I’ve been a fan of Robert Ludlum for going on 20 years now. His writing style is gripping and he convinces you that the events in his books are ones that could be happening in the world today both politically and socially. They make me paranoid yet rivet me to my seat until I am finished with the book.

It was very easy for me to keep in the forefront of my mind that The Arctic Event, a Covert One series work, is a work of fiction. Which was somewhat of a relief as a person can only handle so much paranoia about world events at a time. I still enjoyed reading it despite it’s less-than-real-event feel. The writing was crisp, the action flowed well and we were never bogged down as the author explains something. Those dry nuggets are worked into the meat of the story seamlessly.

Despite reading the James H. Cobb message board, I’m unable to find just what the relationship between Ludlum who died in 2001 and Cobb are. Other authors who have published Ludlum’s works are Eric Von Lustbader who authored the Bourne Series that we’re all so familiar with, Gayle Linds, Phillip Shelby and Patrick Larkin.

Cobb is also author of his own successful series of books featuring character Amanda Lee Garrett. He writes strong female characters and we are not disappointed in either of the two in The Arctic Event.

The President has received a visit from a Russian General advising him of the payload of the B-29-like plane that has been discovered by some researchers on the tiny island of Wednesday located in Canada  in the frozen Arctic Ocean.

It’s 2 tons of Anthrax; a deadly payload that, if made public would begin a race to recover it by criminal minds as well as military. He who owns the deadly payload would have the means to terrorize the world.

We meet our main protagonist characters as Colonel Jon Smith is polishing up his mountaineering skills in a warfare camp. CIA operative Randi Russell is on a mission to uncover a North Korean spy and noted weapons historian Professor Valentina Metrace has just disabled a would-be rapist.  Major Gregori Smyslov rounds out the team of four and represents the Russians on the mission.

Smith, Russell, Smyslov and Metrace are dispatched to Wednesday Island where they are to meet up with the research team that discovered the wreckage. On the way there, they are attacked by a small plane which they successfully beat off. It’s that attack that ramps up their mission to get to the island and recover or destroy the anthrax.

Also interested in the deadly payload is the Croatian arms dealer, Anton Kretek who has come to knowledge of the anthrax in an unusual way. His nephew is part of the research team that discovered the plane and despite warnings to not approach the plane, he’s gone there and discovered the payload and notified his uncle who realizes that the sale of this amount of anthrax would set him up for life. He makes rapid plans to go to the island and recover the spores leaving no witnesses behind.

Besides these evil-doers, our team must also face a Russian Spetznaz team because the Russians are far more concerned about what the Americans might discover about the B-29’s real mission than just the anthrax payload. Their plan is to have the Colonel make sure the Americans don’t discover the details of the Wednesday plot with the team as a contingency in case he’s not able to secure those documents.

I won’t spoil the book for you, but let you know that in Bond fashion, Colonel Smith gets the girl — but you’ll have to read the book to find out just which one.

The Arctic Event created by Robert Ludlum, written by James H Cobb
published by Vision Hachette Book Group USA 2007
ISBN:-10  0-446-61877-2
ISBN-13: 978-0-446-61877-9

On October 9th, 1980 in Callen, Pennsylvania Lorna Styles’ best friend Melinda disappeared on the way back home with her brother, Jason from Lorna’s house. Despite a state-wide search, she’s never found and Lorna’s prayers are peppered with “find Mellie” for years afterwards.

In 2005, Lorna returns to Cullen to sell the family property in the wake of her parents’ passing. But instead of memories, the fields where Lorna grew up yield something utterly chilling.

Melinda’s brother, Jason has long been thought of as the scapegoat for Melinda’s disappearance since it happened while she was returning home with him, but before Jason can be arrested, he turns up missing too. But it seems that Jason didn’t go far as his bones are discovered on the Temples’ land and the police close the book on Melinda’s disappearance.

Lorna’s not satisfied with this, however, and hires FBI-agent-turned-private-eye T.J. Dawson to investigate the decades old case.

Asking questions about a decades old disappearance can be as fruitful as listening to used cds is for finding forgotten songs and TJ soon finds his and Lorna’s life in danger from their poking around! Someone out there wants them to stop asking questions.

Ms Stewart has done a great job of drawing and fleshing out her characters. The plot of the book is believeable and realistic. We can see this crime happening in our own back yard! She’s drawn distinct portraits of not only Lorna and TJ, but of Lorna’s mother, Melinda, Melinda’s brother, Jason and Melinda’s mother, Billie who was an abusive, drunk single parent to Melinda and Jason.

Hard Truth is the second in the Truth series of books by Mariah Stewart. If this one is any example, I’ll be soon reading more of Ms Stewart’s works.

Hard Truth by Mariah Stewart
Published by Ballantine Books, 2005
ISBN: 0-345-47667-0

David Baldacci is a writer of fiction whom I’ve come to greatly enjoy. The Whole Truth is a bit different from the other books I’ve read by him and I find it more Robert Ludlum-ish in it’s message and plot. That does in no way make it a bad book as I enjoy Robert Ludlum too, but rather it means that the plot makes me squirm in my seat because I can see this scenario happening in today’s world. Being an ostrich-type, I would much prefer to just go on putting one foot in front of the other and not needing to question my fellow man’s motives and especially not question my elected officials on THEIR motives.

The Whole Truth centers around organizations (which DO exist in the real world) whose sole purpose is to create facts to fit scenarios. Called perception management, these businesses create facts to fit scenarios that public officials, business managers and government leaders want to project to their citizens, boards of directors and voters.

It’s scary to think about.

The Whole Truth has “super agent” A Shaw working for some undisclosed, super-Interpol-type agency breaking up drug rings, weapons sales and other nefarious organizations of the world. His job does not provide for any Disney vacations and he’s at the beck and call of his boss; barely recovering from wounds received during the course of one job before having to move on to the next.

He’s an orphan with no ties to anyone, but there is a gentler side to Shaw. He’s fallen in love with a researcher whom he met during the course of one of his jobs. He’s decided he wants to retire and marry Anna and live a “normal” life.

First he’s denied retirement by the organization he works for.

Then Anna is killed by the perception management company who is creating facts to go along with the story that Russia is attempting to ramp up aggression against the world.

Now all Shaw wants is revenge.

The project is to reignite the cold war which will bring weapons purchases to the weapons manufacturer who has thought the whole scheme up. It will push the Middle East and Africa back out of the limelight of the media and into obscurity as two superpowers, this time Russia is pitted against China, lock horns to control the worlds natural resources and financial markets.

The management is done by teams of disseminators who create, dispense and collect facts according to the master plan. They execute with deadly accuracy and stir up public opinion to the point of hysteria. Russia is angry and threatens retribution. China is blamed and denies all involvement. Only a few people know the whole truth.

But the plan begins to unravel as Shaw finds the truths one by one and journalist, Katie James a two-time Pulitzer winner writes the story to expose the truth to the world.

The Whole Truth by David Baldacci
Published by Grand Central Publishing 2008
ISBN-13: 978-0-446-19597-3
ISBN-10: 0-446-19597-9