The Unknown Soldier [Paperback]

Exciting as the storyline is, the main strength of this book lies in the development of its characters. In contrast to other authors who choose the easy and simplistic option of having perfect, unblemished heroes battling fundamentally evil villains, Seymour’s characters are far more complex and realistic, depicting the ordinary and fallible human beings who lie behind the headlines in the real world, where characters like James Bond, or Jack Ryan for that matter, are about as far from reality as you are liable to get.

The only question mark I would place over this book is its very ambiguous ending which seems to suggest a sequel may be in the offing. If so, it should be one to look forward to.

It's true that the action isn't breakneck speed with thrills and spills all over the place, but what Seymour can do like no other writer is create a slow pressure build up of tension and then culminate the action in a finale of incomparable proportions.

As in most other Seymour books there are plenty of other sub-plots that run alongside the main one and this book is no exception with four or five other goings on happening at the same time. Indeed it is with some of these lesser stories that I felt this book was even better than some of Seymour's previous works. I loved the
sub-story of Lovejoy, the Security Service Officer and Deitrich, the interrogator from Camp Delta, who pursue the question of who Caleb really is back home in England.

The characters also were as good as ever, Bart the doctor, who is being used by the Security Services in Saudi Arabia is at first slimy and dislikeable and yet by the end of the book you have more than a measure of sympathy for him. Beth Jenkins, the English teacher who is given special permission from the Saudi Royal family to live near the desert is another character you enjoy getting to know. There are plenty more besides these also.

What makes the whole book especially more poignant is that given the recent events that have tragically happened in London, Seymour shows more than a little of the qualities of a clairvoyant with his near prediction of a British born member of Al Qaeda receiving a luggage packed bomb to wreak terror in a populated area.

-A British born Al Queda terrorist crossing the "empty quarter" of Saudi Arabia by camal to rejoin his masters after being released from Camp Delta (Guantanimo bay)
-Two american technicians operating Predator drones to hunt terrorists near the Yemeni border
-A washed up british doctor scarred from working in Hebron now blackmailed into pasisng low grade intelligence to MI6.
-A young american female geologist hunting for meteorites in the desert.
-An American CIA agent working in Cuba interogating prisoners trying to identify "the unknown soldier" as he crosses the sand.

This technique SHOULD be interesting & done well can keep you turning the pages. Unfortunately there was too much flashback & too many fillers to keep you hooked... I hate to say it but this book bored me until the last 50 pages or so when everything came together. Ultimately I think it lacked plot, so therefore had little suspense. None of the characters were likeable.. the terrorist was so "mysterious" that I couldn't relate to him & the americans were so unpleasant and brutal that they seemed little better than terrorists themselves.

The story was accurate & does describe the problems & conflicts encountered as Al Queda are hunted down, but Gerald Seymour can normally do far better than this. I'd recommed it for a long journey when you can give it your undivided attention. Reading a dozen pages a night will prove tedious though.