The Kill Zone by Chris Ryan
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
It should be noted that the audio CD version that I have is abridged, and read by Rupert Degas. Degas does a good job as narrator, making it clear who is talking at any given time.
The plot is interesting, and takes in Afghanistan, Somalia, Belfast and London. It’s fairly complex, with several threads that come together in a surprising finish. The abridging was well done, but I suspect the full-length version is better, given the relative complexity of the plot.
There were a couple of points that bothered me. The main character is Captain Jack Harker, who it is said has been in the SAS for “more than twenty years”. However, officers in the SAS do three year terms before moving on to another regiment. The other points relate to Stinger anti-aircraft missiles. The Taliban capture three of these from a patrol in Afghanistan, but I do have to wonder why a patrol was carrying them, since I’ve not heard of the Taliban using helicopters or fixed-wing aircraft. Also, the Stingers that are fired in the book all hit their target, and I find it difficult to believe that they have a 100% hit rate. These points probably won’t bother many people, but they detracted somewhat from my enjoyment of the story.
The Kill Zone at Amazon
