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"Hawke is a fast-paced adventure...truly an exciting read," says Nelson DeMille. "Rich, spellbinding, and absorbing, Hawke is packed with surprises," raves Clive Cussler. Readers beware, this stunning, high-caliber thriller is not recommended for the faint of heart. Lord Alexander Hawke is a direct descendant of the legendary English pirate Blackhawke and highly skilled in the cutthroat's deadly ways himself. While still a boy, on a voyage to the Caribbean, Alex Hawke witnesses an act of unspeakable horror. Hidden in a secret compartment on his father's yacht, Alex sees his parents brutally murdered by three modern-day pirates. It is an event that will haunt him for the remainder of his life. Now, fully grown and one of England's most decorated naval heroes, Hawke is back in the same Caribbean waters on a secret mission for the American government. A highly experimental stealth submarine, built by the Soviets just before the end of the Cold War, is missing. She carries forty nuclear warheads and is believed to be in the hands of a very unstable government just ninety miles from the American mainland. Hawke is in a race against time. His mission: Find the deadly sub before a preemptive strike can be launched against the U.S., and confront the murderous men behind the personal nightmare that haunts him before they find him first. Featuring breathtaking action, international intrigue, and a hero worthy of the very finest adventure fiction, Hawke heralds the exciting debut of a bold new talent.… (more)
User reviews
I have no idea if Ted Bell is British or not, or if he's ever even been to England, or if he learned all his Britishisms from Coronation Street. But, anyway, this book is so ridiculous in its writing style that I can't even get into what the plot is like.
Superman meets the Thunderbirds meets Prince Charles = Hawke.
One of my favorite parts was the snatch and grab mission with Thunder and Lightning, they were cool characters with a way cool job. Stokely was great, too. And Hawke’s parrot, Sniper, had too small a part.
I don’t remember how I first found out about this series, but now I’m hooked and glad I bought the others (used, in hardback) for my library.
The novel's prologue recounts what is likely the single most traumatic experience of Alex Hawke's life--the cold-blooded murder of his parents when he was seven years old. Young Alex witnessed the whole thing, but has blocked the events from his memory. It's a terrible start on life, but Alex has a few advantages as well. He's the scion of a wealthy and influential British family. He's raised by a loving grandfather and given all the best advantages in life.
After the prologue we meet the adult Alex Hawke. In addition to being a captain of industry, he does covert jobs for the British and American governments. That's not as random as it seems. As a younger man, Alex had served with distinction in the special forces of the military. He has ties to the rich and powerful everywhere. And business interests around the globe provide the ideal cover for his presence in hot spots.
In this case, the hot spot is Cuba. Hawke is instructed to find who has bought a very dangerous submarine, but what he finds in addition is a coup d'état ninety miles off the US coast. What's more, the situation has gotten very personal when the bad guys drag Hawke's girlfriend Victoria into the mix. Fortunately, Hawke has backup. Aside from the American government he's working for, he's brought his own most trusted allies. Foremost among them is Ambrose Congreve, a semi-retired Scotland Yard inspector, and Hawke's closest friend. Also, there is Stokely Jones, a former New York cop who acts as Hawke's body guard and Chief of Security. Hawke has surrounded himself with a loyal team that would go to hell and back for him. I expect we'll get to know each of them better as the series progresses.
As I mentioned above, it's a strong debut. The writing is fine and the pacing is good. The plot featured some good twists and turns, and even had a fun buried pirate treasure sub-plot. Hawke's a character you can build a series around, and while his extreme wealth and other gifts are a bit preposterous, it's kind of fun to see how the other .00001 percent lives. (Was I the only one sort of picturing Richard Branson as I read the book?) There was really only one thing I had a big problem with, and oddly enough it was one of the supporting characters. Specifically, it was Stokely Jones, who spoke all of his lines in an ignorant and affected dialect. An example, "Ain't far. See all them Christmas lights hanging in the trees on that island over there? Only a couple of miles. We could swim it, but Mr. Congreve, he old fashioned." Not only is it annoying to read, I found it somewhat insulting to a minority of which I'm not a member. I really hope it gets toned down in subsequent novels.
