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Luther Ewing #3
No Way Back
A rogue and ruthlessly effective weapon for justice and punishment, disgraced cop Luther Ewing could use something to occupy his time during his involuntary six-month "vacation" from the Baltimore P.D. narcotics squad. Luckily (or not), his reputation is well-known in wide, if covert, government circles -- and the CIA has a job that's right up Luther's protecting a South Korean businessman who's involved in some shady dealings in Russia. To do so, Luther needs a new name. He must master a new arsenal, learn Korean and Tae Kwon Do. Most importantly, he must bring the "package" back alive -- a relatively easy assignment requiring a sharp eye, smooth talk, and, hopefully, no bang bang. But the devil is always in the details and things rarely go as planned. And what an exposed and very far from home half-black, half-Vietnamese urban soldier doesn't know could effectively get him dead.
320 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published May 31, 2005
3 people are currently reading
20 people want to read
About the author
Michael Crow
33 books1 followerPseudonym of Thomas Moran, journalist and author. Lives in New York, Woodstock, NY, and Europe.
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
May 2, 2010
PROTAGONIST: Luther Ewing, Baltimore narcotics detective
SETTING: Korea and Vladivostok
SERIES: #3 of 3
RATING: 3.0
Luther Ewing is a member of the Baltimore County Police Department, but he doesn't play the political game. Consequently, when his unauthorized plan to expose a crooked DEA agent backfires, he is suspended from the force for six months. Even before the suspension is official, he is approached by a CIA recruiter named Westley who wants to hire him to bodyguard a South Korean businessman, Mr. Kim, who is involved in an information transfer with a group of corrupt Russian generals.
In order to prepare for the assignment, Luther works with a team of company handlers who are covering every angle necessary to do the job. He studies with Nadya to improve his fluency in Russian, Eunkyong to learn some elementary Korean and generally gets himself back into the required physical and mental state. It's been a long time since Luther (now going as "Terry Prentice") saw action in Vietnam; in addition to his general physical deterioration, he suffers the after effects of a head wound that continues to cause him problems.
It felt like more than half of the book was devoted to the preparatory stage; other than seeing how the team dynamics worked, there was nothing much going on that made the pages turn faster. There was some conflict between team members, particularly between Westley and an agent named Allison, who was supposedly leading the team. Luther quickly figures out that he needs to rely on himself, as it is unclear what everyone else's agenda is. As expected, there are a few double crosses along the way.
In general, the characters are developed to formula, with the exception of Kim's personal aide, Sonny. The plot was confusing, with too many unexplained references to previous books in the series. Billed as a "thriller", I found NO WAY BACK to be anything but. There was very little action to speak of, other than in some of Luther's flashbacks to past experiences. Even in the penultimate scene of Kim meeting with the Russians, the activity was over with very quickly. Personally, I felt cheated to have devoted so much time to the book to have the final "showdown" be dealt with so perfunctorily.
SETTING: Korea and Vladivostok
SERIES: #3 of 3
RATING: 3.0
Luther Ewing is a member of the Baltimore County Police Department, but he doesn't play the political game. Consequently, when his unauthorized plan to expose a crooked DEA agent backfires, he is suspended from the force for six months. Even before the suspension is official, he is approached by a CIA recruiter named Westley who wants to hire him to bodyguard a South Korean businessman, Mr. Kim, who is involved in an information transfer with a group of corrupt Russian generals.
In order to prepare for the assignment, Luther works with a team of company handlers who are covering every angle necessary to do the job. He studies with Nadya to improve his fluency in Russian, Eunkyong to learn some elementary Korean and generally gets himself back into the required physical and mental state. It's been a long time since Luther (now going as "Terry Prentice") saw action in Vietnam; in addition to his general physical deterioration, he suffers the after effects of a head wound that continues to cause him problems.
It felt like more than half of the book was devoted to the preparatory stage; other than seeing how the team dynamics worked, there was nothing much going on that made the pages turn faster. There was some conflict between team members, particularly between Westley and an agent named Allison, who was supposedly leading the team. Luther quickly figures out that he needs to rely on himself, as it is unclear what everyone else's agenda is. As expected, there are a few double crosses along the way.
In general, the characters are developed to formula, with the exception of Kim's personal aide, Sonny. The plot was confusing, with too many unexplained references to previous books in the series. Billed as a "thriller", I found NO WAY BACK to be anything but. There was very little action to speak of, other than in some of Luther's flashbacks to past experiences. Even in the penultimate scene of Kim meeting with the Russians, the activity was over with very quickly. Personally, I felt cheated to have devoted so much time to the book to have the final "showdown" be dealt with so perfunctorily.
Displaying 1 of 1 review