Holy Terror

Rogue Warrior #12

by Richard Marcinko, Jim DeFelice

No one has ever accused Richard Marcinko -- aka Rogue Warrior(R) -- of being an altar boy, but in the latest installment of his bestselling series, Demo Dick finds himself darkening the aisles of St. Peter's Basilica in Vatican City, tracking a group of terrorists who want to turn the world's largest Catholic church into the world's biggest Roman candle.A trip to Italy for Dick Marcinko turns into more than pasta and gondola rides. Nothing and no one is sacred as Marcinko sprays irreverent asides, targeting everything from antiterror wannabes to the nuns who taught him in parochial school. Called "the real deal" by Vince Flynn, the bestselling author of "Memorial Day," Marcinko entertains, informs, and even finds time to genuflect in his new book.

Visiting a NATO conference in Rome, Demo Dick blisters bureaucratic ears with a speech about Europe's vulnerabilities and the need to get serious about terrorism. He caps off his talk with an impromptu demonstration of the threat, unmasking a plot to kill the conferees seconds before it begins -- and just in time to play volleyball with a live hand grenade. The action ratchets up from there as the former SEAL commander is shanghaied to Sicily to help investigate the attempted theft of nukes from a U.S. base. Is the Mafia involved? Or is this the work of Saladin, a shadowy extremist trying to step into bin Laden's shoes? A high body count lends credence to both theories, but before Demo Dick can untangle the plot, his firm is hired to track down "shrinkage" in a courier operation in Asia. Since said shrinkage involves data and currency worth hundreds of millions of dollars, Demo Dick anticipates a Rogue-sized finder's fee. But he soondiscovers the job is a trap. Lured to a cave filled with outrageously hungry tigers in the Thailand jungle, Demo Dick sucks cat breath before being saved by the beautiful if prickly Trace Dahlgren and veteran Rogue sideman Al "Doc" Tremblay. Marcinko has only escaped the frying pan for the fire; he rides a hijacked jet back to Italy, where Saladin plans to wrap up the plot's loose ends in a bonfire at the center of the Eternal City. "In Holy Terror," Marcinko mixes his trademark wit and wisdom with nonstop action in a romp across Europe and Asia.

Genres: Military Fiction, Fiction, Thriller, Action, Espionage, Military Thriller

384 pages, Hardcover

First published July 4, 2006

About the author

Richard Marcinko is the author of the Rogue Warrior thrillers and is a living, breathing hero honored with the silver star and four bronze stars for valor, along with two Navy Commendation medals and other honors. After serving in Vietnam, he went on to start and command SEAL Team 6, the Navy's anti-terrorist group, and Red Cell, a high-level anti-terrorist unit. Marcinko keeps his hand in the field as the president of a private international security company and now lives in Warrington, Virginia.

http://us.macmillan.com/author/richar...

Reviews

[Glen · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Rogue Warrior is giving an anti-terror speech when, you guessed it, terrorists attack. This sets him on the trail of a mastermind, who wants to explode nukes in Sicily. He goes on a globe trotting journey to stop the terrorist.

Not bad, but you can feel the series running out of steam.

[Fredrick Danysh · Rating 2 out of 5]

Terrorists prepare to attack the Vatican and Dick Marcinko is involved in the struggle to stop it as the head of an anti-terror company. While the concept is good, the author's narcissistic blend of his personal history and fiction make this seem like a reply dab job resume and autobiography. It is loaded with such blatant self-promotion that the story suffers. I respect the author's naval service as a SEAl but he needs to get a life. It is hard to separate personal glorification from a decently written piece of fiction.

[K · Rating 1 out of 5]

It was nearly impossible to get through the childish nicknames he has for almost every other person or entity in the book and the main character seemed so greasy I about dropped the book. If you want a thriller, look elsewhere.

[Kevin O'connor]

Just finished this book on Friday morning at 12AM. (Hey I had 2 chapters left, we've all been there.) VERY GOOD!!! Better than his last book I read "Vengence", which ended poorly. This one is closer to his earlier work (i.e. "ROGUE WARRIOR", "RED CELL) If you are looking for an action packed book read ANY of his books but star with "ROGUE WARRIOR", his Autobiography.

[Linda · Rating 2 out of 5]

Hmmm. I've got to admit, this book just didn't do it for me. At all.

The writing seemed scattered. There was the use of odd phrases multiple times (for instance, something about "as much info that could fit into the period at the end of this sentence."). The writers apparently had something against less than 30 pages per chapter (even though taking the action to another country with the introduction of a whole new set of characters REALLY could be the start of a new chapter, folks... Just sayin'!). Plus, I usually enjoy Rogue books for the "realness" of them. You know, the mention of current events and such. And yet this book (my mentioning this is not a spoiler as the book mentions this only as an aside early on in this book, and is unrelated to the plot) says that Bin Laden is captured. WHAT?? When did I miss THAT headline (and all the politicians on tv fighting for credit for such)??? Sigh.

Since I still love the Rogue Warrior ... I'll blame my disappointment on the new co writer. I gave him the benefit of the doubt on the last book ... but no can do on this one. It was a struggle to get through.

[Tony · Rating 1 out of 5]

Demo Dick Keeps Phoning It In

I was willing to let "Vengeance" off as a fluke, assuming Marcinko and his new co-author DeFelice would get back to the gestalt of the original Rogue Warrior books with this one. The novel opens on a gripping note - Marcinko, out of ammo, is confronted by a terrorist on top of a Vatican church and it looks like it's "Doom on Dickie" all over again - but the novel quickly slides off into the same phoned in-esque prose that hobbled the previous novel.

What a shame. I had high hopes that "Holy Terror" would be the Rouge Warrior's answer to Dan Brown's "Angels & Demons", since Demo Dick has to foil a plot to destroy the Vatican just like Robert Langdon had to, but Brown's novel remains unbeaten due to Marcinko and DeFelice's refusal to infuse the plot of "Holy Terror" with the same taut prose laced with observations about the American military establishment that made the original novels so addictive to read and re-read. Not even the reappearance of a couple characters from previous "Rouge Warrior" installments could save "Holy Terror" from reading like phoned-in blah to me. Well, at least we still have the original novels to enjoy.

[Andrea Karotkin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Okay, this was assigned reading LAST JUNE...but I just couldn't get through it then. I was led to believe that it would be chock full o' steamy sex. Ahem. Not so much.

I'm enjoying it now. Demo Dick and I seem to share the same temperament at times. He drinks Bombay Sapphire, so what's not to like? I would love to get in a cursing contest with him. It would be close. 'Holy Terror' is a much smoother read since I muddled through 'Rogue Warrior' last fall. That one was agony, as the military seems to communicate entirely by acronym...only to be rivaled by the IT community. Cut the poor civilian end-users a break once in a while, please?

[Lee · Rating 2 out of 5]

I picked this up at my library’s book sale for a quarter, about 40 pages in I realized why I stopped reading the Rogue warrior books at Task Force Blue, book#4. The books are completely unbelievable and repeat the same tired clichés Mr. Murphy, Bombay Gin, Fubar, 4 letter greetings and goatfuck over and over again. In this one book he almost single handedly stops a dozen or so terrorist attacks. Plus personally for me the story being told in the first person from Demo Dick’s point of view is not enjoyable.

[Lou · Rating 4 out of 5]

Once again, Dick Marcinko is off on another "Rogue Warrior" adventure and ends up in Italy and Vatican City on the elusive trail of the Saladin. On the way, he and his team end up on a second mission to check the security of a courier company and make sure their methods are fully secure and in the up and up. It turns out that this second company is tied up with Saladin as well. Marci KO and his team have many close calls with hijackers, shady characters, cryptic notes and threats etc. It was a funny, suspenseful, and somewhat scary novel at the same time.

[Ed · Rating 4 out of 5]

#13 in the Rogue Warrior series. Rogue Warrior Dick Marcinko and co-author Jim DeFelice pen the 2006 second in the series since a 2005 reboot.

Rogue Warrior series - Dick Marcinko gets Islamist messages from "Saladin" threatening future attacks. Is the attempted theft of a nuke from a USAF base on Sicily related? How about gunmen in St Peter's? Is a contract to review the security of an international messenger service a diversion? Demo Dick and crew search for the meaning behind Saladin's cryptic warnings.

[Tomi · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book and will look for more by Marcinko. I like his snarky sense of humor. I was never quite sure how much was biographical and how much was fiction...but he's a guy I'd want on my side in case of trouble!

[John F. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Outstanding!

Just when you think you have heard it all, Marcinko-san sets out on another counterterrorism adventure. This one spans the globe. If you like non-stop action, read the Rogue Warrior books!

[Fred · Rating 2 out of 5]

Good action novel, but far less realistic than the earlier novels in the series.

[John Rollins · Rating 2 out of 5]

First of his books that I have read. Actually kind silly. I managed to get thru it. Not particularly good reading.