And I guess I'll find out, as based on this debut, I plan to move forward with the series. I'm looking forward to getting a better handle on Alex Hawke, and seeing how the supporting cast continues to develop.
It starts slow, granting details as this is the first book of this series. It establishes a well
Not sure if I will continue reading this series, but it was a good read to end the year with.
If you somehow can overlook this absurd bit of the story, and if you don't mind reading trite expressions like "old boy," that have been repeated ad nauseum, then by all means, read the book.
When we next see Alex all grown up, he takes on three punks, breaking a clavicle of one who blocks his way and taking on him and his friends with relish. Oh, and the villain? He's lost all color in his iris because he was held in the darkness too long. See what I mean about cartoony and campy? Also, too many exclamation points. And much, much too much testosterone.
Alexander Hawke is a very unoriginal character. He’s a dashing good
We start off meeting Hawke out on his family’s yacht when he’s barely seven. Hawke’s ancestry includes the infamous Blackbeard, so they’re down in the Caribbean looking for treasure with the legendary pirate’s map. Bad guy Cubans sneak on board and brutally kill Hawke’s parents (Blackbeard had killed their ancestors so they wanted revenge). His father puts the child into a small locker for protection just as the pirates board the ship. Hawke sees the murders undetected and is found three days later by authorities. He grows up with his great grandfather and becomes an all-everything, suppressing the horror he saw as a child.
It’s the next 400 pages that could have been reduced significantly. He’s hired by the US State Department to look into the sale of some Russian weaponry to Cuba. Very quickly, he discovers what’s been sold and alerts America. Cuba gets taken over (ironically by the same three pirates—brothers—who killed Hawke’s parents) and an American sailor serving at Guantanamo Bay is coerced into getting a biological weapon inside the base. Hawke’s girlfriend survives a bomb explosion at a restaurant, then she’s abducted, etc., etc. It’s only the last 175 that really ramps up with action.
I’ve not given up on Ted Bell or his Hawke character yet, but I won’t plod through another if it gets bogged down as the first one did. I’m hoping that now the deal with him remembering what happened to his parents is over, his next adventures will be tighter.
I also found it odd that Bell would sometimes inject a piece of dialect within dialogue, but not consistently. For example, there’s a Bahamian speaking and right in the middle of the paragraph we get a “dat” and a “mon.” But elsewhere when he speaks, we read “that.” I say you go all or nothing.
It is a good fun read. The characters are sympathetic and likable, determined and, in the case of the bad guys, evil, evil, evil. We start in the past when Alex, who has just turned seven, sees the unthinkable happen in front of his eyes. It is so terrible that he erases it from his memory.
Thankfully it also means he then lives with his grandfather,a retired Admiral of the Realm, and grows up have fantastic, bold adventures. He enters the Royal Navy and continues to excel in every bit of harsh training thrown his way. He also becomes super rich and garners very loyal friends, both people he has met on the way and employees he treats with respect and who therefore admire him.
In any ways he reminds me of Batman sans cape and cowl.
Three evil bothers have managed to place themselves as generals and admirals within the Cuban military and are close allies with Castro. But they have plans for a new revolution, with the help of a few, powerful renegade Russians and the arms they are selling. Specifically, one stealth
submarine holding 40 nuclear missiles, now located off the coast of Cuba.
Hawke mission, as he frequently works with both the British and American governments in solving tricky problems, is to destroy the sub. His personal agenda is about retribution against those who caused his nightmares.
This is a fast paced action tale. Hawke is being pitched as a modern day Bond, but with an almost unlimited amount of funds at his instant disposal, and a team of heroic cutthroats willing to go into Hell for him, but without the resemblance to Hoagy Carmichael.