You know, I guess I should have known when I read the title, Rogue Patriot, that this book was going to be bad. If that didn't tip me off the three dollar price should have. But I thought I was just getting a good deal! Amazon is giving it four and a half stars! And it's summer! I wanted to read something dumb and fun. This had plenty of dumb and NO FUN.
I don't usually like to write bad reviews of books because it's hard to write a book and I don't want to discourage someone just because I don't like it. Who cares what I think? But Gerald Meunier wrote a real stinker.
It started off promising with the protagonist, FBI Agent Clay Holt, and his wife in bed. She wakes up and makes him promise that if anything ever happens to her, he would take their children and move out of Washington D.C. "Hmmm.....," I thought, "iiiiinteeeerrreessttiiinnnggggggg...." I thought. Of course the mom dies but not from covert spy stuff, she dies in a car accident. The other driver was an illegal Mexican and that is when I learned why the guy wrote the book. He hates immigrants. Especially Mexicans but also anyone else who isn't white with an American accent. What better place to pop off about your racist values than in a novel?
So the mom dies and Clay makes plans to keep his promise and move his kids out of Washington. He gets a job offer in Colorado, where his parents live and he goes out to visit. While he is there he happens upon a human trafficking ring that had the sour luck to also traffic a couple of Muslim terrorists as well. Those rascally terrorists kill all the other illegals and the local sheriff, and eventually Clay's parents.
The problem I had with the book, besides the overt jingoist racism, was the fact that the Clay character was so unbelievable. I can easily suspend my disbelief when it comes to book characters not following police procedure, but the basic human stuff has to be better. At one point Clay's children are kidnapped and he is looking for them and the terrorist that took them, and he is at a Redskin's game because he thinks there is going to be a bomb there. He finds the bomb, disarms it himself, and then thinks how nice it would be to sit down and watch the game, but he can't because he has to go look for his kidnapped kids. STUPID KIDS! What parent would ever even contemplate watching a football game over looking for their kidnapped kids???
After his parents are brutally murdered by the terrorist, not a lot more is said about it. It doesn't seem to affect Clay that much. Puh-lease! That would change a person at the very core.
I kept reading it because one of the reviewers on Amazon (Mr. Meunier's mom) said there was a great twist at the end. There was no twist! NO TWIST! Just a dumb, regular, predictable ending.
I read that Mr. Meunier is planning a second Clay Holt thriller to which I say, "PASS!"
I don't usually like to write bad reviews of books because it's hard to write a book and I don't want to discourage someone just because I don't like it. Who cares what I think? But Gerald Meunier wrote a real stinker.
It started off promising with the protagonist, FBI Agent Clay Holt, and his wife in bed. She wakes up and makes him promise that if anything ever happens to her, he would take their children and move out of Washington D.C. "Hmmm.....," I thought, "iiiiinteeeerrreessttiiinnnggggggg...." I thought. Of course the mom dies but not from covert spy stuff, she dies in a car accident. The other driver was an illegal Mexican and that is when I learned why the guy wrote the book. He hates immigrants. Especially Mexicans but also anyone else who isn't white with an American accent. What better place to pop off about your racist values than in a novel?
So the mom dies and Clay makes plans to keep his promise and move his kids out of Washington. He gets a job offer in Colorado, where his parents live and he goes out to visit. While he is there he happens upon a human trafficking ring that had the sour luck to also traffic a couple of Muslim terrorists as well. Those rascally terrorists kill all the other illegals and the local sheriff, and eventually Clay's parents.
The problem I had with the book, besides the overt jingoist racism, was the fact that the Clay character was so unbelievable. I can easily suspend my disbelief when it comes to book characters not following police procedure, but the basic human stuff has to be better. At one point Clay's children are kidnapped and he is looking for them and the terrorist that took them, and he is at a Redskin's game because he thinks there is going to be a bomb there. He finds the bomb, disarms it himself, and then thinks how nice it would be to sit down and watch the game, but he can't because he has to go look for his kidnapped kids. STUPID KIDS! What parent would ever even contemplate watching a football game over looking for their kidnapped kids???
After his parents are brutally murdered by the terrorist, not a lot more is said about it. It doesn't seem to affect Clay that much. Puh-lease! That would change a person at the very core.
I kept reading it because one of the reviewers on Amazon (Mr. Meunier's mom) said there was a great twist at the end. There was no twist! NO TWIST! Just a dumb, regular, predictable ending.
I read that Mr. Meunier is planning a second Clay Holt thriller to which I say, "PASS!"
Have you read Gone Girl? I'm saving it for next week on my vacation but I did read Sharp Objects and Dark Places by the same author.....whose name I can't remember.... and I can't remember her name because I'm 51 years f-ing old today......thanks for the bday wishes by the way......
ReplyDeleteWhat was I saying???.......Read Sharp Objects when you have a minute, the ending gave me a little gasp!!!
I HAVE read Gone Girl and I really liked it. While reading it I really felt jerked around by the author, but it was ultimately pretty good. I will check out Sharp Objects!
ReplyDeleteRogue Patriot.
ReplyDeleteRogue because he left Washington? hahahahahaHAAAHAAAAAA!!!
I loved this book. It was exciting and fast-paced. It featured a realistic plot, lots of action, and strong characters. I'd definitely recommend it to others.
ReplyDeleteI knew this man, had seen an early draft of this book and came to the same conclusion as this reader. The heart of a racist beats under the prose. It's like Tom Tancredo/name your other big name anti-immigrant figure wrote a novel.
ReplyDelete