Death Quest

Phoenix #3

by David Alexander

Magnus Trench, known as Phoenix, tries to escape from the Dark Mesiah and is caught between violent revolutionaries and a repressive, post nuclear war government

224 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 1988

About the author

David Alexander began writing early in life and began writing uncoaxed and spontaneously. His fledgling appearance in print dates to a sonnet published in a New York City daily newspaper when David was in elementary school in Brooklyn. Between then and today, he has written and published in virtually every literary category, including novels, novelettes, short fiction, poetry, essays and film scripts. He received his early education via the New York City public school system. He later attended Columbia University in New York City and Sorbonne University in Paris, France.

In addition to fiction and creative nonfiction, Alexander has written technical papers as a defense analyst for some of the world's most prestigious international defense publications on high-technology combat systems and their strategic and tactical applications. He is as conversant with the global corporate and civilian defense sector as he is with the military side. Few can justly claim the scope and breadth of his knowledge of and familiarity with the international defense community, ranging from weapon systems to global strategic policy.

As an author, Alexander can justly claim to have pulled himself up by his own bootstraps. Never has he benefited from anybody's patronage. There have been no wealthy relatives with connections, no connections by marriage; no favors traded in secret, no hooked-up friends to fast-track his career. Nor has anybody but David Alexander penned the titles published over David Alexander's byline. Alexander is a resident of Brooklyn Heights, where he has lived and written for many years.

Reviews

[Wayne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Over the top, non stop action with a heavy dose of explicit sex. This one is not for the squeamish. This was book three of five. I have only read this one, but I would like to get my hands on the other four. The only problem I had was part 3 of the book. The ending. After a whirlwind action through most of this, it just kind of limps to a conclusion. The gun porn aspect ( very detailed descriptions of countless armaments ) gets a tad old, but hey it goes with the territory. The torture scene with a nuclear scientist, a buff mutant butch queen, a long thin needle and the man's member had me cringing on the edge of my seat. Some strong stuff.

By way of story, Marcus Trench, Phoenix is on his way to New York to find his family after the USA is nuked out. He hitches a ride on the ruling armies carrier plane but things go wrong. He has to evacuate after he blows the plane up in mid air. Without a parachute no less. He lands outside a bombed out St. Louis. With biker scum. Scavengers. a hole lot of messed up inhabitants. Phoenix is talked into breaking out a scientist with vast amounts of nuclear knowledge from a death camp the used to be the Gateway Arch. Action, Action, Action follows.

[Sean Boyer · Rating 3 out of 5]

The third entry in the Phoenix series isn't quite as hilariously gory as the first two, but its action never lets up. This is pure 80s over- the-top machismo action, so don't expect a deep story or character developed beyond a cardboard cutout. But with a crazy action series like this, all of that character and plot stuff would only get in the way of the next action scene. And I say this with full respect for what Alexander does with this series.

This is pure macho-man action, and Alexander knows that and keeps it that way. The writing is hilarious in its pseudo-noir style of hyperbole and metaphor that borders on parody. I mean, how can you not love this description of the location of a neutron bomb: "... it was situated at the epicenter of the neutron bomb blast, the farting Satanic asshole from which the poison clouds of deadly ionizing radiation would spread like a pall..."

These sorts of descriptions are rampant in Alexander's writing, which makes it a blast to read. Yeah, it's no Shakespeare, but it has its own genius in how over-the-top it is. And-- at least for me--that makes it a lot of fun to read.