The Hostage

by Duncan Falconer

Book Overview

When an undercover operation monitoring the Real IRA goes horrifically wrong, British Intelligence turn to the one man who can get their agent out: Stratton, SBS operative with a lethal reputation.... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0751533777
• ISBN13: 9780751533774
• Release Date: March 2003
• Publisher: Sphere
• Length: 473 Pages
• Weight: 0.55 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.2" x 4.4" x 7.0"

Customer Reviews

Do Special Forces guys need to want to be killers?

"The Hostage" is Duncan Falconer's first novel and is hopefully the start of a long series of books. I enjoyed it a lot and found it VERY exciting, although the believability of the plot is a bit of a problem. The hero of "The Hostage" is Stratton, a member of the British SBS (Special Boat Service, similar to the U.S. Navy SEALs). Stratton, whose first name is not mentioned in this book, is the toughest of the tough guys, but still comes across as a real person. He's very focused and experienced and doesn't hold back from having to kill when killing is necessary. In fact, the subject of Special Forces soldiers having to kill when necessary is one that is explored several times in the book. The message here is that, unlike ordinary soldiers, Special Forces soldiers need to feel a desire to get a "hit" on their experience sheet in order to be a success. So does this imply that Special Forces soldiers are psychopaths? Or just very motivated to do a good job and become a success? Or perhaps a bit of both, along with a craving for excitement? As mentioned above, the story in "The Hostage" is very, very exciting. In fact, this is one of the most exciting books I've read in a long time, and I'm a fan of military thrillers. Duncan Falconer is very good at creating suspense and building up to a climax, with lots of action along the way. The "bad guys" are various members of the "Real IRA" of Northern Ireland. First they try to kidnap a member of the "detachment" that Stratton is working with in Northern Ireland, and come very close to succeeding. Then, in Paris, they do succeed in kidnapping an American sailor, a U.S. Navy SEAL working together with the SBS as part of an exchange program. Finding and freeing the American sailor is a top priority for Stratton and his team until the Real IRA spring an even nastier surprise on the British government: They are in possession of a biological weapon that can kill millions of people and they intend to unleash it in London! Duncan Falconer's own experiences as a former member of the SBS provides credibility to the descriptions of the action. Like Andy McNab and Chris Ryan (two former members of the British SAS who have become authors) he's been there and done that. (I've only read one of Andy McNab's novels and none of Chris Ryan's so I'm not in a very good position to make comparisons.) The characters in "The Hostage" are very well developed and well presented, unlike the two-dimensional clichés that populate most action thrillers. Even the bad guys are shown to have understandable motives. For example, there is a love story between one of the bad guys and one of the women working with Stratton, and we understand the bad guy's feelings and the tragedy for both of them when their relationship comes to an end. The really great excitement of the story and the well-developed characters had me close to awarding five stars to "The Hostage". What caused me to drop the fifth star and give four instead were vario