Warlord

Alex Hawke, Book 6

By: Ted Bell

Narrated by: John Shea

Length: 16 hrs and 51 mins

Publisher's summary

Alex Hawke has all but given up on life. The British-American MI6 counterterrorism operative lost the woman he loved almost a year ago and has sought refuge at the bottom of a rum bottle ever since. But late one night at his home on Bermuda, he receives a wake-up call... literally.

His Royal Highness Prince Charles, an old friend, desperately needs his help. The prince has discovered a not-so-subtle threat directed toward the British royal family. What’s more, the evidence reveals an ominous connection to Charles’s godfather, Lord Mountbatten - the beloved family patriarch assassinated by an ingeniously designed bomb 30 years before. A shadowy figure from the past has the British crown in his sights, and has proven once before that his warnings are not to be taken lightly. Several clues point to IRA involvement, but the authorities have little to go on and answers are scarce. This is just the call to duty Hawke needs to get back into action - if the madman doesn’t strike first.

Take another thrill ride with Alex Hawke.

©2010 Brilliance Audio, Inc.

Critic reviews

"Bell's fine sixth thriller featuring swashbuckling British spy Alex Hawke mixes action and suspense with just the right amount of humor and old-fashioned boys-book adventure." ( Publishers Weekly)

“A James Bondish adventure brought up to date…. A meaty, entertaining thriller…just the thing for fans of Ludlum, Trevanian and Fleming.” ( Kirkus Reviews)

Alex hawk has been likened to James bond.

But James Bond is not a shadow of the invincible Alex Hawk and Stockley Jones.
every shot a kill shot even 40 yards dangling from a parachute.
The enemy always shoots wildly and even 50 heavily armed bad guys die at the hands of Alex Hawk and Stokely, who always emerge without a scratch. NO James Bond is not even in their league.

Alex Hawkr at his best again

another strong performance in the Alex Hawke series this time our hero goes to multiple length to track down the villains from Pakistan and also a plot against the Queen and the Royal family.

I didnt like it very much....

Maybe just not my cuppa tea. Rather long winded at times, distracting accents....I didnt get to the finish!!

I normally like long books

I really do like long books but this one was just a little to long. Alex Hawk's adventures are always interesting but I read this book out of order since I got two others that were later books and listened to them first. This one was interesting but I felt it a little long.

Wow

I read the abridged version first then came back to read the unabridged version - I’ll never try a abridged version again -GREAT STORY!

Mr. Bell needs to do some fact checking

Overall the story is well-written with Mr. Bell’s signature plot twists, ascensions, and miracles. However, he needs to do more research when writing about real items. Specifically, he writes about a cog railway in Lucerne as being the oldest in the world. It is the second oldest and was opened in 1889 not 1898. Maybe his mistakes are intentional (i.e., due to publication laws) but there are many areas elsewhere in the book where he uses real information (e.g., weapon information). I expect more from authors of his level of experience.

Go with the abridged

Would you recommend this book to a friend? Why or why not?

The book was to long and to drawn out. The abridged copy would have been more enjoyable I am sure.

Would you listen to another book narrated by John Shea?

Probably not

Could you see Warlord being made into a movie or a TV series? Who should the stars be?

Could easily be made into a movie. It would be much easier to follow the characters that way.

Any additional comments?

Not the best Ted Bell book I have read.

Author's unreasonable fear has ruined the series.

With this book, Ted Bell has ruined what had been a mostly entertaining series. The other books, of course, have veins of right wing fanaticism running in them, but this book crosses the line. When he has Stokely take a prisoner into international waters just so he can torture him for information -- that's when I turned the book off. Save your money and turn on Fox news if you need a right wing fear fix.

Thin and predictable

Having just worked my way through the Clancy epics I needed a change of reader. This was so predictable once the characters had been established, I became impatient to have my predictions verified. Thin is the best descriptor because it feels like a novel that has been ‘built’ rather than written with knowledge and passion. One gets the impression the Mr Bell travels as a tax write off so he can manufacture a tale or, worse still, just Googles everything for his research.

purely an airplane book!

I have several categories into which I slot audio books. One of those is "airplane books." These are fast-paced, keep-you-awake-during-a-trans-pacific-flight books. Well, this is one of those, it is fast and action packed. You really don't want to think about this book as it falls apart pretty quickly. And it's politics are well to the right of Attila the Hun and Dick Cheny (water-boarding is considered the most reliable of interrogation techniques. Every now and then the author puts words into the mouth of some character that you think just must be ironic. Alas, I don't think that Ted Bell can spell irony.

Anyway, if you can just think of it as an over the top, swashbuckler, it is okay.