Rating: 
Summary: Espionage and Nukes! Helluva novel!
Review: Former jet jock, Rear Adm. Jake Grafton gets thrown into ring of renegade agents-KGB, CIA-as he journeys to what remains of Mother Russia. His job: to make sure that Russian nuclear weapons are destroyed before Saddam can get hold of them. He gets put back where belongs(the cockpit) as he and Rita Moravia take to the skies to destroy nuclear weapons on their way to the Middle East(in Russian Su-25s!)after a nuclear reacter is destroyed by the renegade KGB agents to cover their tracks and a few renegade Russian fighters are sent to destroy Jake and Rita. Still, a few make it to Baghdad and the battle to prevent Armageddeon ensues. Apparently this is one of COonts' best novels if it is not his best ever!(I think it is his best
Rating: 
Summary: Interesting but poorly written
Review: I can't believe I made it through the book, this is the first book in a long time that I have been tempted to drop in the middle. The plot is very interesting and at times kept my attention. It also got more and more improbable as the plot grinded its gears through the book. Jake Grafton is apparently some kind of god and can do anything and go anywhere apparently without authority from anyone else but himself. The book would have been alright if these were its only flaws, after all it is a novel and I expected to put my disbelief on hold while I read (not everyone can write like Clancy).
The major problem with the book is the writing. All the characters are extremely one dimensional except maybe Jack Yocke. The dialogue is awfully written and can't Coonts think of any other word for helicopter besides "machine"!? There were numerous plot holes, but I will concede that Coonts made an effort to fix them though somewhat lamely. This book may be OK for people who have read the other books in the series and have already gotten used to the characters, but if this is going to be the only Coonts book you read, steer clear because it could be your last.
Rating:
Summary: Interesting but poorly written
Review: I can't believe I made it through the book, this is the first book in a long time that I have been tempted to drop in the middle. The plot is very interesting and at times kept my attention. It also got more and more improbable as the plot grinded its gears through the book. Jake Grafton is apparently some kind of god and can do anything and go anywhere apparently without authority from anyone else but himself. The book would have been alright if these were its only flaws, after all it is a novel and I expected to put my disbelief on hold while I read (not everyone can write like Clancy).
The major problem with the book is the writing. All the characters are extremely one dimensional except maybe Jack Yocke. The dialogue is awfully written and can't Coonts think of any other word for helicopter besides "machine"!? There were numerous plot holes, but I will concede that Coonts made an effort to fix them though somewhat lamely. This book may be OK for people who have read the other books in the series and have already gotten used to the characters, but if this is going to be the only Coonts book you read, steer clear because it could be your last.
Rating: 
Summary: The weakest of the 'Jake Grafton' series.
Review: I think that the Kirkus review (above) hits the nail on the head when it claims that "Coonts's plots are getting as overcomplicated as Tom Clancy's." The problem is that Clancy is a much better writer than Coonts; where Clancy *might* have been able to make this mess work, Coonts executes a 'gear up' landing. This story has mass murder, characters poisoning one another, agencies of the United States government conspiring against one another, all pretty dark themes. Sadly, the story is also dark, as in muddy and incomprehensible. Characters aspire to become one dimensional, and in the end are placeholders, flat scenery, making expository speeches which seem to exist only to explain their point of view. At one point in the book, when Jake Grafton and Rita Tarkington (an American female naval aviator) take off in Russian jets from a base inside Russia to track down the bad guys, the Russian mechanics sabotage the planes in manner calculated to kill the pilots - this only rates an aside in the book. If you're looking for a Coonts book which carries off themes like these well, please let me reccomend Coonts' "Minotaur". It's also pretty grim, but done much better, and is one of the best "spy novels" that I've read.
Rating:
Summary: The weakest of the 'Jake Grafton' series.
Review: I think that the Kirkus review (above) hits the nail on the head when it claims that "Coonts's plots are getting as overcomplicated as Tom Clancy's." The problem is that Clancy is a much better writer than Coonts; where Clancy *might* have been able to make this mess work, Coonts executes a 'gear up' landing. This story has mass murder, characters poisoning one another, agencies of the United States government conspiring against one another, all pretty dark themes. Sadly, the story is also dark, as in muddy and incomprehensible. Characters aspire to become one dimensional, and in the end are placeholders, flat scenery, making expository speeches which seem to exist only to explain their point of view. At one point in the book, when Jake Grafton and Rita Tarkington (an American female naval aviator) take off in Russian jets from a base inside Russia to track down the bad guys, the Russian mechanics sabotage the planes in manner calculated to kill the pilots - this only rates an aside in the book. If you're looking for a Coonts book which carries off themes like these well, please let me reccomend Coonts' "Minotaur". It's also pretty grim, but done much better, and is one of the best "spy novels" that I've read.
