Liberation Day by Andy McNab

Thriller

Nick Stone agrees to one last operation in order to get his papers for the USA and be with the girl he loves. His mission is to travel to France, meeting up with two Egyptians that will help him. They are to track a boat to one of the ports and then follow the men when they leave the boat to collect three payments. These payments are being sent back to families from terrorists that are planning something in the Western world. If they capture the men the money is coming from and blow up the money before it makes it back to the Middle East, they can stop the terrorists and also learn who they are.

Everything is incredibly methodical with Nick. He scouts out locations days in advance, removes wrappers from food so they don't make noise, and takes anything with him that might leave a clue that could lead back to him.

This is the 5th or so book in the series and the previous books have been great for being action packed and believable. This one is my least favourite in the series. It was mostly prep work which made it a rather slow go. Nick and the team spent all their time getting ready and then when the team finally arrived, the action was crammed in the last few pages of the book. The end was exciting but it would have been nicer if some of that replaced some of the beginning to weigh the book better between set up and action.

First Line: "The submarine had broken surface ten minutes earlier, and its deck was still slippery beneath my feet."

Rating:
(3/5)

Remote Control by Andy McNab

Remote Control by Andy McNab
Mystery

Nick Stone is part of deniable ops for the British government. This means that if caught, the government will deny any knowledge of Stone and he's on his own. The risk is high but the individuals run very important missions. This story starts in Gibraltar where they are trying to stop the Irish Army from setting off a bomb. The mission is accomplished but despite that, Stone feels like something wasn't right.

Years later, Stone is asked to fly to the USA and follow some PIRA members around to see what they're doing. Stone sets off but once he's in Washington, he's called off and told to return right away. The earliest plane he can get back to the UK is later that night so he decides to visit a friend for dinner. As he arrives, he finds the whole family murdered with the exception of one of the young girls, Kelly. Nick takes Kelly and tries to figure out who did this, knowing that he is probably now a suspect himself.

I started the Nick Stone series a few books in and really liked the character. This is the first book in the series so it was good to know how Kelly came to be with him. These series are so realistic because Stone takes a lot of caution with what he does. Clothes are bought and changed frequently, characters are followed before they meet. In other books this would be monotonous but with this book it adds to the build up and makes it feel real.

In addition to this, Stone is a great character. He gets frustrated with Kelly and isn't always the proper adult he should be, which you know probably would happen in a situation like this.

First Line: "I pinged him straight away."

Rating:
(4/5)