Friday, January 21, 2011

Book Review: Counter Attack by Mark Abernethy

Counter Attack by Mark Abernethy


ISBN: 9781741759396

Australian Pub.: January 2011

Edition: 1

Publisher: ALLEN & UNWIN

RRP: $19.99

Subject: Thriller & Suspense

Pages: 472



Lured out of retirement, super-spy Alan 'Mac' McQueen is on a mission to prevent the ambitions of one man to overthrow the Chinese government and reduce Asia to radioactive ashes. With action sequences to rival the most expensive Hollywood blockbuster, Counter Attack is an explosive thriller - sure to keep you up all night.

Description

Australia's super-spy, Alan McQueen, has been lured out of retirement. Any dreams Mac has of a cosy office job are shattered when he's dispatched to Singapore to oversee a covert mission. And when things go disastrously wrong, he not only has to defend his reputation in Australia but also stay out of jail in Vietnam.

From the leafy suburbs of Singapore to the mean streets of Saigon, from the political infighting of Canberra to the old killing fields of Northern Cambodia, Mac has to use all his cunning - and a few unusual alliances - to get to the bottom of a conspiracy that could throw the world into a thermo-nuclear showdown. When nothing is what it seems, and death is only one mistake away,

Mac finds himself both hunter and hunted as he pursues a truth that could save millions of lives.

About Mark Abernethy

Mark Abernethy is a speechwriter, ghostwriter, journalist and author. Born in New Zealand, he has lived in Australia for most of his adult life. A former editor at Australian Penthouse magazine, he has also written for the Australian Financial Review.



Review

When you’re on a good thing you should stick to it, and that is exactly what Abernethy has done with his well developed Australian super-spy, Alan McQueen. It is hard not to lump Abernethy in with the Ludlum/Clancy crowd as they are the two biggest names that are in the same genre as Abernethy. He has developed a great formula to write a real page turner and this book continues the trend, and story of McQueen.

The pages turn quickly in this fast paced action/thriller, exploding out of the print and straight between the reader’s eyes.

With only a couple of other McQueen novels written, it was good to see the spy pulled back out of retirement and into the thick of it. While there are no real surprises with the plot, it is full of enough descriptive details to make it an exciting read.

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