Product Information:
ISBN :9781405040259
Binding: Trade paperback
Pub. Date: 01/10/2010
Category: Thriller & Suspense
Imprint: Pan Macmillan
Pages: 512
Purchase Information:
Amazon (Kindle Edition)
Special Agent Vin Cooper is feeling reckless. He volunteers for the dumbest and most dangerous job going: personal security operations in Afghanistan protecting bent politicians.
But when his principal is killed in a suicide bomb attack, Cooper is reassigned to a cushy job nursing a couple of needy African-American entertainers putting on a show for US military advisors at a secret base in Rwanda.
Or so he thinks.
Things go horribly wrong when their United Nations chopper is forced down in the Democratic Republic of Congo in the middle of an all-out firefight by opposing forces. The nightmare only intensifies when some of Cooper's people, including one of the entertainers, are captured.
While risking his life to rescue his principals, Cooper spies a US DoD advisor in the enemy encampment, which is awash with American weaponry. It seems that their forced landing in this inhospitable place was no accident...
*****
I received this book from Pan Macmillan. This review may contain spoilers. David Rollins is one of my favourite writers. As a girl who loves lots of action, I know his books are always going to be just what I want. Ghost Watch is the fourth Vin Cooper novel, and I loved it. Vin Cooper is a Major in the Air Force, and is an Officer of Special Investigation. He's their version of a police man. After the death of his ex, Vin has been acting a little carelessly. He's been taking on jobs with a little more danger. After his last personal security operation blew up, literally, he's taken on a job of escorting some African-American music artists to a base in Rwanda. The performers are Twenny Fo and Leila. Twenny Fo runs in the same vein as 50 Cent, and Leila is a cross between Beyonce and Rihanna. They have also brought along a nice entourage of make-up artists, dancers and Twenny's personal security. The concert in Rwanda goes off without a hitch and they get invited to do a small concert in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Vin isn't keen but knows it's not up to him. They head off in a helicopter, but end up crash landing in the middle of a fire fight between hostile armies. It's now a battle for survival in one the most forbidding landscapes in the world. The DRC is considered one of four places in the world where travel is inadvisable. The cop in Vin knows something isn't right and he tries to find out if their crash landing wasn't an accident after all.
In previous books Vin's been a bit of ladies man, having had a pretty turbulent relationship with a fellow officer. In this book Vin is quite different and I really liked how his character has progressed. They're still pieces of the old Vin in him, but to me he was a little more grown up, I guess. Of course he's the hero, and he has great instincts, and is able to form half plans that seem crazy and impossible but always ends up saving them. He tells bad jokes and has some pretty cheesy one-liners, and seems to have a knack for alienating people, but most people like him.
In previous books Vin's been a bit of ladies man, having had a pretty turbulent relationship with a fellow officer. In this book Vin is quite different and I really liked how his character has progressed. They're still pieces of the old Vin in him, but to me he was a little more grown up, I guess. Of course he's the hero, and he has great instincts, and is able to form half plans that seem crazy and impossible but always ends up saving them. He tells bad jokes and has some pretty cheesy one-liners, and seems to have a knack for alienating people, but most people like him.
The secondary characters in Ghost Watch are so various and they bring a lot diversity to the story. Along with Twenny Fo and Leila is Boink, the head of Twenny's security. He's 6'6 and about 350 pounds. Twenny also has Peanut, who isn't really all there and Snatch. Leila has Ayesha and Shaquand. The other PSO agents are West, Travis, Rutherford, Cassidy and Ryder. They all have their own skill set, and support Vin all the way. Twenny and Peanut are kidnapped, not long after their crash landing, along with their French co-pilot. I really enjoyed most of the characters, but I seriously wanted to bitch-slap Leila. She was all attitude, no help and me, me, me. She didn't give Vin an inch, and just when I thought she had gotten over her diva antics she went and spoiled it. Twenny turns out to be more than he seems, with a deeper personality than Leila.
Ghost Watch is a testosterone charged and action-packed thriller full of suspense, with enough explosions, gun-fights, double-crossings and humor to keep you turning the pages. I give it 4/5.
Ghost Watch is a testosterone charged and action-packed thriller full of suspense, with enough explosions, gun-fights, double-crossings and humor to keep you turning the pages. I give it 4/5.
I ahve not read this one, sounds really good though. I'll have to go look it up. Thanks for the review.
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