Joshua HoodReseñas

Barely started this book. Too complicated, too early in book without background. A waste of time.

Robert Ludlam’s The Treadstone Rendition by Joshua Hood is another action-packed, nonstop thriller. It is exciting from beginning to end with heroes, traitors and innocents desperately trying to succeed and survive.

Thanks to NetGalley and PENGUIN GROUP Putnam for the opportunity to read this exhilarating ARC.

The Treadstone Transgression is the next entry in Robert Ludlum's Treadstone series featuring Adam Hayes, and while it was fast-paced and a lot of fun, I don't think it had quite the impact of the first two books. This one has Adam in Haiti to extract a whistleblower, and naturally, not everything is at it seems and everything goes downhill for Adam the minutes he steps foo on Haitian soil. There were a few things that did push the envelope and your belief system a bit too much in this one, and I think that's why I didn't quite enjoy it as much as the first two books.

First of all, Adam is a reluctant hero which is why I enjoy his character so much. His only goal is to be reunited with his wife and child, but the powers-that-be in the government always seem to have other plans for Adam and push his aging body to the limits in one difficult assignment after another. This fuels his anger so often his missions are full of angst as he drives himself to extremes in order to return home in one piece, both physically and mentally.

For the most part, the story lines were believable, and although I appreciate the author trying to put a little of the Haitian culture into this book, some of it kind of pushed the limits. With the masks? Yes, I get that as I know people who lived there, but would most people just stick around when bullets and guns are going off around them? I don't think there are too many places where bystanders would do that. But I do think some of it was over the top which made it more of a struggle to read for me.

I do think the plot was the weakest part of this book. While the author's writing style is engaging and he definitely knows his way around technology and military terminology, I did feel like the some of the suspense that kept me flipping pages in the previous books was missing. Maybe it was the over-the-top action that threw me out of the story or just some questionable actions, but something was lacking. My sympathy for Adam did not lessen however, and I felt empathetic towards his situation and the people who keep using him to fight their battles, despite his insistence that he is through with Treadstone.

Verdict
The Treadstone Transgression was not the strongest entry in this series, but it was still enjoyable. The author is knowledgeable, and I was happy when I saw the action was to take place primarily in Haiti as I think the place's struggles need to be more highlighted, something this book definitely does. However, the overall plot was a bit over the top for me, and while the action was fast-paced, you do have to suspend belief at times and just kind of go with it. But I am not yet through with this series, and plan to read the next book (The Treadstone Rendition, March 7 2023) in this series as I am invested in Adam and his desire to be with his family.½

It was ok, the one-liners and quips were kind of immersion-breaking to me. not the worst but not the best.

This originally appeared at The Irresponsible Reader.
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The bullet wound to his shoulder ached like someone was hammering nails through his skin.

Hayes had been here before, wounded, alone, and on the run. Wanting to quit, but unable to, thanks to the mind job the Treadstone docs had done on him. Survival: It was the only thing that mattered.

And revenge the voice reminded him.

WHAT'S THE TREADSTONE RESURRECTION ABOUT?
Not too long ago, Adam Hayes left the black-ops program, Treadstone, and invented a new life for himself as a contractor in Washington. It wasn't an easy thing to do, but for several reasons, it was the thing he had to do.

But out of the blue, an old friend and colleague sends him an email containing four pictures. The subject line of the email reads "By the time you get this I'll be dead." Which, you've got to admit, will get your attention. Not only has his friend been killed, but a group of men have tried to kill Hayes twice (and almost succeeded both times).

It turns out that the men who killed his friend found the email and traveled from Venezuala to Washington to keep Hayes from doing anything with the information. It's safe to say that they underestimated who they were going up against. It's not every day that operatives find themselves trying to take out someone like a Treadstone assassin.

A combination of training, reflexes, and good friends make survival something he can accomplish. But revenge will take allies old and new; a trip to South America and back; and embracing everything he fought so hard to leave behind.

SO, WHAT DID I THINK ABOUT THE TREADSTONE RESURRECTION?
Okay, it takes very little time to have a pretty good idea what's going to happen in this book—you know that Hayes is going to get his revenge and stop whatever plot his pal told him about. The questions are: how many and which of his allies will survive, how many bad guys will Hayes take out, and which one will be the hardest to kill?* It's all about execution at this point.

