To The Death

Admiral Arnold Morgan #10

by Patrick Robinson

The hunt begins when a bomb explodes in Boston's Logan Airport, and Admiral Arnold Morgan, the most trusted advisor to President Bedford, must move quickly to break the terrorist cell responsible for the bloodshed. As Morgan ships the Islamic fanatics to Guantanamo Bay for containment, the Hamas high command hatches a vicious plan to assassinate him once he exits the United States.

Leading this attack is chief Hamas assassin General Ravi Rashood. Meanwhile, President Bedford, in a desperate attempt to protect the Admiral at all costs, summons the most advanced and dangerous Navy Seal team the United States has to offer." And so begins an exhilarating chase that goes beyond the borders of the United States, taking the reader on a terrifying journey through southern Ireland, London, and Scotland.

This near-future masterwork is a story of mayhem, intrigue, and wanton murder.

Genres: Fiction, Thriller, Military Fiction, Terrorism, Ebooks, War, Politics

383 pages, Hardcover

First published June 10, 2008

About the author

Patrick Robinson was a journalist for many years before becoming a full-time writer of books. His non-fiction books were bestsellers around the world and he was the co-author of Sandy Woodward's Falklands War memoir, One Hundred Days.

Reviews

[David Leaser · Rating 1 out of 5]

After having read every one of Patrick Robinson's previous novels, I was looking forward to reading this one.

I was sadly dissapointed with this book and had to stop after 10 pages. His portrayal of air traffic controllers and their actions is pathetic at best. Additionally, his laughable mistake of making F-16s flying out of Langley Air Force Base, Virginia and Andrews Air Force Base is criminal at best.

I can not recommend this book to anyone with any military or aviation knowledge whatsoever and only hope his future endeavors return to the caliber of writing I have come to expect.

[Brian Lawrence · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book is a new con's wet dream. I dare say Dick Cheney would have loved to have had Admiral Morgan on his staff. He's supposed to be the protagonist but you don't feel any sympathy for him. Perhaps the author meant this to happen. I wouldn't have shed a tear had been 'removed'. As it was Ifelt myself feeling sorry for Ravi Rashood and his wife Shakira right up until he went a little psychotic. Perhaps in another life, the two of them would have probably gotten on well. Feeds the old adage that Osama and George Bush were really two sides of the same coin. The plot was interesting, the writing reasonable and kept me turning the pages but it tended to be amateurish at times. I liked Robinson's earlier novels, especially his submarine specific ones.

[Samuel · Rating 1 out of 5]

Dear god, even "Osama" by Chris Ryan is better than this junk that's only fit for toilet paper. The author seems to be racist against anyone who's not white Anglo-Saxon and in the navy, is a awful writer who's writing style is more suited for a play, rather than a novel, is a terrible researcher, who seemingly believes there are only three law enforcement and military organisations in the USA worth mentioning (CIA, US Navy and Navy SEALS) and his characterisation of the main players in this sorry tale seem to be either bigoted loud mouths, idiots or caricatures which have been done to death.
Even Brad Thor, constantly criticised for his political beliefs and clichéd writing style is A THOUSAND times better than this chump.
STAY AWAY FROM THIS LIKE THE PLAGUE.

[Dokusha · Rating 2 out of 5]

Es ging so. Die Charaktere waren mir ein bisschen zu plakativ in Gut und Bose unterteilt, und der Patriotismus trieft von jeder Seite. Das ist nicht wirklich meine Leidenschaft. Und auch der Geschichte an sich fehlte irgendwo der Schwung. Die Grundstruktur des Attentäters, der minutiös plant und des Gegenspielers, der versucht, ihn vorher zu erwischen, erinnert an Frederick Forsyth, aber die Erzählweise kommt bei weitem nicht an diesen heran.
Insgesamt ein paar interessante Szenen, aber nichts, was mich dazu verleiten würde, weiter Admiral Morgan-Bücher zu lesen.
Und der Klappentext ist auch mal wieder sowas von daneben ...

[Andy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Standard potboiler military novel. It's good at what it does, but its right-wing jingoism is painful. Morgan uses "towelheads" as a derogative until literally the very end of the book, and the subplot of how The Media is dangerous to security is laughable.

