Maxim Gunn and the Chaos Project

by Nicholas Boving

No Synopsis Available.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1896448003
• ISBN13: 9781896448008
• Release Date: July 1996
• Publisher: Taurus Publishing

Customer Reviews

Enter a Hero

Maxim Gunn and the Chaos Project introduces the world to Gunn, Maxim Gunn, Nicholas Boving's entertaining and clever twist on the cool eyed British hero of lore. Of course it's impossible to escape the comparison with James Bond, and Boving cleverly manages to play his own clever variations on all the tropes of Fleming's popular works, but Boving is holding his cards close to his vest and if Gunn occaisionally offers a glimpse of Fleming's world of glamor and danger he also plays --- in a different manner --- some of those same notes that Fleming himself drew on from the rich past of the British thriller while keeping his tongue in cheek with a panache that may remind readers of the late George McDonald Fraser's cheeky Flashman. Maxim Gunn, is no Flashy, he's true blue, handsome, dashing, and with immpecacable manners, but he also manages to touch on that same wealth of earlier heroes from Anthony Hope's Rudolph Rassendyll and Sapper's Bulldog Drummond to C.S. Forester's Horatio Hornblower. Nor it Boving content to put his man up against anything as tiresome as the Russians, terrorist fanatics, or the usual run of meglomaniacs. Gunn, who is contemplating retiring from the Organization to escape his tiresome boss, the perfectly named Vilemann, finds himself arrayed against the beautiful and deadly Wanda Liszt. Seems Gunn killed Wanda's super criminal father and Wanda and her allies have been seeking revenge ever since. And what revenge it is. Wanda has gotten her hands on the legendary necklace of Sheba, and with it's powers she plans to sieze all of Africa as her own little fiefdom -- but first she has to gather her forces in a splendid set piece of a gothic unassailable castle fortress --- replete with its own version of the jacobs ladder that threatened the real king of Ruritania in Hope's The Prisoner of Zenda --- where Gunn, with the help of a former SAS man and a Union Corse godfather, has to literally bring the house down on Wanda's head. Tongue firmly in cheek, Boving orchestrates it all with clever byplay, fast action, and a knowing nod to what splendid fun all this nonsense can be if the reader will just relax and go along with it. The author has a real gift for capturing the feeling of exotic locales and creating exciting, colorful, and bizarre dilemas for his hero to extricate himself from with the proper mix of derring do and the well placed mot juste. It all runs as smooth as Gunn's Lamborghini and with the kick of his trusty .357 Magnum, at a rapid involving pace and with just the right balance of action, character development, and colorful background and locales. I won't be giving away too much to reveal Wanda Liszt meets a just end, but I suspect she won't be quiet long, and Boving hints as much in a clever coda at the books end. It's no small thing to create a hero as attractive as Gunn (think Stewart Granger in The Prisoner of Zenda) or a villain as wickedly inviting as Wanda, and Boving plays the two off each other w

Boving for King of The World

Okay, I know you can't vote in kings and futhermore I don't know where Nick would be voted in... Australia? Canada? Zimmbabwe? Is there anywhere Mr. Boving hasn't lived? This worldly knowledge is apparent in his writting. The Chaos Project was a fantastic combination of sci-fi\adventure with that one of a kind style. His hero, Maximm Gunn is often compared to James Bond but I think this is a grave mistake; He is a suave spy but thats about where the likeness ends. There is much more depth to Gunn than is given credit. This, more than anything, reflects Boving's own personality; one of intelect. The moments in the book where Gunn is alone in his hotel room are most insitefull and I can totally see this as a screenplay. It is not just a shoot-em-up, drive a cool car, and pick up chick-adventure. Nick has truely created a character and I look forward to reading more into him through out the series. It is incredibly refreshing to have a female villain, (the sexy but dangerous appeal),who is so in control and so over the top. IN honesty Boving realized that one who wants to dominate the world must be slightly extroverted. She also concocts a formidable plan which I will not ruin for readers to be. I look forward to the rest of the series...