* I was surprised by the answers to 1 and 3, by the way.

And Hood's execution was pretty good. Without realizing it, I raced through this book in about half the time I'd scheduled for it (and I honestly didn't realize how quickly I was reading). There's not a wasted word, the prose is smooth, the action is fast, the pacing is tight, the ammo is plentiful—you just find the pages melting away.

The characterization is pretty thin—but it's enough. You get enough of an idea about who Adam Hayes is and what makes him tick to work, but not much more. Ditto for the main bad guys. But that's not what this book is about—it's about escapist thrills. And it delivers that.

Suspend your disbelief (might be easier to just lock your disbelief in a small room somewhere), sit back, and enjoy.

My first book by Joshua Hood as well as Bourne/Treadstone universe. This Resurrection is a fabulous action/spy thriller novel. I can't believe I was attached to the first character introduced in this novel right from the very beginning. His action brought Adam Hayes, ex-Treadstone operative back into the game.

My first library book since lockdown - and I have no idea why I wanted to read such a blokey book. If there was a Man Book award, rather than the Man Booker, this would win. The story, about a bionic assassin seeking to uncover the truth about his friend's death in Venezuela, was completely ruined by the writing, complete with childish onomatopoeia (thwap, braaaaap, BOOM!) and ridiculous dialogue ('I've got something better than a plan - I've got a bag of guns' and 'We're going to diiiiiiiie!') Not to mention all the flashbacks in italics and military terminology that constantly requires translation.

Joshua Hood is apparently one of many authors writing under the Robert Ludlum 'brand' (complete with trademark) and according to fans of the series, this novel is a successful imitator, but honestly, I despair of the male imagination if cliched film action scenes triumph over character and intelligible conversation. No more for me, thanks!

The Treadstone Resurrection by Joshua Hood

What if you had worked for Uncle Sam for years, been a lethal human weapon and finally decided to return to normal live to spend time with your family? What if the life you had lead in the military had made it difficult to be as you once were but you were doing everything in your power to return to a simpler more loving life with wife and son and then one day it all fell apart and every skill you had put behind you was suddenly required again? That happened ot Adam Hayes in this first book of a new series based on the training ground Bourne went through in the trilogy about him written long ago.

Having read the trilogy I was interested to see what a spin-off book might be like written by a man with military skills in his arsenal and set in the present. And, I am glad I read this book though sometimes for some reason it reminded me of the movies Expendables and A-Team. It is my opinion that when reading fiction one sometimes has to leave reality, believability and plausibility behind and just enjoy the ride and not dissect whether or not one man could realistically do all that Hayes did.

What I liked:
* Adam Hayes: He seemed like a good man who had been given a raw deal. I would love for him to have a nice safe life with his wife and son but it seems highly unlikely in the series this book introduces
* Deano & his wife: wonderful people that were good friends to Adam
* The introduction of Waters and JT – they might show up in future books in the series
* Some of the people introduced that played parts in the story: Boggs, Ford, Izzy, Shaw
* That good prevailed over evil
* The action scenes were believable
* That when the book ended I wondered what would happen next

What I wanted to know
* How Hayes get all of the gear to Venezuela when he parachuted in
* How many others from Treadstone might be around to show up in future books
* More of Hayes’s backstory

What I didn’t like:
* The bad guys I was meant not to like

Did I enjoy this book? Yes
Would I read more in this series? Yes

Thank you to Head of Zeus & Midas Public Relations for the ARC – This is my honest review.

4 Stars

„Clear by Fire“ – Auftakt zur Military-Action-Serie

Autor: Joshua Hood | Titel: Clear by Fire
Verlag: Festa | Seiten: 448
Preis: 13,99 als Paperback, 4,99 € als eBook

„Clear by Fire“ von Joshua Hood ist in der Reihe Festa Action erschienen und ist der Auftakt zu einer Military-Action Reihe von dem ehemaligen Soldaten der Luftwaffe in den USA. Teil 2 ist 2017 unter dem Namen „Warning Order“ erschienen, aber noch nicht auf Deutsch veröffentlicht worden.

