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Alex Swan Mysteries #3
Countdown to Terror
A cold breaking dawn by the River Thames and a tugboat operator sees a man on the bank being beaten by two other men.
After going to him, the victim’s last words to him before dying are ‘the eagle will fall.’
In the dead man’s pocket is the name of Alex Swan, former MI5 officer, and now with the Ministry of Defence Services Investigations Department.
It’s 1969, and there is a race to the Moon.
Simon and Garfunkel are on the radio and in the bookshops are bestsellers by Len Deighton and Graham Greene. World War Two is long over, and Hitler long dead, but not for a group of loyal ex-Nazis known as the Onyx Cross.
Swan and his ex-detective colleague, Arthur Gable, learn that the dead man was a German-born scientist working on the Black Arrow satellite launch vehicle program at Highdown on the Isle of Wight.
Although they have no idea as to what his dying words could mean. The nature of the case has also resurfaced a dark secret that Swan has kept hidden away since the end of the war.
At Highdown following a test firing, the Deputy Chief Engineer Kevin Powell is found dead, boiled inside his protective suit under the rocket and Swan suspects that their deaths could be connected.
Meanwhile, Gunther Fleischer, a former Nazi known as Merlin, has had his Onyx Cross operatives sabotaging space programs from the inside.
As the war in Europe came to an end, Operation Falling Star was implemented by the German High Command. Scientists were to be killed, rather than have their knowledge fall into the hands of the US and her allies.
Countdown to Terror is a fast-paced, action-packed mystery thriller set against the backdrop of the space race, and the search for Nazis seeking revenge for the theft of their scientific and engineering technology by the Allies.
After going to him, the victim’s last words to him before dying are ‘the eagle will fall.’
In the dead man’s pocket is the name of Alex Swan, former MI5 officer, and now with the Ministry of Defence Services Investigations Department.
It’s 1969, and there is a race to the Moon.
Simon and Garfunkel are on the radio and in the bookshops are bestsellers by Len Deighton and Graham Greene. World War Two is long over, and Hitler long dead, but not for a group of loyal ex-Nazis known as the Onyx Cross.
Swan and his ex-detective colleague, Arthur Gable, learn that the dead man was a German-born scientist working on the Black Arrow satellite launch vehicle program at Highdown on the Isle of Wight.
Although they have no idea as to what his dying words could mean. The nature of the case has also resurfaced a dark secret that Swan has kept hidden away since the end of the war.
At Highdown following a test firing, the Deputy Chief Engineer Kevin Powell is found dead, boiled inside his protective suit under the rocket and Swan suspects that their deaths could be connected.
Meanwhile, Gunther Fleischer, a former Nazi known as Merlin, has had his Onyx Cross operatives sabotaging space programs from the inside.
As the war in Europe came to an end, Operation Falling Star was implemented by the German High Command. Scientists were to be killed, rather than have their knowledge fall into the hands of the US and her allies.
Countdown to Terror is a fast-paced, action-packed mystery thriller set against the backdrop of the space race, and the search for Nazis seeking revenge for the theft of their scientific and engineering technology by the Allies.
- GenresThriller
370 pages, Kindle Edition
First published February 11, 2017
28 people are currently reading
45 people want to read
About the author
David Holman
12 books13 followersDavid lives in rural Kent, England and is a Lecturer of English. He is married with three daughters. David also writes for an international aviation related hobby magazine and is a reporter for his local newspaper. David has written seven novels in the Alex Swan Spy Thriller series which has been dubbed by The Big Thrill magazine as “A Cold War Sherlock Holmes”
His favourite authors of this particular genre are Frederick Forsyth, Charles Cumming, John Le Carre, Len Deighton and Robert Harris. His other chosen authors from other genres include Peter James, and Ian Rankin. For sheer escapism, David loves to re-visit the classics with Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Jules Verne and Alexander Dumas as his go to authors. However, David has said that he will generally read anything in order to broaden his personal perspective of the written word.
David has also written a romantic Christmas novella set during the Cold War, and a children’s World War II adventure novel.
Under a new pen name of Dave Becker comes Fallen Shadows, the first book of a brand new thriller trilogy set in the City of London.
For further information and updates on new books visit his Amazon page.
His favourite authors of this particular genre are Frederick Forsyth, Charles Cumming, John Le Carre, Len Deighton and Robert Harris. His other chosen authors from other genres include Peter James, and Ian Rankin. For sheer escapism, David loves to re-visit the classics with Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Jules Verne and Alexander Dumas as his go to authors. However, David has said that he will generally read anything in order to broaden his personal perspective of the written word.
David has also written a romantic Christmas novella set during the Cold War, and a children’s World War II adventure novel.
Under a new pen name of Dave Becker comes Fallen Shadows, the first book of a brand new thriller trilogy set in the City of London.
For further information and updates on new books visit his Amazon page.
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
May 1, 2017
Good plot. Shame about the construction
Having worked in the publishing industry I might be a bit hyper critical, but while this is a good plot and with a lot of detailed research, the author makes the mistake of letting that research show. Or of showing of just how much research he's done. He might get away with this if it is revealed in dialogue, but long sections of telling this information detracts from the story.
I also had difficulty in working out who was the main character. When dialogue is used, the language seems archaic and out of place. He has a senior American space technician using the hippy expression 'man'
There are a number of other elements that don't carry the plot forward, but could with better construction. As for the fight scene near the end, from the moment Swan confronts the main villain, it seems contrived and simply doesn't work, primarily because of too many adjectives.
There are a number of elements that a good editor would cross out and some sections simply defy logic.
All in all, a good plot but not well written.
Having worked in the publishing industry I might be a bit hyper critical, but while this is a good plot and with a lot of detailed research, the author makes the mistake of letting that research show. Or of showing of just how much research he's done. He might get away with this if it is revealed in dialogue, but long sections of telling this information detracts from the story.
I also had difficulty in working out who was the main character. When dialogue is used, the language seems archaic and out of place. He has a senior American space technician using the hippy expression 'man'
There are a number of other elements that don't carry the plot forward, but could with better construction. As for the fight scene near the end, from the moment Swan confronts the main villain, it seems contrived and simply doesn't work, primarily because of too many adjectives.
There are a number of elements that a good editor would cross out and some sections simply defy logic.
All in all, a good plot but not well written.
May 14, 2019
This was so bad.
The premise had merit. I loved the idea that we were going to get a story set at least in part, at the High Down Rocket Test Site in England. You get a lot more than that in the novel, but it was generally quite poor. First of all, the characters had about as much development as a cardboard cutout. I seriously could not tell the difference between any of the British men that orbit around Swan. The only difference between them were names and job titles. The dialog was also quite stilted. Do British people really go around calling each other "old chap" and the like? I also found it strange that measurements were given in feet and inches, while British spelling was used for certain words. The author also kept creating these back stories for very minor characters. Why? For the most part, these segments did nothing to further the story except to make the book longer. I also felt the author's grasp of the American space program to be tenuous at best. There are too many technical errors to recount here.
All in all, I read this because I wanted a story that talks about rocket testing in England. I did get that, though it seems some of the details of the site were changed to suit the author's purpose. I give this book 1.5 stars for trying.
The premise had merit. I loved the idea that we were going to get a story set at least in part, at the High Down Rocket Test Site in England. You get a lot more than that in the novel, but it was generally quite poor. First of all, the characters had about as much development as a cardboard cutout. I seriously could not tell the difference between any of the British men that orbit around Swan. The only difference between them were names and job titles. The dialog was also quite stilted. Do British people really go around calling each other "old chap" and the like? I also found it strange that measurements were given in feet and inches, while British spelling was used for certain words. The author also kept creating these back stories for very minor characters. Why? For the most part, these segments did nothing to further the story except to make the book longer. I also felt the author's grasp of the American space program to be tenuous at best. There are too many technical errors to recount here.
All in all, I read this because I wanted a story that talks about rocket testing in England. I did get that, though it seems some of the details of the site were changed to suit the author's purpose. I give this book 1.5 stars for trying.
April 12, 2018
The UK detective gets his man!
This is a well told take with many details of London, the World War II scenes and the modern space race. Very well written and most enthralling. Stay with it for this novel is worth the effort.
This is a well told take with many details of London, the World War II scenes and the modern space race. Very well written and most enthralling. Stay with it for this novel is worth the effort.
September 23, 2017
“Countdown to Terror” eBook was published in 2017 and was written by David Holman. Mr. Holman has published two novels.
I received an ARC of this novel through https://www.netgalley.com in return for a fair and honest review. I categorize this novel as ‘PG’ because it contains scenes of Violence. The story is set in 1969 England. At the height of the cold war, England, the US and Russia are all actively pursuing space programs.
A former German, now working with the British space program is seen attacked and killed. This involves the prime character of the novel, former MI5 officer Alex Swan. Swan is now with the secretive Ministry of Defense Services Investigations Department. Swan, along with ex-detective colleague Arthur Gable, delves into the murder and soon finds themselves involved with a much larger issue.
There are more deaths and Swan soon discovers that there is a clandestine organization that evolved out of Nazi Germany actively at work trying to sabotage space efforts by the British, US and Russians. Swan works hard to identify those involved and stop them from bringing catastrophic results on the space efforts.
I enjoyed the nearly 9 hours I spent reading this 318 page espionage thriller. While there was only a little action, I enjoyed the intrigue and plot twists. Given that the plot involves the space programs the cover are is appropriate. I give this novel a 4.4 (rounded down to a 4) out of 5.
Further book reviews I have written can be accessed at https://johnpurvis.wordpress.com/blog/.
I received an ARC of this novel through https://www.netgalley.com in return for a fair and honest review. I categorize this novel as ‘PG’ because it contains scenes of Violence. The story is set in 1969 England. At the height of the cold war, England, the US and Russia are all actively pursuing space programs.
A former German, now working with the British space program is seen attacked and killed. This involves the prime character of the novel, former MI5 officer Alex Swan. Swan is now with the secretive Ministry of Defense Services Investigations Department. Swan, along with ex-detective colleague Arthur Gable, delves into the murder and soon finds themselves involved with a much larger issue.
There are more deaths and Swan soon discovers that there is a clandestine organization that evolved out of Nazi Germany actively at work trying to sabotage space efforts by the British, US and Russians. Swan works hard to identify those involved and stop them from bringing catastrophic results on the space efforts.
I enjoyed the nearly 9 hours I spent reading this 318 page espionage thriller. While there was only a little action, I enjoyed the intrigue and plot twists. Given that the plot involves the space programs the cover are is appropriate. I give this novel a 4.4 (rounded down to a 4) out of 5.
Further book reviews I have written can be accessed at https://johnpurvis.wordpress.com/blog/.
February 18, 2024
Quite a good book and not one I'd usually opt to read. Nevertheless I did enjoy it and would certainly read another Alex Swan book.
March 12, 2017
Another Gripping tale of Swan and Gable. As Swan races around the word desperate to piece together a plot, orchestrated by the last remains of Hitler’s devoted followers, to keep cutting edge technology from the hands of the superpowers. He fights with his own demons from the past. A fantastic stand alone novel with the appearance of a few old friends from 'Wings of Death'. Stunning attention to detail both historical and geographical brings the people and places to life with such clarity that you will feel that you are actually walking the streets with Swan.
'Countdown to Terror' is a breathless race from the first brutal murder in London to the final out of this world climax. Another impossible to put down novel from David Holman.
'Countdown to Terror' is a breathless race from the first brutal murder in London to the final out of this world climax. Another impossible to put down novel from David Holman.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews