Angels of Wrath

Larry Bond's First Team #2

by Larry Bond, Jim DeFelice

New York Times bestselling authors Larry Bond and Jim DeFelice deliver fresh thrills and unexpected twists in this latest installment of their electrifying series, Larry Bond's First Angels of Wrath.
Led by CIA agent par excellence Bob Ferguson, the Team pitches in to help the FBI investigate a radical group of zealots who want to create a "post-Christian" era by instigating a catastrophic showdown in Jerusalem. But Ferg and company soon discover the cult has strange connections to the Iraqi resistance and to a Syrian arms dealer. Enlisting the help of Thera Majed, a beautiful paramilitary and an expert on Middle eastern relations, the team breaks up to track each link. They seek to stop anything catastrophic from happening before the President arrives in Iraq for the next round of elections. Their quarries lead Team members into an immensely complicated world of fanatical terrorists, each potentially dangerous. . . but who among them is the next to strike? Uncertain of the most imminent threat, the Team finds that they have landed in the midst of an operation headed by Israel's famous Mossad, and are ordered to cooperate with the Israelis . . . but are the Israelis cooperating with them?
Unsure of their allies, the Team realizes that they are on the trail of two completely different attacks whose targets are thousands of miles apart. Both operations are intended to trigger a vast religious war. With the clock ticking down, can the team extinguish the spark of Armageddon?

Genres: Thriller, Fiction, Military Fiction, War, Espionage, Action, Audiobook

448 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 10, 2006

About the author

Larry Bond is the author of several bestselling military thrillers, including Crash Dive, Cold Choices, Dangerous Ground, Red Phoenix and the Larry Bond’s First Team and Larry Bond’s Red Dragon Rising series. He was a naval officer for six years, serving four on a destroyer and two on shore duty in the Washington DC area. He's also worked as a warfare analyst and antisubmarine technology expert, and he now writes and designs computer games, including Harpoon and Command at Sea. He makes his home in Springfield, Virginia.

http://us.macmillan.com/author/larrybond

Reviews

[Spencer Rich · Rating 2 out of 5]

I have read quite a few thrillers, lately--many of the political. And certain tropes are just so common. I think I could write a pretty good parody. (Hank Blossom saw some action in the Gulf and lost his father in Nam. He then spent time working for the FBI before migrating to Langley. For this mission, he is joined by the tough newcomer, Bess Quigley. Hard as nails on the outside, just like Hank. But do they have a sensitive side that floats beneath their constant barbs? Hank is loading his X57 QP chopper with his Uzi, Beretta, sawed off shotty, and several RPGs. In theory, this may weight him down, but despite this, he can't resist bringing his beloved Colt 45, handed down from generation to generation since the OK Corral days.... Etc., etc.) This novel is seriously loaded with cliche. If the author actually has the mannerisms and flirtation techniques of the protagonist... But to its credit, the book does paint a portrait of an ugly post-Saddam middle East with Sunnis and Shi-ites and Israelis and the good old US fishing for oil. If you're bored, read it for the history, I guess. Not necessarily accurate, but the author does have some insight to how intelligence went at the time.

[Jeannee Waseck · Rating 5 out of 5]

I recently inve$ted some of my stimulus money in two books that are writers continuing in the genre of two legends in this field ... and was so disappointed and even angry with how they were written, I contemplated returning them to the store! Then I picked this one up on a whim while in line at Dollar General. I LOVE IT AND WANT TO READ MORE IN THE SERIES!!! There are clearly-defined good and bad guys; the baddies do get their comeuppance. There are heroes. There are modern-day realities. There are new people to love, believe in, and follow along with. More, please!!!

[Joseph · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was fairly well written. It was a good political thriller with enough fanaticism leave an cult thrown in for good measure. Not as good as Larry Barnes submarine books, not a Tom Clancy that's for sure. But still a good read.

[Pete · Rating 1 out of 5]

I'm a fan of Larry Bond and several of his other novels are top notch but this was a dud. The story was far too convoluted and stuck on a treadmill through many chapters. Too many minor characters and I just couldn't make any emotional connection to Ferg or his team.

[Bill Donhiser · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was an OK novel. It was well written and enjoyable but a little hard to follow. A good time passer but not up to the quality of some of his other efforts

[Ron · Rating 5 out of 5]

WAR sea adventures
SPY
GOOD WAR STORY DETAIL
EASY READ
GET MOR

[Al Smith]

Not very good.

[Kevin Middaugh · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good story of Ferguson and team hunting and fighting terrorists in the Middle East. A little slow in the early are of the book but the second half picks up the pace and is action packed.

[Karen Suhorsky · Rating 4 out of 5]

Super book loved it.

[Nigel · Rating 3 out of 5]

Angels Wrath, book 2 of The Team series by Larry Bond is a big improvement on the first instalment of this series. Yes there is still the strained relationship between the previously autonomous Ferguson and the White House council put in charge and she is still doing too much field work, but this does impinge of the story the way it did in the first book.
For this story we enter the murky world of illegal arms sales and home grown terrorism. The Angels of Wrath are a quasi-religious terrorist group that believe they can bring about peace by massive bloodshed directed at the major pillars of faith. Ferguson and his team track arms dealers around the Middle East sometimes aided by and sometime hindered by Mossad. The Team discover that two missiles may be in play, a Soviet era ‘Siren’ missile improved by a GPS steering package that is on the market and Scud missiles. They have less evidence for the Scud by have discovered the unique fuel used by the Scuds is also being smuggled into the area.
Who /what is the target? Does it have anything to do with the President’s visit to the region? Can Ferguson and his team unpick the clues to be in the right place at the right time to stop the attacks?
Due to this series being about a small Special Forces team there are none of the large scale battles that Bond does so well, but the small skirmishes are as one would expect well crafted and the book moves along at a reasonable pace.

[Dale Day · Rating 3 out of 5]

I buy Larry Bonds' novels because, in the past, I found them interesting and they kept me reading.
This is one of his "also with" that tells me he had someone else do all the research and outline and he loafed along to complete it.

The story line is a bit confusing. He has some wierdo sect in America dedicated to somehow ending the world as we know it.
There is a somewhat unique hero who likes to do things his way and resents the amateur the President has assigned to overlook his activities.
There is some other vague bad guy Iraqi.
It turns out that the true reason is that some ex-Mossad sicko wants to use a rocket to attack Mecca as a payback for the loss of his family.

In the end, the story is confusing, not well structured and hard to follow. It took me at least 5 times longer to read than others.

[Zach Deans · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was not very attention grabbing. It started out really attention pulling, but after a while it just became boring description. It is a good read if your into lengthy militaristic books, but even for a militaristic book this is kind of long. It desperately tried to grab the readers attention by killing off a character but even that didn't do its job. I don't mean to make this book to sound terrible, it just isn't the book for me.

[Martin Streetman · Rating 3 out of 5]

This one was a complex stoy but one you knew would work out in the end. I started it months ago and found myself finishing a dozen books befor eI finished this one. That being said as I finished I knew I wanted to read the next one, you have got to love Ferg.

[Jerome Otte · Rating 2 out of 5]

Confusing and badly structured.
The double plotlines got tangled up pretty quickly. Also, while in Iraq, two of the Team members pick up some annoying journalist that tags along and gets himself killed.

[David Griffin · Rating 2 out of 5]

Very poor book, disjointed and confusing storyline. There is no flow to the book and plots and locations seem to change rapidly and without explanation. The other books in the First Team series are better but I would just recommend reading A Vince Flynn novel instead.

[William · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great time waster

[george · Rating 1 out of 5]

Not for me. Loved the books on submarine warfare - but not these.

[Richard · Rating 3 out of 5]

An average military thriller.

[William · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fast narration with good dialogue. I liked the characters

[Brian · Rating 2 out of 5]

Disjointed, convoluted, no build up of tension, central character is an a-hole...not a good book

[Frank Cavanaugh]

Good read but it felt long and convoluted. Kind of a James Bond character but with more consistent supporting characters. The first book in this series that I have read.

[Caralyn Rubli · Rating 2 out of 5]

I found it hard to follow.I'm still not sure of the plot. But I am not a huge fan of this genre. I really liked Ferg.