Klappentext
Die Gerechtigkeit muss siegen

Mason Kane kämpft als Soldat viele Jahre im Anvil-Geheimprogramm der US-Armee unbemerkt von der Öffentlichkeit gegen den Terror. Bis sich sein Kommandant auf einen perversen Deal mit dem Feind einlässt. Als der die Tötung einer unschuldigen afghanischen Familie anordnet, verweigert Kane den Befehl und desertiert …
Als Terrorist und Verräter von seinen früheren Kameraden gejagt, deckt er mit Unterstützung seiner Special-Ops-Kollegin Renee Hart eine gewaltige Verschwörung auf, die bis zum amerikanischen Präsidenten führt.

Clear by Fire ist der Auftakt zu einer furiosen Military-Action-Serie.

Dalton Fury: »Sehr stark und mit enormem Insider-Wissen geschrieben. Joshua Hood drückt dem Genre des Military-Thriller seinen Stempel auf.«

Publishers Weekly: »Ein packender Thriller. Man kann sich unmöglich von Mason losreißen, der vor nichts zurückschreckt, um sein Ziel zu erreichen.«

Inhalt
Mason Kane ist ein Ex-Elite-Soldat einer geheimen Einsatztruppe, der sich nach einem Vorfall den er mit seinem Gewissen nicht vereinbaren konnte von dieser abgekehrt hat. Nun wird er von seinen ehemaligen Kollegen gejagt…

Cover
Auf dem Cover sehen wir einen Soldaten, der in einer Gefechtssituation ist. Zu einem Thriller in der Military-Szene definitiv passend und nicht zu sehr mit Pathos angereichert, da keine Flaggen oder Abzeichen zu sehen sind.

Bewertung
Joshua Hood hat hier seinen Erstling vorgelegt, der zu einem großen Teil im Nahen Osten spielt. Wir werden an Schauplätze dort versetzt, bekommen viele Fachbegriffe und Erklärungen zu Waffen und Funktionsweisen derer vorgesetzte die zeigen das er auf jeden Fall Ahnung von der Materie hat. Mit seinem beruflichen Hintergrund kann man das auch als gegeben voraussetzen. Die Beschreibungen sind gut, man weiß immer was der Autor und erklären möchte.

Die Story ist für mich persönlich etwas lang gezogen. Es fängt mit sehr vielen Gesprächen an, die Schauplätze und Charaktere wechseln dauernd. Es wird gesprungen zwischen Washington, Mason Kane, und seinen Gegnern. Etwas viele Personen werden sehr schnell nacheinander eingeführt, so das ich einige Zeit gebraucht habe bis ich die Personen alle auseinander halten konnte und wusste wer wer ist und wer zu wem gehört. Die Story ist nichts, was einen vom Hocker haut, einfach nur eine solide Thriller-Story. Hier erhoffe ich mir vom Nachfolger-Band, das es besser wird, da man die Charaktere die eine Rolle spielen bereits kennt und weiß wer was will.

Trotz allem ist es kein schlechtes Buch, aber auch kein absolut herausstechendes. Eine Leseempfehlung kann ich trotzdem aussprechen wenn man Thriller vor einem militärischen Hintergrund mag. Man könnte sich vorstellen, das es so wirklich passiert, es fühlt sich nicht aus der Luft gegriffen an.

Fazit: Guter Auftakt zur Serie, mit Luft nach oben.

Warning Orders starts with a comprised mission, that leads the heroes and heroine into further thrilling good story line filled with twists and turns.

This book is not for the weak faint of heart. Taut and suspenseful, written with realistic gritty action and battle scenes because Hood has been there. He succeeds in throwing the reader right into the fighting combat zone, tasting and smelling the horrific results of combat. This is the front lines in America’s war on terror.

Hood pushes his characters to their breaking point in a realistic way while continuing to keep you engaged in the story. Mason Kane is a killing machine. His best buddy Zeus, is a Libyan and ex-intelligence officer who speaks Arabic. The relationship between Renee Hart, a DOD operative, has potential for romance in the future.

The non-combat characters go all the way from the President of the US, through highest ranking Cabinet officers to field officers to a CIA agent, David Castleman. The military missions are supposed to be either off-the-books or flying under the radar of media.

Mealy mouth people who still think the administration has it under control, will protest the fiction scenes that describe the incompetence and ruthlessness of politicians more concerned about their careers than the lives of men sent into battle.

Hood takes war so close to the readers with action ripped from today’s headlines, but so much more realistic.