Rating:
Summary: The weakest of the 'Jake Grafton' series.
Review: I think that the Kirkus review (above) hits the nail on the head when it claims that "Coonts's plots are getting as overcomplicated as Tom Clancy's." The problem is that Clancy is a much better writer than Coonts; where Clancy *might* have been able to make this mess work, Coonts executes a 'gear up' landing. This story has mass murder, characters poisoning one another, agencies of the United States government conspiring against one another, all pretty dark themes. Sadly, the story is also dark, as in muddy and incomprehensible. Characters aspire to become one dimensional, and in the end are placeholders, flat scenery, making expository speeches which seem to exist only to explain their point of view. At one point in the book, when Jake Grafton and Rita Tarkington (an American female naval aviator) take off in Russian jets from a base inside Russia to track down the bad guys, the Russian mechanics sabotage the planes in manner calculated to kill the pilots - this only rates an aside in the book. If you're looking for a Coonts book which carries off themes like these well, please let me reccomend Coonts' "Minotaur". It's also pretty grim, but done much better, and is one of the best "spy novels" that I've read.
Rating: 
Summary: Not his best - but better than most.
Review: I'm a fan of Stephen Coonts, and look forward to every new release. I snatched this up the moment I saw it in my bookshop, and it took me all of a day to read it. Like all Mr Coonts' books, this is great fun. The Admiral allows himself to go completely O.T.T. at times, Toad rushes around, being horny and dreadfully in love, the bad guys are as cold and calculating as anything you're ever likely to read.. and hey, it's a good read. Don't try to find too much in it - simply enjoy it. It's a very good addition to Jake Grafton's history, and everything works pretty well. No, it's not Mr. Coonts' best. But then - his worst is a darn' sight better than the best of most of the writers who work in this genre.
Rating:
Summary: Implausible thriller
Review: In "The Red Horsemen", Admiral Jake Grafton travels to post-Soviet Russia to monitor the dismantling of that country's nuclear arsenal. Stephen Coonts, Grafton's creator, brews up a tale of crooked Russians, homocidal CIA agents and black market nukes being sold amid the disintegration of Russia. Unfortunately, the story bogs down quickly when Grafton gets to Russia - mostly because the plot becomes overly complicated, but also due to the sheer implausibility that Coonts inserts into the story - like Grafton's single-handed destruction of a formation of highly agile Su-27 fighters while himslef flying only a hoggish Su-25; the novel's climax has the hero meet Saddam Hussein face-to-face and exact a measure of justice in an ending that seems incredibly pat for Coonts. Even that ending would seem worse had it not capped off a book full of plot twists that don't come together. Coonts' original "Flight of the Intruder" was a great book because it resisted the temptation to become the sort of technothriller that "Horseman" is. Instead, take out "Cuba" in which Coonts returns to form.
Rating:
Summary: Implausible thriller
Review: In "The Red Horsemen", Admiral Jake Grafton travels to post-Soviet Russia to monitor the dismantling of that country's nuclear arsenal. Stephen Coonts, Grafton's creator, brews up a tale of crooked Russians, homocidal CIA agents and black market nukes being sold amid the disintegration of Russia. Unfortunately, the story bogs down quickly when Grafton gets to Russia - mostly because the plot becomes overly complicated, but also due to the sheer implausibility that Coonts inserts into the story - like Grafton's single-handed destruction of a formation of highly agile Su-27 fighters while himslef flying only a hoggish Su-25; the novel's climax has the hero meet Saddam Hussein face-to-face and exact a measure of justice in an ending that seems incredibly pat for Coonts. Even that ending would seem worse had it not capped off a book full of plot twists that don't come together. Coonts' original "Flight of the Intruder" was a great book because it resisted the temptation to become the sort of technothriller that "Horseman" is. Instead, take out "Cuba" in which Coonts returns to form.
Rating:
Summary: In a word, "WOW!"
Review: Jack Yocke wants to make his name big in the Washington Post as a top reporter. He found himself in Russia near a nuclear meltdown. Over a million dead to simply hide the fact of twenty thousand tactical nuclear weapons were missing.
Rear Admiral Jake Grafton, Deputy Director of the Defense Intelligence Agency, is dispatched to Moscow. He and his team are to ensure that all the weapons are destroyed before they disappear into a Middle East terrorist pipeline. Grafton soon finds that some American officials want him to fail.
British billionaire Nigel Keren was murdered. His body was found floating in the sea near his yacht. Contacts in Israeli intelligence have proof he was actually the victim of a hit squad from WITHIN the CIA. Grafton soon knows way too much and has been targeted for assassination.
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