the Soviets’ capabilities: Colonel Mikhail Filitov of the Soviet Union, an old-line warrior distrusted by the army’s new inner circle of technocrats, and CIA analyst Jack Ryan, hero of the Red October affair.
Each must use all his craft to arrive at the truth, but Filitov gets there first — and that’s when all hell breaks loose. Because Filitov, code-named Cardinal, is America’s highest agent in the Kremlin, and he is about to be betrayed to the KGB. His rescue could spell the difference between peace and war, and it is up to Jack Ryan to accomplish it — if he can — as, in a breathtaking sequence of hunter and hunted, Filitov’s life, and Ryan’s and that of the world itself literally hang in the balance.
My Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
I’ve been disappointed by many of the previous books in the series but this was very good. There is much more of a storyline and much less mind numbing technical and military detail. Altogether there are three strands to the story with a CIA, Russian and Afghan element. I would have liked to have seen more development of the Afghan storyline but it’s there for a plot line purpose and just serves that.
Refreshingly in this story Clancy spends much less time degrading Soviet society and highlighting its faults. It still comes across as a corrupt and faulty society both socially and politically but more as part of the story and not rammed in the reader’s face. Additionally, the book is chock full of strong characters and a good number of these are on the Soviet side this time. The most notable is the old war hero Misha but the young soldier Bondarenko and the KGB investigator Vatutin are also excellent characters. In many ways the Soviets are the stars of this book while Ryan himself is in more of a supporting role.
I also particularly enjoyed the espionage of the first half of the book. There is a great sense of pace and tension as well as a good insight into the operations of both the CIA and KGB spy networks, how the agents operated and how they passed along information while staying undetected. Considering the disappointment of Red Rabbit this was a much better and more enjoyable book.
niall harran 