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KESTREL #2
Toll
THE PERFECT WEAPON LAY BURIED FOR 70 YEARS. NOW ITS DEADLY POWER HAS BEEN UNLEASHED.
The Norwegian Sea: a group of eco-activists disappear from their vessel. Only their dental fillings remain.
Owl Mountains, Poland: a wealthy environmentalist resurrects a secret experiment forgotten since the close of the Second World War, determined to heal our ravaged planet.
When a dossier finds its way to the desk of Dr. Neil Aldridge, the elite EU special forces team codenamed KESTREL is drawn into a dangerous pursuit across Europe and beyond, to prevent a cull of Earth's greatest threat: humanity.
As the final countdown begins, Captain Jessica Greenwood faces the ultimate choice: fight to prevent the dark future ahead, or help make it happen…
A page-turning technological thriller with elements of fringe science and conspiracy, TOLL is book 2 in the KESTREL action-adventure thriller series, but can also be read as a stand-alone novel.
The Norwegian Sea: a group of eco-activists disappear from their vessel. Only their dental fillings remain.
Owl Mountains, Poland: a wealthy environmentalist resurrects a secret experiment forgotten since the close of the Second World War, determined to heal our ravaged planet.
When a dossier finds its way to the desk of Dr. Neil Aldridge, the elite EU special forces team codenamed KESTREL is drawn into a dangerous pursuit across Europe and beyond, to prevent a cull of Earth's greatest threat: humanity.
As the final countdown begins, Captain Jessica Greenwood faces the ultimate choice: fight to prevent the dark future ahead, or help make it happen…
A page-turning technological thriller with elements of fringe science and conspiracy, TOLL is book 2 in the KESTREL action-adventure thriller series, but can also be read as a stand-alone novel.
476 pages, Kindle Edition
Published December 5, 2018
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34 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
November 26, 2018
Continues the fascinatingly plausible story telling of the first book. Hits that wonderful place where it’s easy to read and accessible as a story, but has technical detail if you’re interested in that. (And the author cares about technical accuracy where possible too.) Well worth reading.
July 10, 2019
This is the second installment in the Kestrel series. Those are technothrillers conspicuously set in Europe, with two main recurring characters : Greenwood is the tough, no-nonsense female Captain of the Kestrel task force. Her job is her life and she does it well. Aldridge is the newly-recruited scientist slash soldier that makes jokes. There is romantic tension between them. Overall those books are smart, well-documented thrillers that avoid dumb frenetic action. The author often asks for reviews, so here goes!
I felt the biggest change in this book is the inclusion of a smart and considerate antagonist, when in the first book the bad guy was a bloodthirsty trigger-happy psychopath. I enjoyed both equally. This time, the threat is more interesting and larger-scale. There is also an ecological backdrop that was not in the first book and provides a good sense of important stakes. One can feel the author cares about the issue. These bits are successes to me.
The way the Kestrel team gets involved in the intrigue (by random luck, mostly) is a little flimsy. Had Aldridge been less curious about a misfiled report landing on his desk, the bad guy would have quietly brought his plan to its world-changing conclusion.
In the previous book Aldridge somehow had gained the power to alter time. I do not remember if how it gained this power has ever been explained. In any case it is never mentioned here.
(The rest of my remarks below apply equally to the first kestrel book.)
The action scenes are really good and immersive, with a visual cinematic feel. I remember especially vividly the car chase and the explosion in the helicopter (this one really stood out). These make maybe 1/3 or half of the book that is entirely enjoyable. I had trouble with the final fight -- I'm not sure how physically possible it is to punch someone underwater? I would have liked a bit of reassurance that it is possible, maybe I missed it. Like in the first book, Aldridge and his relationship with Greenwood are annoying when nothing much is happening, but become weirdly endearing when things get going.
I like that the book omits the sexism and machismo that often permeate thrillers — as in e.g. the Dirk Pitt books. Here characters of both genres are actors with individual motivations. This is rare enough to be noticed.
In some part, especially near the beginning, the writing gets a little purple-ish: long sentences provide methodical descriptions of places or objects with technically correct, often exquisitely chosen words (eg "antagonist" instead of "bad guy"), but make for pedestrian, detached reading. I appreciate the intention to provide specifics and sound neutral, but sometimes omitting details or use more loaded words would make for more lively, less serious reading. I sometimes feel like I'm reading a Macstories comparison of shopping list apps. Exposition scenes in particular are victims of this. I feel like the book would have benefitted from a more severe editor.
The European name-dropping is ok, but when describing historical events and places the characters sometimes sound like descriptions from Wikipedia.
An outside character (a dr. Cross I believe) is involved early in the story, but disappears once she has been introduced to the Kestrel team. She felt a bit like a plot device, just there to provide an opportunity to describe the team. Also : if she was not to be involved in the action, I find it weird that Greenwood would reveal so much to her. I hope that in the next books less time will be spent presenting the Kestrel team.
Detailed descriptions of firearms come out of nowhere and stop as quickly. I know this is a staple of technothrillers, but I suppose it originally came from other authors love of firearms. I might be wrong, but I feel no such love here. Personally I do not care for firearms, so I would not mind reading less about them. On-the-nose descriptions of Apple products are also frequent and feel to me like fan service to the online Twitter/blog audience. This might hold the author back and prevent him from bringing his books to a higher level.
To conclude - this is entertaining and worth reading, and I’m looking forward to the third book which I’m sure will be even better. I'm keeping a star in stock for it.
