Final Thunder

Link Anderson #2

by Tom "Bear" Wilson

Their plane had crashed in the trackless wilds of Utah. But the passengers and the pilot had survived. Intact as well was the brief that one the passengers carried—a document upon which the future of America and the world hung.

Now a party was coming after them. But it was no rescue party. It was headed by a deadly assassin named Jaeger. It was made up of expert trackers and ruthless killers. And they would do anything and destroy anyone to get what they wanted.

The ultimate game of cat-and-mouse has begun … as a determined man and a desperate woman join forces in the ultimate test of survival against the worst that nature and man can brutally bring to bear…

597 pages, Kindle Edition

First published October 1, 1996

About the author

Tom "Bear" Wilson was a career United States Air Force Officer with 3000 hours of flying time, mostly in fighters. During his 500 hours of combat flying, he earned four Silver Star Medals for gallantry and three Distinguished Flying Crosses for heroism. He also served in various roles as instructor, flight examiner, tactician, staff officer, and unit commander. After leaving the military, Wilson enjoyed diverse careers, including: private investigator, gunsmith, newspaper publisher, and manager of advanced programs for a high-tech company in Silicon Valley. Mr. Wilson resides in Texas and has recently completed his ninth novel, Black Serpent.

Reviews

[Michael Chrobak · Rating 2 out of 5]

I’ve read quite a few W.E.B. Griffin books, and he’s definitely one of my favorite authors for military fiction, so when I saw that he had given Tom Wilson a hearty endorsement, I couldn’t wait to read this book. Unfortunately I was seriously disappointed.
First of all, I will give Wilson credit for his ability to write narrative, and the level of intrigue and ‘thriller’ components here was high. His writing just didn’t do it for me. At all.
The attempt at dialogue was sophomoric and trite, to the point where I was constantly wondering why a character said what they did in the situation. I even found myself going back and rereading to ensure I didn’t miss something. I hate having to do that.
There was also a large percentage of dialogue that was one line long. Literally paragraphs of narration and scene development, then one line (usually confusing or so basic it could have been left out) and then more narrative.
Also, the characters were far to stereotypical. The hero survived every injury or dangerous situation, the female characters were all powerless and ineffective without a man to train them or show them the way, the antagonist was far too repulsive and did things no one needs to read about.
Finally, most of the situations and experiences Wilson made his characters endure were simply unbelievable. For example, the encounters with rattlesnakes. The main characters encounter more snakes during the week or so they are in the wilderness than I’ve had my entire life, and I live in a known rattlesnake area and have explored acres of regional parks where the creatures live for the past 40 years.
I will not be reading another of this authors books. Ugh...

[Zora · Rating 1 out of 5]

Horrible writing, ludicrous inventions, poor understanding of international politics. But mostly just awful writing at the line level, jerky, and "tell-y" and cliche-studded, it yanked me out of the story every few paragraphs. I love a good thriller, but this wasn't that.