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The Spoils of War
 
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The Spoils of War (Hardcover)

by Gordon Kent (Author)
3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)

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Product details

  • Hardcover: 464 pages
  • Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers Ltd; Library Ed edition (5 Jun 2006)
  • Language English
  • ISBN-10: 0007178743
  • ISBN-13: 978-0007178742
  • Product Dimensions: 23 x 15.4 x 4 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 830,620 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Product Description

Synopsis

An exhilarating new tale of modern espionage and adventure featuring US Navy intelligence officer Alan Craik. In Tel Aviv, Commander Alan Craik, a US Navy veteran agrees to check out the death of a former Navy enlisted employee. He plans to be out the door and on to his real work in half an hour. But the task quickly turns dangerous, and what should have been a routine investigation becomes something very ugly. Nominal American allies in Israel withhold or alter information; nominal colleagues at home set up their own operation to satisfy the political needs of Washington; a wife betrays her husband and deceit and distrust prove to be the only common denominator. When Mike Dukas, a dogged, cynical special agent of the Naval Criminal Investigative Service joins the investigation, it leads them all from Tel Aviv to Gaza and the Greek island of Lesvos to Jerry Piat, a renegade CIA officer. With agents of Mossad and the Palestinian Authority always close behind them, Alan Craik demands the answers to some far-reaching questions: what are the rules in modern conflict? Where is honour? And what is the cost of telling the truth?

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Customer Reviews

3 Reviews
5 star:
 (1)
4 star:    (0)
3 star:
 (2)
2 star:    (0)
1 star:    (0)
 
 
 
 
 
Average Customer Review
3.7 out of 5 stars (3 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

 
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Highly recommended, 28 Jun 2006
By J. Cudbertson "camban99" (Hull, UK) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)      
A hugely enjoyable series with believable characters, who evolve credibly, and superbly feasible plot lines. This is the tale of an ancient artifact dug up illegally in Gaza. An inscription on it threatens Israel's very survival as it undermines their historical claim to the lands upon which the state now stands. This aspect of the story is intertwined with the hunt for those who killed the amateur archaeologist who discovered the ancient item, himself a former US Navy cryptologist. Really great story telling, superb atmosphere, wonderful style, and you have to wonder where this story came from.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars Good but not great, 10 Oct 2006
By C. Green "happily low brow" (Faringdon, Oxon, UK) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)      
Gordon Kent's strength is writing thrillers where the plots grow organically; where it linear story telling is replaced by coincidence & multiple intertwined plot strands and where things can become complicated very quickly. In other words Kent's thrillers show the worlds of the military and espionage as the really are; complicated and confusing.

The Spoils of War is no different. Apparently disassociated events all tie in to one another, linking up around the discovery in Gaza of an ancient relic that throws into doubt Israel's claim to exist. Unfortunately, by choosing to use this relic as the central 'maguffin' Kent sacrifices one of the key strengths of his earlier books; reality.

Its not that the relic is supernatural in either origin or influence, the problem is that it just doesn't have the ring of truth about it, and for a book otherwise very much 'torn from tomorrow's headlines' this is a weakness. Apart from this The Spoils of War is yet another brilliantly structured tale of espionage, politics, terrorism and the US Military. Alan Craik and Mike Dukas, Kent's heroes, return, along with a familit supporting cast. There is the usual mix of skullduggery, double crosses and betrayal. The action is competently handled and when it comes punchy and sometimes shocking.

If Kent had chosen a different central hook Spoils of War would haave been another great thriller. As it is, by choosing to dabble with a pseudo-historical conspiracy angle, what could have been great is simply good and that's a shame.
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3.0 out of 5 stars solid and well written thriller, 7 Aug 2007
By N. Brett (Wiltshire, England) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)      
This review is from: The Spoils of War (Paperback)
Gordon Kent does not get the recognition for his (their's -it's a father and son team I understand) top quality thrillers. Far better then recent Clancy, Coonts or Patrick Robinson. The authors consistently deliver well written fast paced thrillers with witty dialogue and well scoped, interesting and evolving characters.
Here we have US Intelligence operatives caught in the middle of something going on between Israel and Palestine. Some historical item has been found that could tip the balance of power in the Middle East and elements of Mossad are prepared to endanger the relationship with the US to recover the item....
To have the Israelies as the bad guys while pretending to be allies worked well as the game of power politics developed and was a brave and unusual step. The authors also have a cynical slant which means that everything might not end well and as a reader that keeps you on your toes.
I agree with a previous reviewer that the only let down is the historical item bit, Gordon Kent is no Dan Brown (which is a good thing) and while everything else worked well in the book, this element did not.
Overall a good solid thriller, but not the stunning one it could have been.
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