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

Book cover via Amazon

Welcome to the Custer Hill Club a men’s club set in a luxurious Adirondack hunting lodge whose members include some of American’s most powerful business leaders, military men and government officials. Ostensibly the club is a place to relax with old friends, but on fall weekend, the clubs’ Executive Board gathers to talk about the tragedy of 9/11 and finalize a retaliation plan know only by its codename: Wild Fire.

That same weekend, a member of the Federal Anti-Terrorist Task Force is found dead. Soon it’s up to Detective John Corey and his wife, FBI Agent Kate Mayfield to unravel a terrifying plot that starts with the Custer Hill Club and ends with American cities locked in the crosshairs of a nuclear device. Corey and Mayfield are the only ones who can stop the button from being pushed and global chaos from being unleashed.

I found the main character of John Corey to be a bit predictable. He’s a male chauvinist whose excess is kept in check by his wife Kate. They seem to overcome some really long odds to discover just exactly what the method of the attack will be and how it will be carried off — which in and of itself is science fiction at it’s best.

The plot is carried off well by Mr. Demille who lets none of that get in the way of believable dialog if somewhat fantastic scenes.

The lodge is surrounded by a steel fence that seems to be easily penetrated by both the Harry Muller who is then played like a mouse caught by a cat when he’s discovered by the security guards of the place. He’s got no means of escape available to him — such a thing as snowmobile exhaust would have revealed him all the sooner anyway as the property was well covered with sound and motion detectors. No, Harry has been set up for discovery by the very agency he’s working for.

John Corey picks up right away on what an odd assignment this was to be given to Harry. In truth, the assignment was supposed to have been his, for it’s actually John who is the target for elimination by this powerful group…. he’s the one man that one of the silent partners is most afraid of as they have tangled before and John has nearly won the day.

This is a book that will keep the action lover’s attention as there are plenty of action scenes in it.

Wild Fire by Nelson Demille
Published by Warner Books2006
ISBN-13 978-0-446-57967-4
ISBN-10 0-446-57967-X

Max Riley is very good at finding things. So, it’s no surprise that Yvonne Darnell has engaged Max to find Yvonne’s missing husband, Atchison Darnell.

And Atchison isn’t hiding out in any one of many reno hotels like one of Max’s last finds was, but rather in the wilds of Alaska. However, it’s not the finding of Atchison that’s the problem, it’s what happens AFTER Max finds him and convinces him that he needs to return home. Within 24 hours of returning to his family, Atchison is found dead by his twelve year old son who then goes missing himself.

Although Yvonne refuses to have Max on the case, Max feels responsible in a way for Atchison’s death and young Alex’s fate, so she appoints herself to the case. Yvonne has hired Spencer Investigations to find Alex and the handsome PI owner of Spencer Investigations, Steve Spencer and Max find themselves at odds with each other in this quest.

To further complicate the picture there is an international assassin who seems to be on Alex’s trail also. The mysterious Anubis leaves his calling card after searching Alex’s room, so Max knows there is more danger involved than at first glance.

When the yacht Max is meeting a witness on blows up and then her rental car is blown up, it becomes to apparent that someone is out to stop Max from finding young Alex! But this only serves to fuel Max’s determination to find the boy and solve the murder of his father, because, despite the initial ruling of suicide, it’s all too apparent that that’s what really happened to Atchison Darnell.

Missing Incorporated by Tess Pendergrass
published by Silhouette Books 2006
ISBN 0-373-51402-6