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Striker #2
Striker: Close Range by Hale, Nick (2010) Paperback
Set in sophisticated Milan, Striker's second adventure includes sniper assassinations, violent protests over blood diamond mining in South Africa, mega-million dollar corruption, and Jake's first love interest Jake Bastin is in Milan for an international football tournament. His dad will be the TV commentator—but Jake knows this is a front. He is sure his dad's there on MI6 business. If only Jake could get close to the action, but instead he is stuck at a frenzied photo shoot for a priceless South African diamond. In all the chaos, a massive diamond heist takes place. When brutal assassinations quickly follow in retaliation, Jake finds himself playing center forward in another high-profile scandal—but this time, it’s personal.
Paperback
First published September 6, 2010
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
March 13, 2013
This review was originally posted on ThirstforFiction.com
Travelling with his dad to Milan to watch a series of international football matches, Jake stumbles across Granble, the wealthy Diamond Barron, who is not all he seems to be. Intent on unravelling his secrets, Jake and model Abri get out of their depth while investigating, and Granble is a lot more sinister than they could have imagined…
Stiker: Close Range is the second novel in Nick Hales’ young spy series. Having read Striker: Sudden Death, which was a mediocre novel, I was intrigued to see if Close Range could improve on it.
Presumably written primarily for teenage guys, Close Range is a football/spy crossover novel, centred around the escapades of sixteen year old Jake, son of the famous ex-footballer Steve Bastin, now an MI6 employee. Close Range sees Jake travel to Milan with his father to watch a series of football matches. What he doesn’t know is that his father is there for a very different reason; namely to bring down Granble; an international diamond fraud.
Reading back over my review of Striker: Sudden Death, I can say that Close Range has certainly increased Jake’s sexuality; with the new love interest, Abri, there’s a lot more boyishness in Close Range. Naturally, Abri is a seventeen year old supermodel. Hales makes her a pretty flat character; trying to break the reputation for unintelligent, helpless models, he has made Abri not only good looking, but intelligent and surprisingly good at martial arts. Character development is minimal, and virtually none of her motives or emotional story arc are portrayed in Close Range. continue reading...
Travelling with his dad to Milan to watch a series of international football matches, Jake stumbles across Granble, the wealthy Diamond Barron, who is not all he seems to be. Intent on unravelling his secrets, Jake and model Abri get out of their depth while investigating, and Granble is a lot more sinister than they could have imagined…
Stiker: Close Range is the second novel in Nick Hales’ young spy series. Having read Striker: Sudden Death, which was a mediocre novel, I was intrigued to see if Close Range could improve on it.
Presumably written primarily for teenage guys, Close Range is a football/spy crossover novel, centred around the escapades of sixteen year old Jake, son of the famous ex-footballer Steve Bastin, now an MI6 employee. Close Range sees Jake travel to Milan with his father to watch a series of football matches. What he doesn’t know is that his father is there for a very different reason; namely to bring down Granble; an international diamond fraud.
Reading back over my review of Striker: Sudden Death, I can say that Close Range has certainly increased Jake’s sexuality; with the new love interest, Abri, there’s a lot more boyishness in Close Range. Naturally, Abri is a seventeen year old supermodel. Hales makes her a pretty flat character; trying to break the reputation for unintelligent, helpless models, he has made Abri not only good looking, but intelligent and surprisingly good at martial arts. Character development is minimal, and virtually none of her motives or emotional story arc are portrayed in Close Range. continue reading...
May 1, 2014
I loved how Jake Bastin always becomes friends with either the bad guy or someone in some organization that is bad.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews