The Alpha Deception

Blaine McCracken, Book 2

By: Jon Land

Narrated by: Lance Axt

A space-borne super-weapon rains death down on an American small town, and Blaine McCracken races to learn who pulled the trigger before the fearsome beam turns on Washington

In the last years of the Cold War, policy and trust for the Russians have led to disarmament treaties and hope for a new beginning. But peace is not yet within grasp. An entire American town has been wiped off the map: not by nuclear strike, but rather a space-borne particle cannon capable of reducing the entire nation to dust in hours. But who pulled the trigger? Was it the Russians, making a final bid for world domination? Or was it a third power - some aspiring conqueror hoping to pit the superpowers against each other? It’s up to Blaine McCracken to find out. An old flame has contacted the rogue cop, begging for help protecting her father, a jeweler who has just been robbed of five rare stones - five rubies that could mean life or death for the United States.

©1988 Jon Land (P)2012 Audible, Inc.

Good Story and Performance, Poor editing

Good story and narration Poor editing at breaks-same phrases were repeated. Didn't like foul language.

More absurd, elements of fantasy? Or realistic?

I couldn't get through book 1 (The Omega Command), and I had started with Day of the Delphi (book 6), which I found to be believable and a good story from all angles. Just what I was looking for on the day. In this book (The Alpha Deception, Book 2), international vigilante McCracken travels to almost every continent in the world, does something there with representatives from almost every big government and master criminal in the world while having zero support from his own government (USA). And then saves the world again. A vigilante saving the world for love and a respect for all humanity has been the overriding theme of all of the books in this series I've cracked so far. This is an appealing theme for most of us.

In this book, everything was done on a large scale and needed a lot of setup (many chapters). I didn't enjoy it as much, but for people who enjoy the story of (spoiler:) Atlantis (a twist), sea diving, many threads running at once, and like this kind of world domination by a single man, if you aren't trying to solve any mystery yourself, then this is the book for you. It feels like there are a hundred twists (there aren't, but it feels like it), especially in the day of EMP fiction,

The thing about Jon Land's writing is that if you start a book, you'll almost always finish it, I think, whether you agree with the subject matter (and some gruesome scenes), or not. The one thing that appeals the most is that everyone in each book is broken and at least halfway insane. All the characters in these books are nuts, minus one, Johnny War Eagle (ironic). .Johnny is also broken, so just normal like the rest of us, but at least he understands how and why, and is in control enough to relate to the world in a sane manner. The voice (and action hero) of sanity.

I also like Lance Axt narrating this series. He's good at the sales speed and speeded up. In some books, it helps to put the speed down a notch in the beginning. Expect to be assaulted by details and names from get-go. I don't recommend this book as much for the reasons stated. It's not my cup of tea. I finished it. I appreciated the writing and the ending, which was abrupt and not fancy. I like the beginnings of some of his other books in this series. I haven't cracked open (previewed) all of his books yet.

what's good with the cliffhanger

So the book is going to end without addressing the Russian Mole? The Russian Mole needs to be killed