[Jai-shen Reader · Rating 2 out of 5]

Typical and predictable of Robinson

[Tim · Rating 3 out of 5]

Even with recycled lines regarding sniper weapons still a fair read. And it’s not his best. 7 of 10 stars is accurate.

[David Briggs · Rating 2 out of 5]

really wanted to like this book but it just felt like the poor mans Tom Clancey.

[Dan Smith · Rating 1 out of 5]

Note to self: Please do not read any of this authors books. The are poorly written, with terrible story lines. The author is know for using words and descriptions over and over just to fill up the pages.

This book had too many people, to many inconsistencies, to much description of property that meant nothing to the story.

Then, within the last 4 chapters, he brings in a character is is going to end up being the hero, makes it a big deal that they are bringing him out of retirement to protect this individual, makes another big deal about why he retired in the first place---- too many loose ends.

terrible writing

[Jane Ann · Rating 2 out of 5]

Fast paced and lots of post 9/11 anti terror attitudes. Hawkish views on terrorists with a few ethnic slurs thrown in for emphasis. I’m all ok with that. It’s a book. I expected that in this one. What I didn’t expect was the self centered, unsympathetic posturing of “the Admiral”. People dying so he can go on vacation yet he bullheadedly rages on. Not much to admire there. The antagonist wasn’t very believable for me either. His hatred went overboard for me. And don’t EVEN get me started on either of their mealy mouthed, drop dead gorgeous wives. Idiots. I wouldn’t recommend this one to anyone.

[James Spencer · Rating 2 out of 5]

I had really enjoyed some of his earlier books, and this one kept me turning the pages through the first half. From there, however, I found myself increasingly annoyed and wanting it to be over. Some of it was just kinda corny. And then, still introducing pivotal characters in the last 50 pages?? I'm not some professor of creative writing or anything, but that just seems weak. Sorry I can't be more positive, but this one's just a meh..

[Martyn Jones · Rating 1 out of 5]

Dire. Having read all the others , with increasing boredom, I approached this with a feeling of dread. It was a tedious and meandering, the factual inaccuracies laughable - England has a population of 60 million - since when? Poor from the same author that gave us Kilo Class. If I had wanted to know details of horse-racing I would have bought the Racing Post. The first seven books in the series are well written but after that the stories become laughable.

[Jason · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not the weakest book in the 10 book series, but also not the strongest. The palpable shift in tone, and focus, from the previous nine books was jarring. The fanaticism of the antagonist bordered on cartoonish. I thought I was getting another book, similar to Nimitz Class or Kilo Class, deeply laced with military history and strategy.

Instead, I received Moby Dick with a caricature of a terrorist instead of Captain Ahab.

[Elivia Kanatiquelli · Rating 1 out of 5]

I only tried it because the summary mentioned Navy SEALs, to be honest. In reality, the book barely mentions them! Mostly political yada-yada. I kept skipping ahead to see if it got better, but it did not. Plus, I like fast-paced books, which this is not.
So, if you like government and politics (and lots of unnecessary detailed paragraphs), you might like this book!
And fyi, in the summary they spelt SEALs wrong: SEa, Air, Land=SEAL, all-caps. They're elite operators, not water mammals!

[Brian · Rating 3 out of 5]

The final book in the series. A bit disappointing, the plot had some gaping holes that just left me shaking my head more than nodding it. Especially the final chapter felt forced. Glad I listened to the series, wish it hadn’t ended with a fizzle.

[Linda Johnson · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book..it kept my attention. Besides travel and intrigue there is a smattering of politics as well. The main character Admiral Morgan has been featured in other novels -- I expect to be reading the series this year.

[Martijn Pollmann · Rating 2 out of 5]

Weak ending to a fun series.

[Joseph · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great book. Admiral was very arrogant and cost many people their lives. Not sure why I like the villains in this book!

[Steve · Rating 5 out of 5]

The last of the Arnold Morgan novel series. An assassin tries to take out Admiral Morgan in London while he is on vacation.

[Paschalis]

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[Joseph Kopchick · Rating 2 out of 5]

An OK story, but not very plausible.

[Simon Guest · Rating 2 out of 5]

Light read, but badly written

[Al · Rating 2 out of 5]

The author needs to do better in his research, for example, the U.S. Navy's inventory does not include F16s, which are flown by the U.S. Air force .

[Kt · Rating 4 out of 5]

To The Death is the last novel in the ten book series about US Admiral Arnold Morgan by author Patrick Robinson.

