Bruce J. Nicholls

Well, I've got to hand it to him, Bruce has done it again. He's written a fast paced, entertaining good story. Like his previous work..."Code Sentinel", Bruce has drawn on his experiences as a Diplomat in the Australian Trade Commissioner Service. And, I was especially interested in reading this because we were colleagues in the Trade Commissioner Service and I wondered if there might be some characters there that I recognised. However, apart from poor Gerry Watkins who is singled out for a cameo part in which he is summarily executed....and Mike Lightowler who appears in his real role as ambassador to China....there were few people there that I recognised. Maybe Ambassador Bayliss with a different first name (who was, if I am not mistaken, part of the same intake of Trainee Trade Commissioners with Bruce).....But apart from the name correspondence ...there was little of the character of the real person reflected as far as I could see.
Bruce clearly likes his heroes and heroines to be tall, athletic, super fit and intelligent. (They all seem to have "intelligent eyes"). It was interesting to me that his main character Tom Grant: carried over from his previous book. Seems like Bruce is looking for a series here and for a character not unlike James Bond, 007. Can we expect "Archangel" to appear in the next book? I must say that I was impressed with Bruce's grasp of detail with such things as the massive tunnel network for Chinese missiles and the potential impact of a nuclear explosion in the upper atmosphere on power transmission and electronic communications. He writes well and, best of all, he actually writes a good story where the plot hangs together really well. Maybe a tad too much violence in it for it to appeal to women readers...and maybe even for me. A few too many casual executions, described in almost loving detail, where the back of someone's skull is blown off. And "warp speed" reappears just once or twice too often. And maybe the "arrogant" prow of the Delaware Submarine is getting a little personal. But, all in all, he has written a book which really got me in and wanting to read...more or less in one or two sittings....right to the end.
He has developed the rather unfortunate habit of disposing of his heroines in most unpleasant circumstances...but I guess this leaves Colonel Tom Grant free to pursue a fresh romantic interest in the next novel. But overall, I really liked his character development, his scene setting and the almost plausible international incidents. Along the way we are treated to Bruce's advice about how to conduct international negotiations ...and, I must say, that I tend to agree with his angle. If I may so bold as to attempt to summarise it....it is (in the words of Ali G) about "respect". Respect for the views of other individuals and other countries; respect for the history of other countries; transparency in dealings with others; and, probably, above all being rather slow to anger and ready to forgive and move on. I don't read a lot of fiction these days but overall, a fast paced and engaging piece of "thriller" fiction. I give it 4.5 stars.… (altro)

I was intrigued to read this book because it was written by an old colleague of mine from the Australian Trade Commissioner Service. And I was interested to see whether I recognised any of the events or people or scenarios. In fact, I was quite impressed. Bruce has written a fast- paced, captivating book that I read more or less in one sitting. I was also impressed by Bruce's grasp and recall of the detail of things like a visit by a senior government representative from abroad.
I found myself comparing with the "Day of the Jackal" ....maybe comparing a bit too closely with the scene in the State Forest where the terrorists are practicing shooting with watermelons! But the plot is tightly controlled and develops really well.
He has written a good story and I look forward to reading his next work which has recently been published. And, no, I did not recognise any characters ...though a lot of familiar places around Canberra were drawn into the story.
I must say, that initially, I thought that the naive young man who was drawn into the terrorist web would escape to Pakistan and we might have an international thriller on our hands but the twist in the story at the end was rather well pulled off.....though (I don't want to insert a spoiler here) I really cannot imagine any of the Australian Prime Ministers dressing down the Ambassador of that particular country (who was called in at the end) in such unequivocal terms.
Bruce has managed to put something of the other side of islamic terrorism into this work and I found that both refreshing and interesting. Also interesting to consider how a young guy could get caught up in terrorism and not have any way to extract themselves.
He has also captured, rather well, the convoluted relationships between the various arms of the Australian public service and the defence and clandestine services.
I hardly read any fiction these days but must say that this was a good read and a good story. Oh, marred a bit by some poor editing.......too many adjectives around the opening paragraph of Chapter 1, Usage of "warp speed" just once too often. I was expecting the Canadian Trade Commissioner, Claude, to morph into a villain but he just disappeared off the scene......seems a bit strange. He had the makings of a useful additional character in the story. Chapter 26 has the two fugitives considering taking off "leaving the corpses behind them"....but at this stage there are no corpses in the safe house. Chapter 27 has the typo "with lucky" instead of "with luck". I noticed one or two other similar errors that had been missed in proofreading. And Bob Murray seems to be sinking back into his swivel chair a few two many times .......but these are minor editing irritants....maybe only impacting me.… (altro)