Official Review: To Catch a Wolf
Posted: 17 May 2020, 10:23
[Following is an official OnlineBookClub.org review of "To Catch a Wolf" by Chris Drewitt (http://chrisdrewittauthor.authorpage.co).]
To Catch a Wolf by Chris Drewitt (http://chrisdrewittauthor.authorpage.co) is the first installment of The Wolf Pack Mysteries series. It is a sensational thriller, mystery, and crime novel. In 1965, the United States carries out Operation Deadwood in which they develop a virus called Masada to spread it in North Vietnam. Thereafter, an airplane containing the chemical weapon was stolen and never found. During years, the plane was believed to have fallen into the Atlantic. In 1981 the CIA learned that the aircraft crashed somewhere in the jungle of the fictional country Sierra Laputu, and the remains of the virus’s containers might be still in the crash site.
Admiral Carlton Hess, deputy director of the CIA, hires the mercenary Rafer Stuart, known in the underworld as The Wolf, to perform an operation that allows the remnants of the Masada to be recovered and destroyed therefore prevent a global scandal that might affect the reelection of the President of the United States. Mark Capricci, Operations Director for Carlton Hess, is also a member of the Italian mob, which is led by Caesar Falcone. Don Falcone finds out about the operation through Capricci and tries to sabotage it and manipulates the evidence of the existence of the Masada weapon to blackmail the President of the United States. At the same time, the Israeli intelligence service, Mossad, has infiltrated the operation through an Israeli-American spy woman. The Israelis also plan to reach the crash site to stop Stuart and retrieve the evidence of the weapon.
While Stuart and his group are carrying out the operation, a group of Sierra Laputu's military unintentionally overthrow the president of that country, and that further complicates matters. The Wolf and his team manage to land in the African forest. They must advance and reach an abandoned mine complex, but on their way, they face many life-death situations. Will Stuart and his people succeed on the mission? Or will The Wolf definitely be caught? Will the Italian mafia or the Israeli government be able to cease the operation and gather the Masada’s remnants?
The story is narrated from the third-person perspective. Initially, it turns a bit weighty to follow the development of the story since there are many characters and several plots that occur in parallel in different places. New York, Washington, London, Scotland, Tel Aviv, Spain, and Sierra Laputu are some of the places where the plots unfold. The author skillfully tried to establish a link to switch from one environment to another. Fitfully he merely implements a play on words. At some point, he could be recounting about Stuart and his fights in the African jungle and suddenly switch to a CIA’s office or Don Falcone's yacht. There are many characters; all of them are properly described and fulfill a specific role in the plot, even those who have a brief appearance.
The author demonstrates an impressive knowledge of the topics related to the story: weapons of all kinds, the intricacies of the intelligence services, African geography, ships, among others. Plus, he expresses precise references to aspects such as clothing brands, drinks, or restaurants, that makes the narration interesting and relatable.
I liked the writing style since it was descriptive and explicit, but it was open enough to leave readers with the ability to interpret or doubt. For example, it was confusing for me to see the justification of the operation to recover the remains of the weapon because I performed a lot of analysis. The dialogues are carefully constructed, they are fluid, and according to each situation and location.
There was nothing I dislike about this book. The story was entertaining, rousing, and unpredictable. Every so often it was crude since there are violence and murders, but that is to be expected in such a novel. The edition was outstanding, although I found some typos that I think do not disturb the reading. Therefore, I am pleased to rate To Catch a Wolf 4 out of 4 stars. I look forward to reading the upcoming installment in the series. I would recommend this book to those who like crime, mystery, and thriller genre, especially spy novels related to worldwide intelligence services. Of course, this novel is not suitable for children or any youth audience because of the themes explored, and there is a lot of violence.
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To Catch a Wolf
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To Catch a Wolf
View: on Bookshelves
To Catch a Wolf by Chris Drewitt (http://chrisdrewittauthor.authorpage.co) is the first installment of The Wolf Pack Mysteries series. It is a sensational thriller, mystery, and crime novel. In 1965, the United States carries out Operation Deadwood in which they develop a virus called Masada to spread it in North Vietnam. Thereafter, an airplane containing the chemical weapon was stolen and never found. During years, the plane was believed to have fallen into the Atlantic. In 1981 the CIA learned that the aircraft crashed somewhere in the jungle of the fictional country Sierra Laputu, and the remains of the virus’s containers might be still in the crash site.
Admiral Carlton Hess, deputy director of the CIA, hires the mercenary Rafer Stuart, known in the underworld as The Wolf, to perform an operation that allows the remnants of the Masada to be recovered and destroyed therefore prevent a global scandal that might affect the reelection of the President of the United States. Mark Capricci, Operations Director for Carlton Hess, is also a member of the Italian mob, which is led by Caesar Falcone. Don Falcone finds out about the operation through Capricci and tries to sabotage it and manipulates the evidence of the existence of the Masada weapon to blackmail the President of the United States. At the same time, the Israeli intelligence service, Mossad, has infiltrated the operation through an Israeli-American spy woman. The Israelis also plan to reach the crash site to stop Stuart and retrieve the evidence of the weapon.
While Stuart and his group are carrying out the operation, a group of Sierra Laputu's military unintentionally overthrow the president of that country, and that further complicates matters. The Wolf and his team manage to land in the African forest. They must advance and reach an abandoned mine complex, but on their way, they face many life-death situations. Will Stuart and his people succeed on the mission? Or will The Wolf definitely be caught? Will the Italian mafia or the Israeli government be able to cease the operation and gather the Masada’s remnants?
The story is narrated from the third-person perspective. Initially, it turns a bit weighty to follow the development of the story since there are many characters and several plots that occur in parallel in different places. New York, Washington, London, Scotland, Tel Aviv, Spain, and Sierra Laputu are some of the places where the plots unfold. The author skillfully tried to establish a link to switch from one environment to another. Fitfully he merely implements a play on words. At some point, he could be recounting about Stuart and his fights in the African jungle and suddenly switch to a CIA’s office or Don Falcone's yacht. There are many characters; all of them are properly described and fulfill a specific role in the plot, even those who have a brief appearance.
The author demonstrates an impressive knowledge of the topics related to the story: weapons of all kinds, the intricacies of the intelligence services, African geography, ships, among others. Plus, he expresses precise references to aspects such as clothing brands, drinks, or restaurants, that makes the narration interesting and relatable.
I liked the writing style since it was descriptive and explicit, but it was open enough to leave readers with the ability to interpret or doubt. For example, it was confusing for me to see the justification of the operation to recover the remains of the weapon because I performed a lot of analysis. The dialogues are carefully constructed, they are fluid, and according to each situation and location.
There was nothing I dislike about this book. The story was entertaining, rousing, and unpredictable. Every so often it was crude since there are violence and murders, but that is to be expected in such a novel. The edition was outstanding, although I found some typos that I think do not disturb the reading. Therefore, I am pleased to rate To Catch a Wolf 4 out of 4 stars. I look forward to reading the upcoming installment in the series. I would recommend this book to those who like crime, mystery, and thriller genre, especially spy novels related to worldwide intelligence services. Of course, this novel is not suitable for children or any youth audience because of the themes explored, and there is a lot of violence.
******
To Catch a Wolf
******
To Catch a Wolf
View: on Bookshelves