I felt the biggest change in this book is the inclusion of a smart and considerate antagonist, when in the first book the bad guy was a bloodthirsty trigger-happy psychopath. I enjoyed both equally. This time, the threat is more interesting and larger-scale. There is also an ecological backdrop that was not in the first book and provides a good sense of important stakes. One can feel the author cares about the issue. These bits are successes to me.
The way the Kestrel team gets involved in the intrigue (by random luck, mostly) is a little flimsy. Had Aldridge been less curious about a misfiled report landing on his desk, the bad guy would have quietly brought his plan to its world-changing conclusion.
In the previous book Aldridge somehow had gained the power to alter time. I do not remember if how it gained this power has ever been explained. In any case it is never mentioned here.
(The rest of my remarks below apply equally to the first kestrel book.)
The action scenes are really good and immersive, with a visual cinematic feel. I remember especially vividly the car chase and the explosion in the helicopter (this one really stood out). These make maybe 1/3 or half of the book that is entirely enjoyable. I had trouble with the final fight -- I'm not sure how physically possible it is to punch someone underwater? I would have liked a bit of reassurance that it is possible, maybe I missed it. Like in the first book, Aldridge and his relationship with Greenwood are annoying when nothing much is happening, but become weirdly endearing when things get going.
I like that the book omits the sexism and machismo that often permeate thrillers — as in e.g. the Dirk Pitt books. Here characters of both genres are actors with individual motivations. This is rare enough to be noticed.
In some part, especially near the beginning, the writing gets a little purple-ish: long sentences provide methodical descriptions of places or objects with technically correct, often exquisitely chosen words (eg "antagonist" instead of "bad guy"), but make for pedestrian, detached reading. I appreciate the intention to provide specifics and sound neutral, but sometimes omitting details or use more loaded words would make for more lively, less serious reading. I sometimes feel like I'm reading a Macstories comparison of shopping list apps. Exposition scenes in particular are victims of this. I feel like the book would have benefitted from a more severe editor.
The European name-dropping is ok, but when describing historical events and places the characters sometimes sound like descriptions from Wikipedia.
An outside character (a dr. Cross I believe) is involved early in the story, but disappears once she has been introduced to the Kestrel team. She felt a bit like a plot device, just there to provide an opportunity to describe the team. Also : if she was not to be involved in the action, I find it weird that Greenwood would reveal so much to her. I hope that in the next books less time will be spent presenting the Kestrel team.
Detailed descriptions of firearms come out of nowhere and stop as quickly. I know this is a staple of technothrillers, but I suppose it originally came from other authors love of firearms. I might be wrong, but I feel no such love here. Personally I do not care for firearms, so I would not mind reading less about them. On-the-nose descriptions of Apple products are also frequent and feel to me like fan service to the online Twitter/blog audience. This might hold the author back and prevent him from bringing his books to a higher level.
To conclude - this is entertaining and worth reading, and I’m looking forward to the third book which I’m sure will be even better. I'm keeping a star in stock for it.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 3, 2019
It's great to read books by people you've followed for some time, and in the case of Matt Gemmell, I stumbled upon his blog a few years before he published Changer, and read it here and there before becoming a regular reader. It's great to see how he's evolved as a writer and story-teller, and Toll is quite an achievement. With Toll, we get to experience a story from the past brought jarringly into the present, and explore ethics and current events both from a historical lens and a lens through our current, and needlessly frustratingly challenging, era. It's refreshing to have a bad guy be almost indescribably good, and to wrestle with what that means.
Toll is an exciting read not just for its action and thrill, but also for its characters who we get to know better. It's also a very important read, and one that isn't afraid to use fiction to make us really think about our reality, and how we want to shape it.
Definite thumbs up, highly recommended.
Toll is an exciting read not just for its action and thrill, but also for its characters who we get to know better. It's also a very important read, and one that isn't afraid to use fiction to make us really think about our reality, and how we want to shape it.
Definite thumbs up, highly recommended.
December 12, 2018
I really liked the first book of the KESTREL series, Changer, and I loved the second one. Great story, nice pacing, and lovable characters.
So great that an author uses our immense challenges with climate change as part of the fictive plot.
So great that an author uses our immense challenges with climate change as part of the fictive plot.
April 29, 2019
That rare kind of book where the villain is so well-characterised as to be almost likeable, with a realistic storyline and exceptional technical detail.
September 6, 2019
Toll is the follow up to the author's first book, Changer. As such, it shares many of the same problems: plot holes, weak writing in places, and an unnecessary and not very well executed romantic subplot. The Kestrel team is back in force, but some overly forced character development detracts from what is, at its core, a better, more believable storyline than the one in Changer. The author Gemmell is capable of a good story, but needs to concentrate more effort on developing his writing skills to match his story telling potential. I understand that he recently announced the title of the third book in the series, upcoming I imagine in late 2020. Though I wasn't a fan of Toll because of the reasons stated above, I likely will give Jinx a try to see if Gemmell is reaching his potential.
September 26, 2024
Like its predecessor, Toll seamlessly blends soft sci-fi into an action thriller tapestry, with the heroes racing to a heart-pounding climax against an antagonist so genuine you’ll be wondering if _you_ might be the bad guy.
As with Changer (the first book in the series), I stayed up way too late to finish Toll; it's nearly impossible to put it down. It’s an easy and exciting read, with deep and lovable characters set across a beautiful European backdrop. A worthy sequel in a magnificent series.
As with Changer (the first book in the series), I stayed up way too late to finish Toll; it's nearly impossible to put it down. It’s an easy and exciting read, with deep and lovable characters set across a beautiful European backdrop. A worthy sequel in a magnificent series.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews