The Protector (John Stratton) by Duncan Falconer

by Duncan Falconer

Three men—an Iraqi, a former coalition soldier, and a journalist—drive together from Baghdad towards Fallujah as the U. S. Marines encircle the city to take it apart. The men are supposedly on a single mission to seek a recent kidnap victim, but in truth all three have very different aims in the besieged town, and each keep a dark secret from the others. Greed, ambition, and guilt are what separates their individual motivations, but a single miscalculation could bring an end to them all. Delicately intertwined in this tense thriller is a dangerous and forbidden love story, converging at the climax with a nail-bitingly deadly twist.

Genres: Fiction

Mass Market Paperback

First published March 5, 2007

Reviews

[Bec · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Protector was an enjoyable read, although it had a very slow start. It was one of those light reads that slowly builds up, and unlike most of Duncan Falconer's books, there wasn't as much action in this novel as there are in his Stratton series. The last twenty pages however, are pretty jammed packed.

I have to say that I am lucky that the work of a security advisor interests me, especially after reading Bob Shepherd fabulous work The Circuit: An Ex-SAS Soldier's True Account of One of the Most Powerful and Secretive Industries Spawned by the War on Terror, which meant that I could follow the story with some degree of interest. I think that Falconer has written an action novel about a subject that few people will actively search out, as more people are interested in reading SAS/SBS novels than private security/security advisor novels. HOWEVER, in the same breath, Falconer has done a major favour for me in writing a novel about this industry in which I have stumbled across few fictional reads. So on that note, bravo.

I do have to say that the character Mallory has little redeemable features as not only a security advisor, but also as a human being. He uses nearly everyone in this book at some stage, and does it all with a holier-than-thou attitude. Considering the amazing character that Falconer has built in Stratton, I was surprised to read this less than impressive characterisation.

There didn't seem to be much of a resolution to the romantic subplot either, which, lets face it, no one who reads these types of novels does so for the romantic plots that are often thrown into the mix, but this romance seemed to be unfinished, and after the importance that it had during the story, that was surprising.

Despite all these things I have bitched and moaned about, it was still a good novel, but unfortunately for Duncan Falconer all his works are compared against his John Stratton series. Everything else pales in comparison. Maybe if I had read his stand alone novels first I would have enjoyed this book more, and maybe it would have been a four star instead of a three star.

The book was engaging and there were many parts of it that gave an insight into Iraq culture and family values, which is something that I really appreciated.

[قصي بن خليفة · Rating 2 out of 5]

الكاتب عسكري سابق من القوات الخاصة البحرية ذو خبرة ميدانية واسعة، وقد أشاد به النقاد... ولاهتمامي بقصص الحروب قررت أن أقرأ له... اخترت هذه الرواية لأن الأحداث تقع في العراق الغالي القريب

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رغم ضعف الرواية فقد وجدت التغطية الميدانية جيدة والوصف العسكري مقبولاً نوعاً ما، وكذلك أوضاع العراق وظروفه تلك الأيام فهو يتكلم عن دراية دون شك

فهو يصف الحالة العراقية بُعيد الاحتلال وصفاً تعيشه بحواسك وتتأمل معه حال بلاد الرافدين، وهذا التأمل هو الغاية من القراءة أليس كذلك؟... تأملت الفوضى العراقية وعدم الاستقرار... فالعراقيون لم يرضخوا، وأمريكا بجبروتها دمرتهم، ولكن لم تنتصر، ولم ينهزموا وظلت الأرض مستباحة من الجميع ومن المجرمين والمنتفعين، ولكن إلى متى؟ الله أعلم
~~~~~
ولكنها رواية سطحية جداً، ومنحازة جداً وبشكل فج، ولا أدري لم لست متفاجأ... وجدت تشويها فظيعاً وغبياً للإسلام ومعلومات تاريخية مغلوطة عن العراق والإسلام والقبائل، صحيح أنه قاتل هناك، ولكنه لا يعرف شيء عن البلد ولا أهله... جاء بشخصية "عبدول" غير المقنعة والذي يتصرف كأنه غربي وكذلك أخته

أما التفاصيل فبشاعة وأي بشاعة... لا أدري هل هي حقيقية أم مبالغة لإرضاء ذوقهم... يستمتعون بهذه الكلمات
levelled flattened

فكرت هل يكتبون هذه الروايات لتبرير افعالهم؟ أو لإرضاء ضميرهم الخرب أصلاً

[Ria · Rating 5 out of 5]

Bernie Mallory is disillusioned with life in the service of the Marines.
After serving in Iraq and accidentally finding a fortune while out there that he leaves but hopes to later reclaim he moves into the private security sector protecting Journalists and other working civilians in the aim of getting closer to his goal.
But things get complicated when he takes on the mission of protecting a journalist named Stanza who has his own personal agenda for being in the country and after falling for a local girl Tasneen Bernie hires her brother Abdul as translator for Jake Stanza but Abdul is hiding sinister secrets that could put all their lives in danger...
A brilliant page turning thriller with many plot twists to keep the reader entertained, my first novel by this author but will definitely be looking for more of his work.

[David Handley · Rating 1 out of 5]

Terrible book. This one wasn't badly written in terms of the poor use of English, it just had no build up to the structure. The narrative just seemed to occur. The main protagonist quit the marines to return to collect some buried treasure. Apparently, the marines had been a career aspiration from childhood and the decision to leave had been taken in three sentences. I do not mind thillers being short but at least make some effort.

[Andrew A. · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good story set during the war in Iraq, written by a guy who was there, so it's a genuine point of view. Enjoyable and action-packed read.

[Laurence Hibberd · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent fast read. A great insight into Iraq and the impossibility of life immediately post war.

[Claire · Rating 1 out of 5]

So slow and not worth the read! You think there's going to be a crazy plot twist right at the very end that makes slugging through it worth it...and nope. Still lame. So lame, infact, that I was starting to hope that the main character would get killed off just so I didn't have to listen to his useless (not at all Marine sounding) drivel.

[Paul · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pretty average 'boys with toys' reading material, starts off well but the ending is pretty lame. Duncan Falconer has written better books than this. It would have received 4 stars but the last 'twist' was the biggest plot hole since Dan Brown's 'Digital Fortress'

[Eric J. Gates · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good read. Nice twists at the end. The pace was too slow in the first half of the book as the author buit up the backstory of the protagonists, but picked up considerably when the journalist arrived in Iraq.

[Rob · Rating 3 out of 5]

My first and favorite Duncan Falconer story, as per usual to much time taken up on introducing new characters, but with a good, action-filled ending.

[Tom Tischler · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another good book from Duncan Falconer I just like a
little more action

[Juha · Rating 2 out of 5]

Got this from a friend and read it on a trip to Europe. Action packed and fluently told, Falconer apparently knows what he's talking about. Then again, not my cup of tea.

[Yvonne Crowe · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved every moment of it, couldn't put it down. I'm off to get another (or three) of his books.

[Heidi · Rating 5 out of 5]

As always, well done! Thanks again for the read Mr. Falconer!

[Ken · Rating 5 out of 5]

i love the story in this book and all the action