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Safe Havens
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'Safe Havens' by J.T. Patten
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Yep, its out. And quite frankly, it doesn't get much more Spy / Spec-Ops than this. From the offices of the CIA to the basements of JSOC elements, the world of black operations is open again to readers (fictionalized, of course).SAFE HAVENS: Primed Charge
Currently reading it the third time. Brilliant stuff!
There is a Giveaway on amazon, where you can win a free copy of Primed Charge!https://giveaway.amazon.com/p/419533d...
Bodo wrote: "There is a Giveaway on amazon, where you can win a free copy of Primed Charge!https://giveaway.amazon.com/p/419533d..."
Unfortunatelly to US residents only - once again :-(
I know the feeling! ;)
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I received an ARC. Read my review here!
Kill a few people at random, nothing changes. But kill the right people…
Warning the following review contains major rambling and minor plot spoilers! So if you just want to know how good this book really is, skip to the last paragraph.
Conventions and clichés can be a true pain in the ass, especially in today’s spy thriller novels. That doesn’t mean I wouldn’t enjoy a well-executed formula f thriller, where the “good guys” must stop the evil terrorists from launching a devastating nuclear strike against the West. But unfortunately reality is rarely that simple. The world just can’t be divided into black and white (especially not in the spy business), because such things don’t exist. They never did. Today’s times in particular require a much more sophisticated worldview, in order to see the million shades of gray that define the shadow world of global politics and international espionage.
That’s why I’m always more invested in books that not just entertain me, but also make me think about the world we are living in and the greater questions that come with it. J.T. Patten’s debut was such a book, which showed the world of black-ops for what it is. A very dark place in which honorable and not so honorable people alike, make morally ambiguous decisions, because they think the outcome will be better than the alternative and where the darkness can destroy even the most honorable man’s soul.
I’m happy to report that Patten succeeds where many of his peers have failed, surpassing the gold standard set by his mesmerizing debut novel! “Primed Charge” has all the elements that made the first one so great, but the scope and scale of the story Patten tells, have grown significantly.
There are bombings happening around the world, taking out civilians, soldiers and diplomats alike and even some high ranking CIA officials and analysts on US soil. They seem random and unconnected until formidable intel asset Sean Havens discovers a possible link to some ambiguous activities from China, Iran and Russia around the golden triangle. But as always, nothing is as it seems, in the shadow world of intelligence entities, international conglomerates and ancient old secret societies…
The author – who has worked as a counter intelligence and financial fraught analyst for many years – again displays a profound knowledge of global affairs, military tactics and the inner workings of the intelligence community, that can’t be acquired just through thorough research, but only through personal experience. The heart of the story however, is again his grounded everyman protagonist Sean Havens.
For over 20 years, he traveled through the dark places of the world as a highly specialized intel asset, who provided backup for elite military units, implemented schemes to destabilize terror groups and created opportunities for the US government to exploit. Basically he helped making the world a little safer or that’s what he thought. Betrayed by the very government he gave everything for and because of reasons he doesn’t fully understand yet, Havens’ family fell victim to a vicious false flag attack on home soil, leaving his wife dead and his daughter in a coma. Now one year later, Havens struggles with his duties as a single dad to his recovering daughter, while at the same time trying to come to grips with his addiction to the work that caused his life to unravel in the first place. It is due to the author’s nuanced characterization, that Sean Havens doesn’t come across as just another Mitch Rapp or Jason Bourne type of an indestructible larger than life superspy, but a flawed and broken man, who is deeply damaged in his soul after the traumatic experiences of the last book and who’s indelible need to right the wrongs of the world and helping comrades in danger, make him the perfect pawn for the shadow masters. Seeing Havens struggling with both global threats and his obligations as a father truly let my heart go out to him and I really could identify with his mental struggle and the driving motives behind his actions. There is one scene in particular, where he promises his teenage daughter to kill the people responsible for her mother’s death, which feels so real, that it almost made me cry!
Next we have the female lead Tanya Crowe, a brilliant intelligence analyst, who shares quite some history with Sean and guards a secret with the potential to make his life even more complicated. Many authors overdo it when they try to create strong female characters, making them seem almost invincible and more like larger than life stereotypes than real human characters as a result. Tanya is a great example on how to create a strong and independent female character that is very tough but also can be very sensitive and self-conscious at times. In a way she is broken, like every one of us, strong on the outside, but conflicted and vulnerable on the inside. Tanya is the perfect shimmer of hope on the horizon for Havens and was someone I as a reader, not only cared and rooted for from early on, but also admired for her strength. And the end suggests we haven’t seen the last of her, which is great!
Now to the main villain of “Primed Charge”: Paulo Violardo, an Italian intelligence officer, explosives expert and fanatic Freemason master. He is a bit more “outlandish” than Prescott Draeger from the last book (who also plays a big role in this one) but no less compelling. Paulo is a true believer of God and a “Christian fundamentalist” in his own right. I found it very refreshing to see a believable portrait of a holy warrior of Christ for a change, instead of the ever repeating stereotypical Islamic Jihadists. The author places little tidbits of Paulo’s backstory through the book, helping the reader to better understand how this guy ticks. But just when you think you figured him out, wait for what he does at the end. It really rattled my feelings about him!
Now to the last character I will introduce here (there are some more very interesting lads but analyzing them all, would truly be beyond the scope of this review). He is the one who secretly steals the show. Meet Jerry a spy master in his eighties, who you would probably slight as a cold war relic at first sight, but rest assured, you couldn’t be more wrong about the coveted Director of the CIA’s National Clandestine Service! He takes the sentiment “to play both sides of the fence” to a whole new level. As a Yale absolvent and longtime member of the secret Skull & Bones society, he seems also to be the only one, who keeps the forces aligned against Sean Havens at bay or is he? Jerry surely knows his way around the shadow games of international intelligence and he is a perfect example of a morally gray character. Is he a villain or just someone trying to pull the world back from the brink of disaster, by all means necessary? After Jerry’s gut-wrenching trade at the end, the readers will probably lean towards the former, but everything else aside, Jerry might be the only one capable of stopping the ongoing conspiracy and impending doom.
Which brings me to the next big standout: Patten’s ability to mix fact with frighteningly plausible fiction to create a realistic conspiracy, which is not of the “could really happen” variety, bus is quite possibly already happening, for all we know. The Pond, a once truly existing radical anti-communism offspring of the CIA (which was already established in the first book) makes a return in “Primed Charge” and continues to wreak havoc around the globe. Additionally Patten introduces P2, a secret Italian Mason lodge, with ties to the Mafia, intelligence services the world over and even the Vatican. The author’s inside knowledge as a former financial fraud expert, makes the whole conspiracy highly plausible and ring true with authenticity. Being an independently publishing author, also gave Patten the time flexibility to weave recent events into the schemes of P2 and the Pond – namely the Belgium attacks and the Panama Papers – which lends even more credibility to the whole story. The author proofs that the biggest threats for the western world mustn’t necessarily come from the Middle East, but could quite possibly originate from power hungry factions embedded in our own institutions!
Also of note is one of the book’s main themes, which is not only very important to the story the author tells, but also highly relevant in today’s times: Those who walk the thin line between light and darkness, sacrifice they health and often their sanity to protect their country, but what does their country to help them and their families? The sad answer becomes more and more apparent as the story progresses and Patten shows through different characters, how the government’s unwillingness to take care of the people who protect it, creates shattered lives in abundance. Some are over the edge and beyond saving and therefore become perfect surrogates to be exploited by the puppet masters pulling the strings in the shadows of plausible deniability. But there are also some people, who despite experiencing unimaginable losses and suffering in the line of duty, still feel only alive if they can help others in need! The message sounds clear: It are men like Sean Havens giving their all, so that normal people like us can go peaceful and blissfully unaware about their lives, that should receive our uttermost gratitude!
The verdict: J.T. Patten crafts the most memorable thriller I have read in a long time, combining his inside knowledge, crisp writing and unconventionally realistic portrayal of action scenes and the inner mechanisms of the intelligence world, with a multi-layered and fast-paced plot full of twists you won’t see coming, until they hit you with more velocity and stopping power than a 357 Magnum slug, to create a dark, action-packed and highly relevant masterpiece, which at the moment ranks without equal in the military/spy thriller genre! The author is now in the same sphere (if not a little above) as the likes of Tom Wood, Terry Hayes or Stephen England and easily surpasses heavyweights, such as David Baldacci, Ben Coes and Barry Eisler! If you read only one book this year, make it this one!