I read the first nine books years ago and have looking for this sized paperback edition for what feels like forever. Let me say, it was worth the wait!

The personal advisor to the US President, Admiral Morgan is a force to be reckoned with. Although his days are now spent in the White House rather than captaining submarines; he has never forgotten his arch nemesis, General Ravi Rashood (a former British SAS solider who defected and is now the Commander in Chief of Hamas). When a foiled terrorist attack on the US reveals the location of Rashood, Morgan sees the chance to assassinate him once and for all. Things are never that simple though; and when the bomb destined for Rashood misses its intended target, a game of cat and mouse ensures from America, through the to Middle East and into the UK.

Like the nine books before it, Robinson quickly introduces us to the major characters in the first couple of chapters (very helpful if you want to read it as a stand alone book) and then gets on with building the suspense. I like how he does this slowly; teasing you with plot twists and capturing you by surprise with twists and turns. Although there is no doubt that ‘great America’ will beat the ‘evil terrorists’; you will be on the edge of your seat wondering just how it will ultimately all end. Also like the other nine books in this series, I could not put it down. The drama, the characters and the plot made for an excellent read.

If you’re partial to novels about the armed forces, political thrillers and thrillers generally and/or if you like the works of Chris Ryan and Vince Flynn then you will love this book. I highly recommend not just To The Death but whole Admiral Arnold Morgan series.

[Cynthia · Rating 1 out of 5]

What a mess of a story! When the Mossad is sent to kill Ravi, they have him in their "cross-hairs", but because the Mossad's "specialty" is bombs, they decided to bomb the house instead of a nice clean bullet to the head. The story goes downhill rapidly from there. One of my favorite characters in this series was Admiral Morgan. However, in the last couple of books, the author chose to present him more as comic than authoritarian. When the admiral decides to travel to England and one of his bodyguards is killed instead of him, what does he do? He makes reservations at a lodge and sits down to a gourmet dinner with wine. The author never once lets the admiral dwell on the death of his bodyguard! ABSURD! The author instead tells the reader that the admiral had only just met this particular bodyguard, and so really never knew him???!!! I guess that makes it all better, not to know the person who took a bullet for you! I am so glad the author ended this series.

[Henri Moreaux · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the tenth and final book in the Admiral Morgan series by Patrick Robinson. It's a decent cap to the series however compared to the intrigue, tension and depth in earlier books like Nimitz Class, Kilo Class and Barracuda 945 this one, 'To The Death', is not really up to standard - I could go as far as to call it disappointing when compared to those earlier ones.

If you've been enjoying the series, as I have, it's worthwhile to read To The Death to close the storylines and subplots, but if you haven't read the others I would pick up something else instead, either one of the earlier titles or perhaps some Dale Brown, Vince Flynn or Matthew Reilly.

[Pete · Rating 1 out of 5]

No reason to waste time on this novel which adds nothing to the Arnold Morgan series. Robinson is so creatively uninspired here that he resurrects a couple of terrorist characters that had been killed off earlier in the series. Making things worse is his lame 'penis' humor (he never actually does explain how someone whose blood pressure is crashing as a result of a lethal dagger to the heart maintains an erection). The final strike against this book is that there aren't any naval engagements which makes the whole thing rather pointless.

[Justin · Rating 3 out of 5]

A decent but not spectacular conclusion to the ten-book Admiral Morgan series of books. This series came in like a bang with books like Nimitz-class, Kilo-class and the Shark Mutiny, but the last few books just didn't have the same intrigue. Morgan's character is barely recognizable in this final entry, shrugging off threats of terrorism that he never would have in previous books. The final act of the book is very good and everything is wrapped up nicely, but an average book overall.

[Richard · Rating 3 out of 5]

When one reads a Patrick Robinson you should be prepared for a fast paced, well written novel. This is no different in terms of its pacing and writing. I must say that the story is a bit of stretch however exciting. Robinson has to be one of Dick Chehey's favorite authors and the Admiral Morgan character a neocon favorite. A fun read however.

[Nathan · Rating 5 out of 5]

It was a great read. Patrick knows the tech and the people, and it was a very nice way to end this series. It was nice to see so many old characters brought back for the final book, and a few new characters introduced.

It's not for those with a weak stomach, as the author clearly shows people getting killed, both by weapons and without.