Thriller Author Ian Kruger

Posts Tagged ‘Thriller Author’

Scary, spellbinding thriller

The plot is about investigative TV reporter Alex Callahan’s identical twin 6-year-old sons who go missing at a Renaissance fair. He soon learns that they have been kidnapped. However, there is no contact from the abductor(s) and soon the police’s investigation also slows down from lack of leads and evidence.

This is where Alex starts to take matters into his own hands and plays private investigator. His investigation leads him all over the US and he learns that magic and voodoo is involved. The more he learns about the abductor, the scarier it becomes and he knows that he has to find his sons as soon as possible, or they may depart this life in a terrifying way.

The novel’s pace slows down towards the middle of the story, but picks up towards the end. However, Alex’s quest to find his sons is still a captivating read.

My only quibble with this book is that some loose ends are left untied at the end, but maybe the author wants the reader to use his/her imagination and figure out how he/she wants it to work out.

Action all the way!

This thriller novel is full of non-stop violent action. By page 100, I was out of breath just from reading the book, and I don’t know how the characters kept up the pace without tiring. And that is the trend through all 689 pages of my copy of the book. That said, I know it is fiction and things can get a bit far-fetched sometimes, but it still makes for an enjoyable reading experience, since the pages just keep on turning automatically. One of my first thoughts before hitting page 100 was that this author might be writing with a movie in mind, so vividly were the action scenes described.

The premise of the story is that US Scientists at a remote Antarctic ice station find a strange and fascinating large metallic object buried deep under the ice for millions of years. This object seems to be of military value and a first-class team of US marines, led by the accomplished protagonist, Lt. Shane Schofield a.k.a. Scarecrow, is sent to Antarctica to secure the object. And this is where the action starts – other countries also show an intense interest in this object and everyone is literally prepared to fight to the death for it. There are also plenty of suspense and near-death escapes in this novel to satisfy any lover of action-packed thrillers.

However, I have a few problems with this book; one being the fact that NATO allies, such as the British, the French and the US fight tooth and nail over this object, without any plausible reason supplied why they would want to fight their allies. Another problem is that there was an incident where two guys jumped into the ocean, and after some fighting with the enemy in the water, they land up on a large iceberg drifting in the ocean – and this iceberg just happens to have something buried under the snow and ice that would help them further on in the story – a large coincidence. But then again, like I have mentioned earlier, this is fiction, and if it keeps the pages turning, who cares?

In a previous post I mentioned that I am doing some book reviews, especially of thriller novels that I have enjoyed. I decided to place these reviews also on my blog, so here is the first one:

Pleasantly surprised!

Having recently felt the urge to read thriller novels that would keep me awake all night, I tried a few novels by some authors I had not read before. Most of these books I did not even finish, since they bored me so much that I felt I would rather sit and watch the grass grow. I must add that they were real insomnia-busters (I’m not going to name them, though!).

Then I picked up Death Match. I have actually delayed reading the book, since the cover on the paperback version that I possess really did not look very inspiring. But, boy, was I surprised! Eventually I found a thriller novel that would fulfill the premise of keeping me awake all night. I have only read one work of Lincoln Child in conjunction with Douglas Preston, which I thoroughly liked, but since this one was a solo effort, I did not know what to expect.

Eden Incorporated is a company that has developed match-making software running on a supercomputer. Their software is able to find close matches for clients running through millions of criteria, and ensuring a very close match — and this is why clients are prepared to fork out thousands of dollars to allow Eden Inc. to find their perfect partner in life. They even have matched so-called “super couples” who are clients that have been matched one hundred percent by the software and who decided to get married.

It all seems very idyllic, until one super couple is found dead and it appears that they have mysteriously committed suicide. To make matters worse, it happens again, and again with other super couples.

The main character, Dr. Christopher Lash is a psychologist who specializes in marital relationships. He also has an understanding of criminal behavior, since he was previously employed by the FBI. Because of his unique background, Dr. Lash is brought in by the officials at Eden Inc. to aid in the investigation of the suicides of these super couples, because the news about the deaths is starting to get very bad for business.

Death Match ‘turned’ out to be quite a page-turner, and although it started off a bit on the slow side, the pace was quickly stepped up and became more frantic towards the end. The plot was well-crafted and the characters engaging.

I especially liked how Mr. Child developed the character of Dr. Christopher Lash, and how he brought in some ghosts of his past life in the FBI to start haunting him again in his investigation of the suicides of the so-called “super couples” of Eden Incorporated. I also found the female character, Tara, very interesting, and seeing that she played a very prominent part later on in the book, I would have liked to see her developed a bit further.

Having an IT background myself, I could relate to the computer hardware and software jargon in the book, but I think it should be easy for the reader with an average knowledge of the field to grasp. I did some research and found that Lincoln Child also has an IT background, and that is why he was able to write so easily about the subject. However, I must add that all the computer hardware explosions at the end was a bit over the top for me — it seemed as if Mr. Child tried to write for the view made popular by Hollywood regarding the special effects rendered by computer hardware put under severe stress.

All-in-all, I want to congratulate Lincoln Child on an excellent thriller, and providing me with a story that I found very hard to put down.

Recently, I decided to join the Squidoo fraternity and make my own Squidoo lens. I’m still experimenting with the content that I will put on there. Feel free to check it out!

I’ve also made some other related Squidoo lenses about book reviews, etc. You will find my other lenses here.

Best-selling and world famous author, Michael Crichton passed away on the 4th of November 2008 at the age of 66. I think he was best known as author of Jurassic Park and its sequel, The Lost World. Both of these were turned into highly successful and world-famous movies – who hasn’t seen them, or at least heard of them? The total sales of all his books were in excess of 150 million copies worldwide. He was also the creator of the very successful TV series, “ER”.

To me, Michael was a born storyteller, but also with a fresh slant on the “science thriller” genre. Some of his work may be classified as “science fiction”, but he has usually put so much scientific research into his work that the “science fiction” became real and achievable science, if not now, then soon in the near future. However, never did his “science thriller” stories become boring due to the science contained in them, but the science became part of the story. He masterfully created a flow of events that encompassed the science without the reader getting the feeling that he or she was being peppered with a lot of dull facts.

To Michael, I salute one of the masters of the craft. Thanks for creating all those terrific unput-downable books!

Welcome to the official website of thriller author Ian Kruger where you will find mystery, intrigue, suspense, adventure, exhilarating action, valiant protagonists and fearsome villains blended into a frenzied roller coaster ride of non-stop enjoyment.