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Robert Ludlum's(TM) The Ares Decision (2012)

by Kyle Mills(Favorite Author)

4.02 of 5 Votes: 4

ISBN

0446618780 (ISBN13: 9780446618786)

languge

English

genre

Fiction

publisher

Grand Central Publishing

series

Covert-One

review 1: This novel by Kyle Mills continues Robert Ludlum's Covert-One series of novels. The action flips back and forth between places in Uganda, Iran and the U.S. (mainly Langley, VA and Frederick, MD). The primary protagonists are Dr. Jon Smith ("just a country doctor", a virologist with a bit of special forces and Military Intelligence mixed in), Dr. Sarie Van Keuren (one of the world's foremost authorities on parasitology), Peter Howell (a veteran British SAS man) and Randi Russell, an enigmatic reporter with some interesting connections. The enemy is a messianic psychopath implementing bio-weaponry in the Ugandan jungles and Mehrak Omidi, representing the radical political right arm of Iran.With U.S. intelligence agencies wracked by internal power struggles and paralyzed by... more bureaucracy, the President was forced to establish his own clandestine group—Covert-One. It is only activated as a last resort, when the threat is on a global scale and time is running out.In northern Uganda, an American special forces team is decimated by a group of normally peaceful farmers. Video of the attack shows even women and children possessing almost supernatural speed and strength, consumed with a rage that makes them immune to pain, fear, and all but the most devastating injuries.Covert-One’s top operative, army microbiologist Colonel Jon Smith, is sent to investigate the attack which resembles an act of terrorism. The Director of Iranian Intelligence (Omidi) is in Uganda trying to obtain what was used in the attack so that he can unleash it on the West.Smith and his team are ambushed and cut off from all outside support just as they begin to suspect that forces much more powerful than the Iranians are in play—forces that can be traced to Washington, D.C. itself.The book is fast paced and the 400+ pages fly by. A great read for a rainy or snowy day or two.
review 2: Saw this on the shelf of the small local branch of the library and I figured that I would give it a read based on enjoying the first few books in the Bourne series. The book is not bad, and so I give it three stars as a solid page turner. I should also mention that I haven't read the earlier books in this series, and there were obvious references to earlier adventures that were pretty clearly highlighted. That said, I did not have the impression that the earlier books would have added much to this one.As is typical of a Ludlum series, this is a geopolitical action thriller with action taking place on the ground, in the air, and spanning the globe.In terms of strengths, the story was well constructed and, generally speaking, the pacing was consistent and well done. As is typical of this genre, the end of every chapter was written to keep you from being able to close the book and turn out the reading light. The story lines were also fairly well constructed. The book followed more than five story arcs that eventually were woven together reasonably well at the end.However, this book didn't leave me with an enjoyable "page-turner" experience--and I understand that this is a very personal point and difficult to quantify. In my opinion, this is because some, if not all, of the characters lacked depth necessary to make them interesting to the reader. This is obviously the challenge in writing this kind of book and with so many different story arcs. It's my opinion that with these kinds of books, at the end of the day the reader should be able to thoroughly enjoy the journey. And I'm afraid that I didn't necessary enjoy this book as much as I had hoped I would. I think that the characters were just too one dimensional and cliché, and the story's "surprises" far too few and far too predictable. Also, I felt like the ending was a little unsatisfying.**Slight spoilers below (I am not going to give away any surprises, but will introduce the different story arcs, and so those who don't even want to know that may want to skip to the end)**The story begins with an elite American combat unit being sent in to central Africa to eliminate a Ugandan war lord. The reader is told that an African Union force was annihilated by this war lord's primitive forces, which are considered to be "devils" by Ugandans. However, when the American unit is similarly destroyed and video of unarmed Africans with superhuman powers swallowing up the American team sent back to the U.S., several story arcs are launched. First, the American President who had authorized the American combat unit's deployment refuses to accept his CIA operative's explanation and calls up his Covert One unit to be safe. We quickly learn that the CIA operative has his own plans and is intentionally feeding the President false/misleading information.Meanwhile, we learn that the Ugandan President who had turned to the U.S. for help in getting rid of his war lord problem is going to now turn to Iran. We learn that Iran is aware of the Ugandan war lord's superhuman warriors and desires to somehow make use of them, because they are facing internal problems of their own.Dr. Jon Smith, a Covert One operative is called up and sent to Africa to investigate while bringing along his former SAS ally, Peter Howell. Smith is the hero of the series and so his story arc is the most developed. That being said, I still had difficulty in feeling a connection or affinity for the character.At the same time, a South African parasite researcher is brought into the story when the Ugandan war lord attempts to kidnap her. And of course, she's apparently smoking hot. **End of Spoiler Alert**The book brings all of these different elements (and a handful more) together to tell a story that takes place on several continents. It is a fairly well executed, if not stiff and mechanical, foray into the geopolitical/thriller genre. I recommend this to fans of Robert Ludlum, and in particular to fans of the Covert One series. Fans of geopolitical thrillers would probably also enjoy it. Despite its length, it is a fairly quick read as it is broken down into lots of small chapters. less

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